What makes Cassio worthy of being campaigned?
The easiest way to answer that is by pointing to the results – He’s had very significant wins under every breeder judge I deeply respect except for Natalie Norris who hasn’t been judging much. But he IS a truly moderate, extremely well-proportioned, very typy, beautifully moving Siberian who is built to do the job and has a fabulous temperament. He also has great feet. Even Charlie Belford, who was a hard man to please, loved his feet. In fact, he liked Cassio a great deal and was always trying to figure out if he liked him better or his kennel-mate Pontiac, another Kiev grandson who runs lead on the Steffen’s team. Ironically, the only time Pontiac was shown was at the last Portland National, and he took third or fourth in Open while Cassio took first. But until the last couple of minutes, it was Pontiac who was in first. That was under Vince Buoniello, and of course Vince is a long-time dog driver. What would you say is Cassio’s strengths? Pretty much those things I’ve mentioned, but
