The Challenge of International Racing

by John Wills of Frimley

Six times winner of the British Section in International races

& 1st Greater Distance Single Bird NFC Barcelona in 2005

I thought I would take as my theme, the Challenge of International Racing. I hope this article excites (or even upsets) you enough that you will come and race with us. If I can get fanciers to send another 5 to 10 pigeons per race I will have done what I set out to do.

Barcelona is the race I am now aiming for, my ambition being to win the British Section having in the past been 2nd, 3rd, 5th etc. To me the name Barcelona has always had stars around it and, being 700 miles to my loft, it is the supreme test of a pigeon. For the record my other International distances are: Pau 550 miles, Dax 525 miles, Marseilles 600 miles and Perpignan 621 miles.

For those unfamiliar with what constitutes an International, there are only five true ones - Pau, Barcelona, Dax, Marseilles & Perpignan, and only four of these count towards the Europa Challenge Cup, the most coveted cup in Europe, Dax being the racepoint not included. The Europa Cup is a two-bird nominated challenge.

Today I sense an increased interest in International races, fuelled no doubt by the UK's excellent performances from Dax in the past three seasons, so if you are thinking about having a go at the Internationals, what can you expect?

First, you need a special type of pigeon, for example in my expeience it is twice as hard to get pigeons out of the Pau International than it is the Pau National. In International racing, the front stretching from east to west is as wide in terms of miles across, as the distance from south to north. And to think that in our domestic club racing some fanciers moan about being half a mile to the east or west of some of their rivals! So you can see, you do need something special for the Internationals.

To get pigeons consistently you need to base your breeding on birds which have performed in the International, as you can be sure they will make sound breeding stock. I'll take as an example, the Marseille race. Although at Internatioal level this race attracts around 20,000 birds, not many UK pigeons go to it, in fact it is the least well supported of all the races. However, pigeons that get into England on the winning day have formed families of which have stood the test of time. As examples, Jimmy Shepherd's loft is formed around Marseille birds and there is no finer loft of pigeons, as was Ian Benstead's. These two families have not only done it for Jimmy and Ian but generations of their pigeons have won for other people. Of course, there are other good Marseille-based lofts I could also mention but I think I've made my point. If you are lucky enough to evolve a family as good as these, you will never have to fear anybody.

When you compete in the Internationals, you get sent a book with the full result in so you can see how all the famous continental fanciers have performed. When my dark cheq hen Britannia won the British Section from Perpignan she was my only entry and she finished 320 th International, beating all 300 of the birds sent by one well-known German fancier, in fact his first pigeon was one place behind me! What I am trying to say, is that by racing against the continentals you can get an idea of how good the British pigeons are; they are certainly not inferior to those of the continentals despite what some UK writers would have you believe!

I've won the British Section 3 or 4 times when there's been north in the wind, and I always pray for north winds because they bring the UK pigeons more into the centre of the country. Invariably, the UK birds come in through Kent having been carried with the International convoy into Belgium. This means that from Barcelona, my pigeons are likely to have flown nearer to 800 miles than 700.

You've got to let pigeons grow on but you've also got to make them think - I do a lot of singling up right from the young bird stage. However, I don't think actual race experience is all that important. I don't race youngsters, and as yearlings they may have only one or two races, yet I send them to the Pau National at two and have good returns. If you over-race good distance pigeons, they'll pack up on you. As Ian Bentead, who also used to train horses said to me: 'You can leave the race on gallop if you overwork pigeons for the distance.' You need the pigeon to give supreme effort if it is to come out of the Internationals.

A friend of mine and Ian's used to send to the Internationals and it would take him a week to get a pigeon home. He told us they'd had 10 or 12 races beforehand that season so he couldn't work it out! We talked him into picking 2 or 3 pigeons, giving them 3 x 100 mile spins then jumping them into Marseille - and he won it! The lesson learnt was: don't overwork them and experience is not a big factor. Take my good hen Ever Loyal (a daughter of my Lourdes Hen, 8 th Open International Hens) who had only 8 races in her life. She was untrained as a youngster and had 1 race as a yearling. At two she flew Saran, 260 miles and then the Pau National, winning 95 th Open. At three she went straight to the Pau National without any prep races and was my second pigeon (my first was 30 th Open) and if I'd timed her she would have made the top 200. She hadn't turned a feather so I earmarked her for Barcelona the following year. I sent her there without a prep race and she took 12 days. The next year I gave her a 200-mile training race and then put her into Barcelona again. It was a strong west wind and it was pouring with rain but I said I would get her and I did, timing her at roughly the same time as the winner 100 miles to the east, to win 5 th Open. Her next race was Palamos (straight in) and she came a couple of days after the race winner. To sum up, she only ever had 8 races, including 2 at 550 miles, 2 at 700 miles and 1 at 680 miles, so you can see that good pigeons don't need the work. This hen bred my 1 st BICC Biarritz winner in 2004, and this year it was her son who was 1 st Greater Distance and 6 th BICC Barcelona. I have now sent to Barcelona 4 times since the Greater Distance Club was formed and have won it twice, which I consider a great honour

