HISTORIAN’S CORNERTHIS MONTH IN ENGLISH SETTER HISTORY:

March/April 2018

The English Setter Family lost one of its Grande Dames when Sally Vertulia passed away in March at the age of 95. Her career in English Setters began in the late 1950’s but her knowledge of the breed went back to the early years of the English Setter Association in the U.S. She and Mr. and Mrs. Alf Loveridge were friends. Mr. Loveridge was a Canadian All-Breed handler who is best known to us as the handler of Am./Can./Eng. Sh. Ch. Pilot of Chrombie of Happy Valley. Not only did Loveridge bring Pilot to America from Scotland at the behest of Happy Valley’s A.A. Mitten, but he also put Pilot’s AKC and Canadian championships on him as he showed Pilot during his spectacular show career during the 1930’s. Sally and her husband Frank operated their Wragge Run kennels in Ontario, Canada. Their kennel prefix had a “dual” origin. The Vertulia’s first setters were exercised in a makeshift run at their original location, which Frank called their “raggy run.” Sally’s idea of perfect attire was to have a suit from the iconic New York fashion house B. H. Wragge, which operated from 1931 – 1971. There were at least 36 Canadian champions that bore the Wragge Run prefix, many of whom had fine show careers. Five of these also earned their AKC championships. But these numbers don’t tell the entire story. There were countless other litters in which Sally had a hand, but not as a breeder of record or even as owner of the get. She generously mentored many others in the breed throughout her career. Let’s take this time to remember Sally through her English Setters and some of those who knew her.

Frank and Sally Vertulia could not have started their line of English Setters in a better place. Sally’s first English Setter was Am./Can. Ch. Ludar’s Ludette (Am./Can. Ch. Ludar of Blue Bar x Ch. Lady Marco, b. 1957). Ludette had a pretty good show career, finishing in both the U.S. and Canada, and placing in the group. She had Ch. Rip of Blue Bar and Ch. Dean of Blue Bar as great grandfathers on her sire’s side and Ch. Maro of Maridor as a grandsire on her dam’s side. Ludette’s bloodline was strong in the revered “Mallwyd strain,” and ironically ran back to some of the early kennels in western Canada that were behind Rummey Stagboro and other early famous producers of the Mallwyd strain. Those dogs were behind many of the legendary American AKC champions bred in the eastern United States in the 1930’s and 1940’s that are the basis of the breed in the U.S. today. The Vertulias were to take this line back across the border. Am./Can. Ch. Ludar’s Ludette was bred to Am./Can. Ch. Ben-Dar’s Replica (Am./

Sally VertuliaAN APPRECIATION

Sally Vertulia and friend, who was bred by her best friend, the late Elizabeth Richardson (Indian Points English Setters).

Photo by Gail Manning

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Can. Ch. Ludar of Blue Bar x Yorkley’s Wisp O’ Heather, b. 1954). Thus the breeding was a line breeding on Ludar, or the “Ludar line” that originated with Bill Sears’ and Marge O’ Connell’s Ben-Dar collaboration that was based on Ludar. The Replica x Ludette litter was whelped in February 1962 and produced the first three homebred Wragge Run champions: Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Michael V, Am./Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Roulette, and Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Pride of Replica.   

Of these first Wragge Run champions, the best known was Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Pride of Replica. “Dulie” was a Best in Show winner and went Best Canadian Bred in Show at the big Ottawa shows in 1966. He was also the #2 Sporting Dog in Canada that year. Am. /Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Roulette was owned and shown by Darby Chambers (Mt. Mansfield). She was bred to Can. Ch. Wamlay’s Mike Chisum. The resulting litter whelped in March 1964 and yielded three more Wragge Run champions: Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Cinnamon Cinner, Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Hello Hattie Lu, and Can Ch. Wragge Run’s Senator Mike.   Mike sired four Canadian champions for Wragge Run during the 1970’s. The second English Setter bitch the Vertulias imported for their breeding program was Can. Ch. Clariho Out of the Blue (Ch. Robin Boy of Stone Gables x Navy Blue of Stone Gables, b. 1965), who was owned and finished by Sally. “Catherine” was bred to Am./Can./Ber. Ch. Sir Kip of Manitou. The resulting litter, which was whelped in February 1969, yielded five Wragge Run Canadian champions. One of these was Am./Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Hey Charlie. Charlie was owned by Linwood Cabot and Michelle Billings in Florida and he was an AKC Best in Show winner.

