Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past and present

JOHN & DANNY BARRETT

OF EWELL

Header note: Danny Barrett has been very ill in hospital in recent weeks and everyone at the Esher & District RPC would like to wish him a quick and full recovery. Get well soon, mate!

When it comes to doing well in the Federation races, a partnership that is very consistent and does well every season is John Barrett, and his son Danny. Johnny has not enjoyed the best of heath in recent months, but Danny has been down at the Esher club every week and is one of the main workers on marking nights. The partners have been premier prize winners in the very strong Esher club several times in recent seasons and were Three Borders Federation Individual Champions in 2009.

They had another great season racing in the Three Borders Federation in 2011 winning: O.B: 1st, 10th, 16th, 20th Federation Wincanton (1865 birds), 6th, 7th, 25th Federation Wincanton (2105 birds), 11th, 14th Federation Yeovil (2230 birds), 4th Federation Kingsdown (1966 birds), 16th, 17th, 20th Federation Newton Abbot, 4th, 5th, 6th Federation Falaise, 9th, 25th Federation, 5th Federation Kingsdown (1090 birds), 16th, 23rd Federation Tours (777 birds), 4th, 7th, 12th Federation Yeovil (1021 birds), 10th Federation Bergerac. Y.B: 10th Federation Wincanton (1260 birds), 8th, 9th Federation Yeovil (1497 birds), 12th Federation Taunton (1525 birds), 12th Federation Newton Abbot (885 birds) and lifted the ‘Federation Rose Bowl’ for winning the Combined Average. John and Dan’s good Staf Van Reet blue pied hen, ‘69323’ was runner up for the ‘Ken Besant Memorial Trophy’ won by the best bird of the year and she recorded 10th Federation Wincanton, 14th Federation Yeovil, 4th Federation Kingsdown and 9th Federation Kingsdown. The partners 2011 Federation winner was their good Staf Van Reet blue pied widowhood cock, ‘69327, and he also put up a brilliant performance winning 1st Federation Wincanton, 5th Federation Kingsdown and 12th Federation Yeovil. A wonderful loft performance!

I have only known Johnny Barrett a few years, with the first time I met him being when he joined my club the Esher & Dist RPC, with his good friend, Bob Carter, and since then they have both set the club on fire with their outstanding performances. The mighty Esher club certainly dominated the Three Borders Federation results in the first few young bird races of 2009, the highlight being when the Federation sent 1,958 birds to the Wincanton (2) and the Esher club took the first eleven positions, plus 13th with Mark and Les Duffell of Hersham breaking the run by taking 12th Federation. John and Danny Barrett took the first five places, flying 95 miles and clocking the five youngsters in 18 seconds on their ETS system. In my many years' association with the Three Borders Federation I can’t remember a club taking the first eleven prizes before! The following weekend the Federation sent 1,928 birds to Yeovil (107 miles) and the Esher supremos, John and Danny Barrett, clocked two birds in 2 seconds to win 1st and 2nd Federation, with the Esher club taking six positions in the result. Brilliant pigeon racing! At the end of the 2009 season the Federation Points champions were Esher (244 points) with South Downs being runner up (234 points) and the Individual Points Trophy winners were M/M John Barrett & son of Esher (69 points) with runner up M/M R. Maybey & son (40 points). The Esher club have enjoyed another brilliant season in 2009 racing in the Three Borders Federation and winning the Federation Points Shield for the forth time in five seasons.

The 2010 season saw the Barretts enjoy another good year in the Three Borders Federation winning: (OB) 9th, 10th, 25th Federation Wincanton (1,584 birds), 7th Federation Wincanton (1,916 birds), 6th, 15th, 23rd Federation West Bay (2,163 birds), 10th Federation Wincanton (1,736 birds), 3rd, 10th Federation Fougeres (934 birds), 9th, 20th Federation West Bay (2,016 birds), 12th, 13th, 14th, 20th Federation Messac ( 931 birds), 13th Federation Exeter (1,135 birds), 6th, 22nd, 23rd Federation Wincanton, (YB) 4th, 9th, 24th Federation Wincanton (1,651 birds), 11th Federation Blandford (1,424 birds), 2nd, 10th Federation West Bay (1,292 birds). The Three Borders Federation got the 2010 racing season off to a great start when members sent 1,584 birds to Wincanton and liberated in to a light North East wind, on what turned out to be a perfect flying day. The 2009 Federation Points Champions, Esher & District RPC, really started the new 2010 campaign in great style with two of their members taking six positions in the Federation result. The Esher club had problems with their ETS marking system on the first night and all the members had to clock their birds on traditional timing clocks, with Bob & Danny Carter recording 1st, 2nd, 5th Federation on my borrowed T3 clock.

John & Danny race their pigeons to their loft in Ewell. They race their 16 pairs of old birds on the roundabout system and the racers exercise around the loft twice a day during the racing season to maintain their fitness. The racers are broken down from Saturday through to Tuesday morning, being fed on Super Widowhood and Depurative mixtures, the same method as with widowhood cocks. The old birds do not fly out around home in the winter months and are locked up after the last race in September until the first round of youngsters are weaned the following season. The birds are paired up on Boxing Day each year and when the first round of youngsters are 18 days old the hens are taken away and then they are on the Roundabout, being trained well before the first Federation race. John and Danny like racing at all distances through to 450 miles and send their birds every week in the Esher club. The Roundabout hens and cocks are both sent to the same race and Danny tells me the hens raced best in the 2008 season. In the 2009 season the Barrett’s used three sections of their loft for the Roundabout system, with the middle one being the nest box section and so minimized the time the racers saw their nest sites and kept them keener.

The 40ft loft is L-shaped, with grilled floors, which are cleaned out once a week and the partners were on the ETS System for the first time in the 2009 season. They maintain it now helps out with trapping the birds. John and Danny don’t keep any stock pigeons and the main families raced are Staf Van Reet and Vandenabeeles. The 40 young birds are raced on the ‘dark’ system, with them being put on about a month after weaning as it is still winter, with long dark nights and are taken off in June to start their training. Danny tells me the babies start their training at 20 miles because they tend to lose more on any tosses shorter than that and they finish training with about three Winchesters (50 miles) just before the first Federation race. If the young birds are fit and well they are sent to every race, with two training tosses mid-week.

When Johnny Barrett was a young man he was a champion Boxer. He started up in pigeon racing in 1968, and after a twenty year partnership with Ronnie Keeley went in partnership with his son Danny in 2000. The Barrett alliance has been very successful through the years winning the Federation numerous time and 1st open Combine a couple times. Danny says the Esher club is brilliant, being a good friendly set up with ‘red hot’ competition. Well done to John and Danny, on their fantastic success in Three Borders Federation in recent seasons! There you have it, one the best Federation partnerships in the South of England!

TEXT & PHOTO BY KEITH MOTT.