British fanciers have been putting up great International perfomances for many, many years, yet it was never enough to swell the UK birdage figures. In the past the BICC put up a £1000 first prize but even that didn't attract new senders. Also, there was the time when someone offered to double-glaze the house of the Marseille winner yet we got only one extra pigeon than the year before! I've come to the conclusion that, apart from Dax, most people in England haven't got the pigeons capable of flying the Internationals. For the last few years the BICC has added fortnightly national races to its programme in the hope of attracting new members who will then progress to the Internationals, but although these national races have been a tremendous success in their own right, they haven't brought an increase in International birdage.

The BICC's facilities are marvellous. We have the best transporter, with water on both sides of the baskets, never more than 12 inches from a pigeon. The birds are fed outside the baskets on top of the water troughs so there is no dirty corn. Rest assured, the pigeons are looked after. How some organisations can basket on a Friday night to race out of France the next day, I will never know. The BICC baskets a day earlier so our birds are rested. Everything is done for the pigeon and not to cut costs. Would fanciers like to be banged about all night then have to get up and do a day's work? No, so why do they ask their pigeons to do it? The BICC is also blessed with having a marvellous president and secretary in Brian Long and Jan Deacon.

Regarding the Dax race, it is has got to the stage now where it's crazy, we have two clubs racing so there are two races, two winners and two lots of hours of darkness, with the BICC losing out when the velocities are compared because the BICC, unlike the NFC, follows the International HOD. This means the BICC's HOD are one hour 17 minutes different to the NFC's - silly! I was against the NFC ever taking on the Dax race and will always wish they hadn't but it's now time for both clubs to get together. However, I think the longer UK fliers would be best advised to stick at Dax and Biarritz. Even if you live in the south of England, just by glancing at the map you can see it requires a different type of pigeon for Biarritz and Dax than for Marseille, Perpignan and Barcelona.

When you look at the BICC results you are looking at a who's who of distance racing in the south of England, fanciers such as Jimmy Roy, John Nicholson, Jimmy Shepherd and Geoff Cooper. At the marking for Perpignan this season, I was sitting in the bar around table which comprised of Alby Deacon, Mike Bunney, John Tyerman, Mark Gilbert and Alistair Muir. I don't care what anybody says, it would have been hard to beat the fanciers on that table never mind in the rest of the race.

Once you come into the International fold you will find a different kind of camaraderie - no-one seems to get jealolus over someone else's success. A pigeon I'd like to honour this year, a pigeon I'd give my right arm for, was that of John Clarke's in the Barcelona race. I congratulate him.

My biggest thrill came when I was 2nd Barcelona - because of the prevailing conditions. I could read the race so I knew when I needed to have one but also how difficult it was going to be. It took me a week to come down from that one. Mind, when my red cock Rollercoaster won Pau to give me my first win in the British Section, I didn't come down for a year! I'm sure others who have won the BICC can relate to this. For years I was a club and fed man but after Rollercoaster there was no turning back. The thrill was so high you just can't get the like from club racing. I send hoping to win but I'll settle for having pigeons on the wining day in the British Section - these have done their job. As I said earlier, most club radii are only mile and half wide but my pigeons are having to break from a 500-mile wide front. Having said all that, I get a thrill every time I clock in from a long race.

To sum up, you have to send pigeons bred for the job. This year we sent 5 to Dax - 4 of mine and 1 of Rose's. Though I thought mine were under prepared I had all 4 on the winning day, yet Rose's never came. It's no reflection on the pigeon's ability but it was only good for sprinting.

I once bred some young birds for Dave Bellchambers of Isleworth and one day he called me and said, 'I'm fed up with your pigeons, John. They go on the roof and when I call them they just sit there - even if they're starving.' Similarly, I can lend my pigeons to people and they will just on a perch for a year refusing to pair up. This shows you the depth of love of home which they have and that, after all, is what I am trying to create in them. Some might say they are just plain awkward, like there owner! Call me prejudiced but I wouldn't swap them for anyone else's.