Sheep dog trials: Hawke's Bay farmer Guy Peacock wins third New Zealand title to be named in national team

Chief persuades the ewes to enter the pen after a slight confrontation.

A Southern Hawke's Bay farmer and fertiliser company representative has realised a dream of being selected to represent New Zealand at sheep dog trialling after scoring a third national title as the South Island and New Zealand championships ended near Blenheim on Saturday.

Guy Peacock, who farms at Te Uri, near Dannevirke but works for Waipukurau-based PFP Fertilisers, won the short head and yard title with young dog Chief. The pair were named soon afterwards in a team to compete against Australia in Sydney in October.

Peacock's Wairarapa and SHB centre and Poverty Bay at one stage took up half of the 28 places on the leaderboards, as almost 1100 runs were completed on the four courses at Meadow Bank Farms, Omaka.

Despite the big numbers of entries from Hawke's Bay, however, Peacock was the sole New Zealand or South Island championships winner from the area.

He first appeared in an island or national championships runoff, aged 23 in 2000. He was runner-up with Hutton in the South Island short head and yard and fifth in the subsequent New Zealand title runoff at Gore.

Two years later he and Hutton claimed a North Island long head title at Te Aute, and Peacock then won two national titles, with Frank in the zig zag hunt in Masterton in 2011 and in 2015 with Falcon in the long head at Moawhango, near Taihape.

The Hawke's Bay centre's best placing in the latest runoffs on Friday and Saturday was that of Wairoa's Rebecca Baynes, who with Tom was runner-up in the straight hunt runoff won by Wanganui centre representative Alex Matthews, who also won the zig zag hunt.

Tom Manson, who farms near Raupunga, reached two runoffs, for fourth with Pip in the long head, won by Northland farmer Neville Child and Harry, and sixth with Spud in the zig zag hunt, in which Wairarapa SHB trialist Gerard Brown, of the Dannevirke club, was fourth, and Hawke's Bay centre president Clark Chrystal, of Tutira, was fifth in the straight hunt with Trix.

Full story and results, see The Country, on Thursday.