04/12/2026
UNITED STATES AMATEUR DERBY INVITATIONAL
DANCYVILLE, TENNESSEE
By: Jim Atchison
The twelve high point Amateur Derbies in the nation competed March 27-29, on the historic field trial grounds at Dancyville, Tennessee, as the United States Amateur Derby Invitational Club sponsored the seventh renewal of their Amateur Derby Invitational. The West Tennessee Field Trial Club again served as co-sponsor and host for the outstanding competition, which was run on their grounds.
The organization of the trial was phenomenal, with the gifts and awards likely being the most impressive of any amateur competition in the nation. Information about the organizers, sponsors, and awards is lengthy and merits sharing, but we will first spotlight the outstanding derbies that competed, and then spotlight the organizers, sponsors, and awards.
Luke Eisenhart and Judd Carlton, two of the most successful professionals in the sport, judged. The pair, both from Georgia, are not only successful, but also well respected, and their services were very much appreciated.
THE WINNERS
Game Pride, owned and handled by Dr. Fred Corder from Corinth, Mississippi, was the winner. Game Pride, called “Red”, competed in the last brace on the first day of competition, the first brace of the second, and in the first brace of dogs called back on the third. On the first afternoon he participated in a divided find at 15 on the third-hour course, in which he demonstrated excellent self-control, as his brace mate did not hold after the flush and shot. He had birds again at 20 in the northwest corner of a long field near the Russell Grove Church on Fayette Corner Road. In the second outing, on Saturday morning on the first-hour course, while backing his brace mate, at 12, the same situation arose where the brace mate did not hold after the flush and shot, but Red, again, handled the situation with unaltered style and stature. He later had a strong independent find, at 38, along a terrace on the Taylor/McCloud land. Loosed on the second-hour course during the Sunday morning call backs, Dr. Corder shot three times. The first was at 5 during a divided find, the second at 27, after another divided find, and again at 44 along a terrace on the Todd tract, approaching the end of the course at Coffee Gap Road. Red’s win was unquestionable, as he had three days of running that were solid, stylish, impressive, always front-running, punctuated with clean bird work, and in which he did not yield to strong distractions.
Coldwater Swagger, called Pete, won second under the whistle of owner Gary McKibben from Hernando, Mississippi, as he had birds on all three days of competition and got stronger the second day than the first, and even stronger the third. Drawn for brace four on the first afternoon, Pete had birds at 18, while backed by his brace mate. McKibben’s pistol would not fire, but after a short delay, the other handler, whose dog was backing, fired the mandatory shot. Pete then came around an edge at 22 and backed a find of his brace mate perfectly. On the second morning, in the third brace, McKibben shot twice, first at 4 minutes and again at 7, with birds being easily moved both times along the north edge of the break away field on Alex Rickert. In the first call-back brace, this second-place winner scored two divided finds, with the first- place winner. Those birds flew at 5 and 27, as the handlers shot with the dogs standing perfectly. Coldwater Swagger checked all the boxes, and his efforts were appreciated by the judges and rewarded accordingly.
ALSO CALLED BACK
Haney’s High Dollar and Dialed Again were also called back to run in the second brace on Sunday.
Haney’s High Dollar, owned by the father/son partnership of Chris Cagle, Sr., and Chris Cagle, Jr., was handled by Senior and scouted by Junior. “Cash” had birds once at 23 in the second brace on Friday morning. The find was in dense honeysuckle in the mouth of a ditch on Gordy Jones’ tract and took considerable effort, but Cagle persisted and the effort was worthwhile. In the sixth brace on Saturday Cash participated in divided finds and scored an independent find at 38. He found no birds during the call back on Sunday. Yet, he was an outstanding dog; strong, stylish, fast, forward-running, requiring little scouting, and with tremendous all-age promise.
Dialed Again, owned and handled by Matt Pendergest with Jim Pendergest scouting, was called back after initially running in the fourth brace on Friday and the second on Saturday. On Friday “Spec” backed the brace mate at 18, stood in the superior position at 22, while backed by the brace mate and had an unproductive stand at 30. On Saturday, in the second brace, he backed at 4 and later had an unproductive in Dr. Spiotta’s pines at 17. No birds were moved during the call back, but Dialed Again ended the derby season as one of the top four of the best 12 in the nation and one holding excellent all-age promise.
THE OTHER CONTENDERS
The other eight contenders were drawn to run on the first day in the following order. Iron Cloud Nation, owned and handled by Scott Jordan, competed in the first brace on Friday and the fifth on Saturday. He had game at 17, with the birds under a cedar tree on the Taylor land. On Saturday afternoon he had divided finds at 5 and 9, and finished the 45-minute braces both days.
Pendy’s Specialist, owned by Jim Pendergest and called “Jean” was handled by Matt Pendergest, with Jim scouting. The Pendergests father and son owning three of the best 12 derbies in the nation attests to their strong commitment to field trialing and their superior training skills. They achieve many wins each year. Jean found birds at 9 in the first brace on Friday and twice on Saturday, both in divided finds in the sixth brace. She ran strong forward races both days.
Chris Perkins travelled from Idaho with Perkins’ Live Storm, representing the Western Region in this Invitational. Live Storm, answering to “Kate”, found no birds in the second brace on Friday. On Saturday, in the fourth brace, she backed her brace mate at 3, and found birds independently, at 27 near the back of the horse shoe, and again at 33, before finishing the brace.
Bocomo’s Iceman called “Ike” and co-owned by Jase Lewis and his grandfather, Jay Lewis, was handled by Jay in the third brace on Friday and the fifth brace on Saturday. On the first day he pointed at 11, but failed to hold properly during the flush and shot. He continued and found game at 31, with everything in good order. On Saturday, in the fifth brace, at 9, Ike shared a divided find with his brace mate.
