I'm considering running Laddie in a Master test in a couple of weeks. Sometime back, Alice suggested that the best way to prepare for a Master test is to run lots of triples, so today I set up a couple of them.
However, my primary focus remains on running Laddie in Qualifying stakes, so today's triples were longer than are used in Master tests. In addition, I used stickmen with white coats at all the gun stations. For each triple, two of the marks were thrown by BBs, and one was a weighted streamer thrown by a remote launcher, with a WB pre-positioned in the area where the streamer would land.
The hilly field at Rolling Ridge has not been mowed in months, so the grass is thick and long, interspersed with a variety of weeds, some thorny. The footing is uneven, and most of today's retrieves included a diagonal crossing of a dry ditch. The day was blustery, with temps in the low 60s.
SERIES A. Out-of-order indent triple and two blinds
The first mark was on the right, thrown right to left at 180 yards. The second mark was in the middle, thrown right to left at 110 yards. The first two marks were on a tight angle, forming a reverse hip-pocket double. The third mark was on the left, thrown left to right at 130 yards. The line to the third mark was 60° to the left of the line to the middle mark.
I had Laddie pick up the third mark as the go-bird. Although it was "out-of-order" in that it was somewhat longer than the second mark, it wasn't much longer and a wide angle separated the two, so Laddie had no difficulty picking it up first. He also had no difficulty with the second mark, nailing both of the first two marks. For the final mark, the 180-yard mark on the right, he veered left around a shrub before crossing the ditch, then stayed on that line before veering increasingly left, getting so far away from the area of the fall that I had to handle him.
The first blind (OB) was on the right at 200 yards, with the line to the blind tight behind the "thrower" (BB and stickman) for the 180-yard mark on the right.
The second blind (OB) was on the left at 280 yards, with the line to the blind under the arc of the 130-yard mark on the left, then thru a keyhole formed by a gap in a tree line, then thru an additional keyhole formed by a shrub and a survey marker.
SERIES B. Out-of-order indent triple
The first mark was on the left, thrown right to left at 170 yards. The second mark was in the middle, thrown right to left at 130 yards. The first two marks were on a tight angle, forming a hip pocket double. The third mark was on the right, thrown right to left at 220 yards. The line to the third mark was 60° to the right of the line to the middle mark.
Laddie had no trouble being sent to the long third mark on the right first, and while he didn't nail it, he required only a short hunt. He nailed the second mark, 130 yards in the center. He took a good initial line to the final 170-yard mark on the left, but veered right, went out of sight in an area of high cover, and finally appeared a few seconds later right behind the fall. He picked it up and ran it straight in.
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