The Vertulias also imported Can. Ch. Blue Charm of Stone Gables (Ch. Prince of Deerfield x Kruczec’s Lady, b. 1967) for their breeding program. They also employed a number of top-producing sires, including Am./Can. Ch. Hiddenlane’s Merry Max, Am./Can. Ch. Hiddenlane’s Blue Turquoise, DC Can. Ch. Set’r Ridge’s Solid Gold CDX MH HDX CGC, and Am./Can. Ch. Reidwood Justice to Prevail. Blue Turquoise sired Can Ch. Wragge Run’s Copper Bottom CD  (out of Can Ch. Wragge Run’s Hello Hattie Lu, b. 1969.) “Alfie” was a Specialty winner and he sired 13 champions, including ten champions for Honey Glendinning’s Fantail Kennels in British Columbia. He was Stud Dog of the Year in Canada from 1975 – 1977. A number of Wragge Run champions produced during the 1970’s and early 80’s had outstanding show careers, often placing in the Group. Am./Can. Ch. Justice to Prevail sired some of the last Wragge Run champions bred by Sally as her career ended. One of these was Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s As Good as It Gets (out Can. Ch. Indianpts Owaissa O’Wragge Run, b. 1998), who was owned by Gail Manning. Gail and Sally were friends for 20 years. Gail remembers their friendship: “Sally was a character - gracious, opinionated and knowledgeable - and we spent many hours discussing the modern dog vs. the foundation dogs in our breed. We didn’t always agree but had a great relationship, going to dog shows and weekly chats.” In 2003 Sally asked Gail to join Wragge Run, in the hopes of seeing a new generation of setters with the Wragge Run prefix. Today, Gail is moving forward. Behind the new Wragge Run dogs is Gail’s MBISS MBIS Am. /Can. Ch. Five Oakes V For Victory (bred by Barb Oakes and Penny Di Sienna). 

Sally and Frank Vertulia began their English Setter breeding program at a time when there were very few English Setters, and indeed few breeders, to be found in Canada. In an article for 1965 ESAA Annual, Gus Polley (Skidby) described the relatively bleak landscape that was dog showing in Canada during the early 1960’s. There were no superintendents to set up for shows. Local kennel clubs were responsible for maintaining the necessary benching equipment. Entries were low, but beginning to rise. Even so, there was not enough work to sustain the few Canadian professional handlers, who had to maintain boarding and grooming businesses to supplement their income. (Many Canadian exhibitors preferred to show their own dogs.) Polley noted that, in spite two years of very low English Setter entries, she expected improvement over the next three years. Wragge Run, along with Spruce (Pat Detmold), and Skidby (Pete and Gus Polley), were the most visible of the Canadian breeding establishments

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who were on the forefront of the rise of the breed in Canada during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Sally was a founding member of the English Setter Club of Canada in 1968. She served on the Board and as Treasurer. Sally also hosted “picnic shows” on her kennel property during those early years of the ESCC. Today, the English Setter picture in Canada is a vibrant one. During the 1980’s, it became common for exhibitors in the U.S. to head north to earn Canadian championships on their dogs. The decade saw a rise in a number of productive Canadian breeding programs, which also began exhibiting regularly in the U.S. Sally had a direct hand in mentoring two of these breeders who today are respected AKC judges.

