Mackie & Richard Mills Win 2011 Amateur Super Stakes

by Jeff Leonard
Reprinted courtesy of St. Joseph News Press

In 2011, the nation's top retriever organization, The Super Retriever Series (SRS), decided to support the ranks of amateur retriever trainers, by hosting a new annual event - the SRS Amateur Super Stake.

This event occurred last weekend and of all the possible locations from across the country, the inaugural Super Stake was held right here in Northwest Missouri at the Castile Creek Kennels owned by Lyle and Debby Steinman.

Thirty one of the nations top amateur handlers and labs arrived on Steinman's property on Friday afternoon with hopes of proving to the judges that they had what it took to quite literally compete with the "top dogs".

The SRS Amateur Super Stake was run under standard SRS Rules and scoring and provided all 31 participants with the opportunity to have a great time while experiencing success or failure in a Super Retriever Series event.

"It's a great idea and this is what it's all about," said SRS Producer Shannon Nardi. "Regardless of who you are and what success you've had, you started as an amateur." The idea was brought to the attention of SRS officials by long-time SRS competitor and committee member Richard Mills. "I just think it's the most important thing we can do. The guy or girl in the pick-up or SUV is what built the retriever community. It's our responsibility to make sure they are here and having fun," said Mills.

The Amateur Super Stake was composed of 4 events, and from the first 2 of these, the top 16 dogs continued on to the semi-finals. The top 8 dogs from here went on to the finals.

Of those eight teams, those placing in the top 5 qualified for the SRS Crown Championships which is like the Superbowl of retriever events where they'll compete alongside the pros.

Ironically, Mills an amateur competitor entered three dogs into the inaugural event and at the conclusion walked away with a 1st and 3rd place finish with his dogs Mackie and Koal. Second place went to the team of Kevin Cordry and his dog Hemi.

Lyle and Debby Steinman, of Castile Creek Kennels, have been competing at the pro level for years. They are recovering from a long winter trip on the circuit where they finished with over 50 AKC Master Passes and 27 UKC Finish Passes.

They have also qualified over 17 dogs for the 2011 AKC Master Nationals and titled 4 new Master Hunters. Their current goal is to gain as many titles for their dogs in 2011 as possible.

The Steinman's will be hosting a seminar called Advanced Retriever Training/Handling/Nutrition on July 9-10, 2011. They are also working on hosting another SRS Amateur event this summer at their kennels near Stewartsville.