I did not have the pleasure of watching Kevin and Beau in action until they had reached the end of Beau's career, but it was easy to see that he been a top retriever in his time. The little I know is as follows. It was gained from what different people have told me and my own records of results in trials. Unfortunately I do know as much about Beau's history as I would like. If anyone has more information I would appreciate it.

Apparently their story started when a little yellow Labrador pup injured his eye in a kennel accident at a Castlereagh home in 1965 and in a way fate set the stage for a heart-warming dog story. A couple had already chosen the pup as a pet, but when they saw the puffed eye and its blue film they decided to take another pup.

The injured dog had been bred by Sid Howell and his sister, Pearl Eggins, of the Casray kennel prefix. He was named Casray Beau and although he came from excellent working gun-dog stock, he was for sale as a household pet.

While the breeders were pondering what to do with the growing puppy, a friend suggested that Mr Kevin James, of Wallacia, might be interested, as he had just lost a faithful old dog.

The eye healed quickly and Beau's new owner, Kevin James, set about teaching Beau the basics of obedience training. He made him into a handy rough shooter's dog. A dog which would hunt and retrieve without the expertise of a highly trained retrieving trial dog.

A field trialling friend, Mr Peter Halford, saw Beau in action in the field and suggested that he might do all right in organised retrieving trials. It was the same Peter Halford who suggested that Beau's son "Blue" might be a good dog for me as he was a keen young dog who could become another good 'un, with the right training. In due course "Blue" was renamed "Cass", R T Ch DERBYSHIRE ACE A HEARTS and followed in his father's footsteps.

Kevin James had never tried Non-Slip Retrieving Trialling before, but he found Beau, son of Australian champion Sandyland Tan (imp U.K) and a dog with four dual champions in his immediate pedigree a quick learner.

They teamed to make one of the most successful N.S.W. combinations the sport has seen in Australia.

Beau was about 12 months of age when he started his retrieving trial career in Sydney.

He soon started to make his presence felt. In 1968 he came third in the N.S.W. Championship. First and Second places were won by other Casray dogs, R.T.Ch Casray Battlers Lass and Casray Rambler respectively. He also won the Victoria Retrieving Trial Championship in the same year, coming in ahead of Charlie Ball's great retriever F.T.Ch.R.T.Ch. Tesrose Chasa.

Then in 1969 he came second in the N.S.W.Championship to Charlie Ball's F.T.Ch.R.T.Ch. Tesrose Chasa. Beau went on from strength to strength, as the records show.

He was celebrated for his marking ability, a trait which he apparently passed on to his son R.T.Ch. Derbyshire Ace a Hearts, (Cass). I heard a few stories about Beau. One of his habits was to keep a close eye on Kevin, especially if Beau was placed in a hessian blind, that had a convenient hole in it. If he could not find a convenient hole to look through, he would push his head under the side of the blind, so as to keep an eye on Kevin.

Of course when Kevin called him he would usually take off under the side of the blind, sometimes taking portion of the blind with him.

I remember watching Kevin giving some triallers a demonstration of how straight Beau would go. There were a few doubting Thomas's when he said Beau would take a line and go straight through a large thick clump of extremely heavy cover which was nearby, even though there was clear ground around it. Sure enough, when Kevin gave Beau a line, straight into the nominated heavy cover and Beau went straight through it.

Kevin was a very good and succesful handler, so if taking a straight line was so important to him, I decided to encourage Cass to always go straight if was physically possible. That was one demonstration, I never forgot or ignored. In time excellent marking and taking a straight line became Cass's trademark.

Beau went on to win or place in many Championships. Then in 1969 he won the National Retrieving Trial Championship against a top field. Kevin was on top of the world.

Two weeks later Beau was hit by a car and badly injured. It was feared that he might never walk again. In a major operation, a piece of bone was taken from Beau's hip and grafted into position. The going was tough, but Beau and Kevin won through and Beau was back, willing and able to work.

As you will see in the records, he went on to win several more Championships, including a total of two Nationals. He also took out a further four seconds, two thirds and a fourth in Championships. (I don't think he liked coming fourth, he seemed to prefer a spot closer to the sunlight, that was a family trait).

Beau was the first dog, or so I am told, to gain over 400 points in retrieving competition. A magnificent achievement when you consider how few trials carrying Championship points he ran in and it all began because a little yellow pup injured his eye and needed a good home.I understand Beau was rightly regarded as one of the all time greats. I believe Beau died tragically in the field, while still a relatively young dog. Although he could never know how well Cass did, I think he would have been proud of his young son. We were certainly proud of Beau. As someone once said the tragedy of owning a dog is that their year's are so short and ours are so long.

R T Ch Casray Beau (Beau)
Non-Slip Retrieving Trial Championship Placings.

1968 (NSW) 3rd
1968 (VIC) 1st

1969 (NSW) 2nd
1969 (ACT) 1st
1969 (VIC) 2nd
1969 NATIONAL 1st

1970 (NSW) 3rd
1970 (ACT) 2nd
1970 INTER DOM 3rd

1971 (VIC) 4th

1972 NATIONAL 1st

1973 (NSW) 1st
1973 (ACT) 2nd
1973 (VIC) 1st

1974 (NSW) 2nd
1974 (ACT) 2nd
1974 NATIONAL 3rd