Garth Gourlay (Wyldewood) was in high school and seemed destined (doomed?) to become the owner of a poodle because his parents suspected he was allergic to dog hair. A visiting English Setter proved otherwise. Garth contacted Sally in search of his first English Setter. She told him she would sell him one – provided she got to meet his parents first. She sold him a dog from a litter she had helped with but for which she was not the breeder of record. That dog became his first champion. Today, Garth and his wife Karen breed under the Wyldewood prefix and Garth judges most of the Sporting Group and Best in Show. The one piece of advice he remembers Sally giving him was about how to truly evaluate a dog. Pay no attention to the ribbons a dog has won. Concentrate on the qualities of the dog itself.

Honey (Walker) Gledinning’s friendship with Sally began in 1968 when she was tasked with finding a quality English Setter for her sister, Taffe (Walker) McFadden.  A search led her to Sally in Milton Ontario, who had several dogs who were doing a good deal of winning (as opposed to a kennel with only one winning dog). After contacting her they purchased Wragge Run’s Wine and Roses in 1968.  Then, looking for a good male that could become a stud dog for her Fantail breeding program, she went back to Sally and got Wragge Run’s Copper Bottom in 1969. Honey remembers her friendship with Sally:

Sally wanted to meet me so I was to go to her home for a week in 1969. Once we got to her home she told me to phone my parents and say I was staying a month. She wanted to introduce me to the top breeders in Ontario and learn from them. I was 16 and ready to learn everything I could. She took me to the Sportsman Show in Ontario, which was 7 days long with entries from Canada and the US. Top Handlers and incredible dogs were present. She did guide me as to heads, amount of bone needed and body…  She always called me The Kid, being that I was so young when I met her. Our friendship and connection has been strong over 52 years. I just can’t believe it has come to an end. We talked on the phone many times every year, (sometimes) just to her voice.  

Honey Glendinning’s Fantail English Setter breeding program was firmly based on Wragge Run, largely through the contributions of Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Copper Bottom CD as a sire and her study of the pedigrees behind the Wragge Run dogs. She bred nearly 100 champions bearing the Fantail prefix. Her most famous dog was BIS BISS Can. Ch. Fantail’s Sunshine Man. “Sunny” was #1 All Breed in Canada with 52 Bests in Show. He won both the Canadian and ESAA National Specialties. He was also a productive sire. Honey sums up her success this way, “If I had not met Sally in the first place my kennel’s results would have been very different.” Today Honey Glendinning is licensed to judge many breeds, several groups, and Best in Show.

Sally left an enduring legacy to us who love English Setters as she did. She achieved her success as a breeder with thorough study of the proper structure of the English Setter and of the pedigrees behind the dogs she was considering for her breeding program. She developed an eye for the breed as only an artist could. Sally was an accomplished sculptor and painter. She was in fact a trained professional artist. Her accomplishments

include exhibitions at the Yaneff Gallery in Toronto and at Sardi’s in New York. (She was famous for her hand drawn Christmas cards she would send out to friends.) More importantly, Sally generously shared her knowledge and insights to inspire a new generation of breeders. Best of all, she shared her love of the breed every way she knew how. That is what truly made her special.

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Am./Can. Ch. Wragge Run’s Roulette with Owner Darby Chambers

Can. Ch. Wragge Run's Pride of Replica winning Best in Show with Handler Lorna Jackson

Dulie and Sally

Am./Can. Ch. Ludar’s Ludette with Handler Horace Hollands

Am./Can. Ch. Wragge Run's Hey Charlie

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Carl SillmanESAA Historiances3@psu.edu

~ I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Garth Gourlay, Honey Glendinning, and Gail Manning

for their kind assistance in the preparation of this article. ~

Can. Ch. Wragge Run's As Good as It Gets. Owned by Gail Manning

Can. Ch. Wragge Run's Copper Bottom. CDPortrait by Sally Vertulia

A Sally Vertulia Christmas Card