Former Team England gundog captain David Latham reflects on his time competing at The Game Fair and what it takes to get to the top and stay there
Q: You remain one of the most respected trainers in the world. After retiring from the England captaincy in 2025, and looking back at that final victory at the Game Fair, was it the perfect ending?
David Latham (DL): It was a big decision to walk away because the Game Fair was such a massive part of my life. To get there, and then be asked to be captain by John Halstead, was special. That last day was really difficult for another reason, too. My girlfriend was very ill in hospital. I actually missed Friday and Saturday; Steve Richardson (my anchorman) stood in for me. I only got there just in time to watch the last dog.
Q. How did you motivate the squad during such a personally difficult time?
DL: At that level, I don’t think you need it. There’s so much drive in these individuals. This is a unique sport because we’re all selfishly competing against each other all the time, so getting them to pull together as a team is an unusual atmosphere. But that year, I think they wanted to pull together even more for me. They knew it was my last time and they wanted to say thank you. We worked hard, we trained hard and they got their just rewards. To go out winning nearly every cup – spaniels, retrievers – was a brilliant way to bow out.
Q: You’d been a part of the Game Fair since 2006. Had the atmosphere in that main arena changed, or was the pressure still the same?
DL: I don’t think the arena has changed, because the pressure at the Game Fair is the biggest you’ll feel in the gundog world. There are hundreds of people watching. The further you get into your career, the more pressure you put on yourself because you don’t want to go in there and make a mess of things. I’ve seen people have a bad day there, and it must be terrible. The excitement before you enter that arena is immense, but when you come out after a reasonable performance, the main feeling is just relief.
Q: Now that the weight of the captaincy is off your shoulders, what is the one thing you definitely won’t miss?
DL: The fatigue! The Game Fair is absolutely exhausting. Unless you’ve lived it, you don’t realise. You’re stressed, you’re under pressure and the days are endless. You can’t leave the fair until 6pm, then you rush to the hotel to meet sponsors, change, have a quick beer and you’re back up at 5am the following morning to be back in the arena by 7am. I won’t miss that side of it!
Q: You’ve qualified for the IGL Retriever Championship over 25 times and won it four times. Which win defines your style best, and what do you think John Halstead saw in you when he picked you as his successor?
DL: I think it has to be the win with Delfleet Neon of Fendawood at Cordor, Scotland. People saw that as the ultimate modern championship. To finish on that river in full flow. Delfleet Neon of Fendawood was a very special dog. I remember everyone cheering when I picked that last bird. I think that performance showed what trialing is all about. On what John saw in me, I was very lucky to train with him every Friday afternoon for a number of years. John knew me as a dog man, but we were also friends. I would like to think that he saw some natural talent in me and knew that I would keep the team selection process open and honest, finding the best combination of dogs and handlers to represent England.
Q. How do you think your captaincy will be remembered?
DL: I think I brought a different approach. I introduced actual team training. Under John, it was a bit more individual – you got selected and met at the Game Fair. I brought the team together to work on weaknesses for 10 years. I’d spent a lot of time teaching abroad, and I think the handlers really appreciated having that structured preparation. Selecting the team is a difficult task! To keep people happy, I moved to a squad of 10 handlers to keep people happy, just so that the selection day wasn’t the only time I saw their dogs. By being in a squad and training regularly, I would see their dogs shine (some did) but it also gave me the opportunity to look at what we needed to work on.
Q: You’ve always prioritised “kind, healthy and biddable” dogs. Do you worry that the community is starting to favour pace and style over that essential handler/ dog partnership?
DL: It’s a double-edged sword. Everyone is looking for style, especially in working tests, but it can go too far. Some people are getting obsessed with distance. When do you ever get a single 25 -yard mark in a working test? It’s crazy. In a working test these days, a marked retrieve usually means “leave it and pick something else” – and we wonder why our dogs don’t mark as well as some of the Europeans! We must never lose that natural game-finding ability. A good team – handler and dog – will always outweigh a single “brilliant” individual. I personally feel a lot of handlers are training the natural ability out of their dogs. Handlers are stepping in far too soon on marked retrieves, picking the bird for the dog.
Q: Your successor, Kevin Doughty, has a big job ahead. What, if any, advice have you given him?
DL: I have just told him: “Be your own man. Don’t try to do things just to please other people, because you can’t.” It’s a thankless task sometimes as everyone has an opinion on what you should have done. You have to live and die by your own choices.
On This Page
