Sprint
Sprint came to us when he was about six months old. From the moment he arrived Sprint stood out from the other field hopefuls we had at the time. Although Sprint’s talent became evident very soon after arriving, it was his ‘natural’ water courage, his tremendous sense of humour and his ability to understand what was expected of him that most impressed us.
Since his Junior Accomplishments, Sprint earned all of the points needed for both his Field Trial Championship and Amateur Field Trial Championship titles by the time he was only four years old, completely owner handled.
During his career, Sprint qualified for the Canadian Nationals and National Amateurs every year since he was two years old. Although Sprint was entered in very few Nationals, one of Mike’s fondest memories was when Sprint finished the ninth series at the Montreal Retriever Club National.
Sprint quickly became Qualified All-Age in the U.S. in 1992 after being run in only a few trials that winter. He was handled by Felix Mock.
Sprint earned his Master Hunter title in the U.S. in 1994, handled and trained exclusively by our good friend and pro-trainer, David Thompson. Other than the one winter spent with Felix, Dave Thompson has been Sprint’s exclusive winter trainer since the beginning of his career. We can’t thank David and his wife Jane enough for the great care that they have given Sprint and continue to give all of the dogs they have with them.
Sprint was named an “Outstanding Sire” by the Golden Retriever Club of America in 1995.
Sprint has sired numerous “Qualified All-Aged” dogs as well as Master Hunter titled dogs. We have simply lost track of the many other titled get that this incredible dog is half responsible for.
Sprint was officially retired at the ripe old age of twelve. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate that his good health continued well into his 15th year.
In the winter, Sprint enjoyed his retirment days on the couch dreaming about the harem lying around him. In the summer, we have a number of trainers come to stay and train on our training grounds and Sprint was often found happily following them about. He was the resident thiever/retriever and everyone knew who to look for when a bumper went missing.
Right to the end Sprint still loved to participate in drills and was known to do doing synchronized swimby drills with an occasional dog in training. During times when other dogs were being force fetched, he enjoyed standing, or bouncing around barking (as if laughing at t hem) while wagging his tail wildly. We often found him happily staked with trainers dogs, patiently waiting for his turn to run.
As breeders, Ambertrail is very conscious of the breed standard. We would like to believe that Sprint is recognized as a ‘field’ golden who made a significant impact on the breed ‘as a whole’. We also hope that those who have used him, feel as we do, that he has contributed to the development of their lines, by maintaining breed integrity.
Sprint’s outstanding golden temperament, good health
to
the end and structure may well have been his greatest
gifts.
Sprint is by far the best golden we have had the privilege of
knowing.
He just happens to be our ‘Field Champion’. Everything Sprint has
done in the field is considered, by us to be secondary, compared to
what
he has taught ‘us’ about this remarkable breed.
A special thank you to Sprint's breeder Dave Beacock for
producing this wonderful animal!!
