Kevin Evans’ £8,000 top price Skipton dog Kemi Fly in action.

SHEEP dogs sold to £8000 or A$15,080 at the Skipton Auction Mart’s latest online working dog sale late last month.

The auction achieved a clearance of almost 70 percent of the 110 dogs offered from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

The auction was staged in a timed online format with real-time bidding over two days on November 29-30.

The top-priced dog was a fully broken young black and white bitch, Kemi Fly, offered by renowned Welsh handler and triallist, Kevin Evans, and was bought by Russell Ireland, of Drigg, Holmrook.

The 22 month-old bitch is by fellow Welsh breeder Ross Games’ top trials dog, Roy, and by Mr Evans’ Knockmaa Lill. Fly is a granddaughter of Mr Evans’ dual European Nursery and Royal Welsh Champion, Tanhill Glen.

Mr Evans was also responsible for second top price of £7,000 or A$13,192 with a the 20 month-old black and white dog Foxridge Dale, a son of Mr Evans’ Derwen Doug, a European Nursery Champion and dual Welsh and International Brace Champion, out of Tanhill Ruby, now with DN Edwards. Dale was sold to Graham Eusden in Godalming, Surrey.

A further Derwen Doug son, the March, 2020, Mac, out of J Wheaton’s Jess, earned a further £6400 for Mr Evans and is bound for Killarney’s Tom O’Sullivan in Co. Kerry in south-west Ireland.

Kevin Evans’ triallist father David Evans, of Penclyn Farm, Brecon, was represented with a fully broken, June, 2019, black and white dog, Sango Jim, also by his son’s Derwen Doug, out of JG Sutherland’s Jan, another daughter of Ross Games’ Roy. Jim made £4100 and heads to the east coast to join Goole’s Stuart Walton.

Mr Evans Snr also claimed £3000 with a part-broken ten-month-old brown and white dog, Wheatwood Woody, by yet another of his son’s stud dogs, the red Spot, acquired from Germany. Out of R Fowler’s Fran, Woody is bound for Norway and Torvastad’s Hilmar Eide, a past Skipton purchaser.

Sophie Holt’s £3600 top price unbroken dog Kira.

Top prices and averages: Broken registered dogs to £6500 (av £4171), broken registered bitches to £8000 (av £4057). A broken non-registered bitch also made £1800. Part-broken registered dogs to £3000 (av £1238), part-broken registered bitches to £2600 (av £1636), part-broken non-registered bitches to £750 (av £583).  A part-broken Border Collie-x-hunting dog also made £1,600. In the unbroken and pup section: Registered dogs to £3600 (av £1087), registered bitches to £1400 (av £780), unregistered dogs to £600 (av £433).

Local Colin Townson, of Moor Lodge Farm, Oakworth, claimed joint third top price in sale at £6500 with his January 2017-drop black and white bitch, Kay, who has been placed in open trials. By AD Carnegie’s Linburn Rock, out of P Martin’s Jen, she sold to mid-Glamorgan and Porth’s Cerys Millichap.

Dewi Jenkins’ £6,500 Skipton dog Sky.

Matching the £6500 price was Welshman Dewi Jenkins, of Talybont, near Aberystwyth, with the fully broken 15 month-old black, white and mottled bitch, Sky, a daughter of his main stud dog Jock, who has been responsible for many top price Skipton dogs in recent years. The Welsh handler and triallist currently holds the world record price of £27,000 (A$50,870) for a working sheep dog sold at an official sale. The bitch was sold to her dam’s breeder North Craven handler John Harrison.

John Bell’s £3500 Skipton dog Gem.

Source: Moule Media.