Phantom’s Zip, owned and handled by Erick Parsons, competed in the third brace on Friday and the fourth brace on Saturday. Zip was absent for a while in the early part of his Friday campaign, but was back to the front and found birds at 38 on the Spiotta land. He then found birds at 3 and was backed by his brace mate hunting the first hour course on Saturday afternoon, and continued to finish the hour.
Pendy’s Next Chapter was the second dog owned and handled by Matt Pendergest, and the third dog he ran in the Invitational. “Sydney” had an unproductive stand at 39 in the fifth brace on Friday and found birds at 5 and 20, with everything in good order in the first brace on Saturday. But between the two finds on Saturday, there was another find where the birds were chased. Yet, Sydney got it together and finished the hour flawlessly.
Brad Macke from Georgia went next, with Emperor’s Stone Cold Warrior, called “Rocky”. Rocky found no birds in either of his fifth brace or third brace efforts. None the less, Brad and Rocky handled the courses well, and Brad, a teacher of Special Education and most likely the youngest competitor, demonstrated excellent skills and enthusiasm for field trialing.
Stevie Ray Lane “Ray-Ray”, owned by Lance Servais and handled by Brian Peterson, was in the sixth brace on Friday and the second brace on Saturday. Unfortunately, Ray-Ray failed both days to hold during flush and shot situations, and the Cecil, Alabama, owner-handler team picked him up at 11 on the second day.
PRODUCTION OF THE INVITATIONAL
Saying this Invitational was a “production” was an understatement. Quintin and Tasha Wiseman, joined by the club’s board of directors probably worked year-round or longer, as they started working on next year, even before the current Invitational was held. Additional members of the board of directors included Todd Babbel, Rich Heaton, Whitley Stephenson, and Jay Lewis. Todd Babbel and Jay Lewis attended the trial just ended and helped with the event.
Quintin Wiseman did an outstanding job on Saturday night at the Purina Awards Dinner as he acknowledged and thanked those who helped make the seventh renewal of the Invitational successful. Purina has always been the primary sponsor and, again, generously provided eight bags of dog food to the winner, four bags to the runner-up, and one bag to every participant.
Wiseman expressed special thanks to his farrier clients, Phil and Melissa Town of Rule One Investing for their large cash gifts given annually. Wiseman said, “I don’t even ask them. They ask me.”
Wiseman’s remarks thoroughly covered information about the contributions of many. He started by presenting a gift to Jim Atchison and voicing appreciation for Atchison’s reporting of all seven Invitationals, since their inception in 2020. Next, he asked Leah Brigham to reveal the painting of last year’s winner, Southern Margarita Lane, to the owner, Lance Servais. Servais and Brian Peterson accepted the amazing creation with great appreciation to both the artist and to Brian and Brooke Sanchez, who commissioned the annual award.
Next, Henry Rifles donated by Alex and Bryana Rickert were presented to the owners of the high-point dogs from each of the Invitational’s three regions. Those owners were: East Region – Lance Servais for Stevie Ray Lane, Central Region – Chris Cagle, Senior and Junior, for Haney’s High Dollar, and West Region – Erick Parsons for Phantom’s Zip.
Each Invitational has always been preceded by three Super Qualifiers, with one Super Qualifier held in each of the three regions. Owners who participated in at least two of the three were eligible to win a $500 gift card. Six owners were eligible to win, and the winner was Chris Cagle. Adding three super qualifiers to the annual schedule made each Invitational a four-trial series, not just one. Wiseman thanked Chris Perkins for handling the West Region qualifier for the 2026 series.
Trophy saddles by Haggis Saddles to be presented to both the owners of the winner and runner-up were on display. One saddle was purchased by Scott Griffin, and the other was purchased by Chris and Mary Jo Cagle, Chris Cagle, Jr., and John Mathys.
Garmin Pro 550 Plus and Alpha TT25 products for the winner were exhibited. Also displayed were the Jim Crouse Memorial High Point plaque for 2025-2026 and the Gary Phillips Memorial Breeder’s Plaque. Nathan Phillips has donated the breeder’s plaque each year in memory of his father. Two copper flasks, bearing the Invitational logo and donated by Chris Cagle, Jr., were on the winners’ table, one each for the winner and runner-up.
The winning scout, Chris Cagle, Jr. was awarded custom-made briar chaps, made by Patty’s Custom Chaps. In addition to gifts to winners, participants received vests, caps, and swag bags containing numerous products. Wiseman said Gailen Cooper was available to explain some of the contents of the swag bags.
Matt and Stacey Brown purchased the quail planted for the Invitational, and their generous gift was acknowledged and greatly appreciated.
West Tennessee Club members Bill Currie, Chris Mullen, Allen Currie, Julia Currie, and Jim Atchison helped in numerous ways: picking up and planting birds, cooking, marshalling the courses, hauling dogs and horses, providing road crossing safety, and many other tasks during the three-day event. Fayette County Sheriff’s Department deputies contributed their blue light presence to road safety, and all of the above were thanked for those additions that were part of the local contribution toward helping sponsor and host the gathering.
Wiseman thanked Ike Todd for his contribution of puppy training, which was sold, generating funds for the Invitational. He also thanked judges and others who had helped with the super qualifiers.
Food was outstanding for every meal. In addition to having everything imaginable planned and organized, Tasha Wiseman prepared hot breakfast for everyone each morning. West Tennessee club members led by Chris Mullen prepared lunch each day, Lance Servais and Brian Peterson hired Gail Haynes to cater dinner on Friday night, and Purina sponsored the prime-rib dinner for the Saturday night awards dinner.
This Invitational, like the other six, was truly a “successful production”.
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