Crufts 2020
Will and Rudi reached all three singles finals that they were eligible to enter in YKC competitions; Agility Dog of the Year (ADOTY), YKC Jumping (both U18 handlers) and Anything But Collies (ABC) Agility (U24 handlers).
The ADOTY (medium dogs) was first. The pair ran a super clear round and finished in a very creditable 2nd place a fraction of a second behind Emma Greenshields and Bandit:
The second final was the ABC final. Another stunning clear round this time put the pair just ahead of Emma and Bandit to claim the Crufts title in first place!
Two days later, Will and Rudi were back in the ring for another final – YKC Jumping. This was the event that the pair had won the previous year to give them their first Crufts win. It is often said that to defend a title is harder than winning it to begin with. The pair rose to the occasion to put in their third clear round of the week to finish in first place and claim another Crufts title!
Will and Rudi’s second place in the ADOTY medium final earned them a place in the Grand Final run in the main arena in front of around 7000 spectators. The grand final is made up of dogs of all sizes who had finished in the top three of their respective finals. Another fabulous run was clear up to the penultimate obstacle when Rudi just missed the contact on the dog walk. This dropped the pair from 2nd place to 9th. The commentary on this clip (by Jim Rosenthal) is great – for a brief few moments he has Will and Rudi in the lead!
Scroll through the pages below to see more pictures and videos of Will, Rudi and Aston competing at Crufts in other years.
willbacchus.com 