Keith Mott

Writes about winning fanciers past and present

I originally started the week's article by saying, 'this weekend I will be convoying the London & South East Classic Club young birds to Exeter , for the first of two races. I wish I could say we were going to Guernsey , but for obvious reasons this can't be, but I'm still looking forward to it!' As I conclude the Colum the news is filtering in that DEFRA have lifted the ban on Continental racing and we will indeed be racing from Guernsey . I've never been happier to be wrong! Great news! My assistant convoyer, Spencer Noble, has recently changed his job and can't do the last two Classic races of the season, but I have recruited two excellent replacements to finish the season. We are very honoured to have one of the sports retired superstars riding 'shotgun' for the Guernsey Classic this week! They were once described by the late, great Eric Cannon, as being one of the best handlers of racing pigeons he had seen. Who is it? Find out in my forthcoming Convoyers Report article! Just to get us all in the Young Bird Classic mood, I'm going to feature a few previous winners over the next few weeks!

L.& S.E.C.C. Young Bird Winners (Part 1) 

Mr. & Mrs, Ray Patton of Bishops Stortford. 

The first time I went to the Guernsey liberation site, back in the mid 1990's, Doug Went and I took, what was then a record young bird entry of 1,550 birds. The liberation site is car park next to a large sports field, a five minute drive from the ferry terminal and was one of the best sites I visited. The Guernsey H.S. club house was just up the street from the liberation site and this 100ft. x 40ft. building is owned by the pigeon club. The club, founded in 1898, is the biggest in the Channel Islands , with over 50 members and owns a rose bowl worth over £2,000. The club races North Road with the longest old bird race Fraserburgh (580 miles) and hold an annual Young Bird Combine race from Dorchester with Jersey . The late, great Cyril Lowe, who was a founder member, started up the ownership of the H.Q. for the members, which is now worth a great deal of money. The members race for prize cards and a wonderful array of trophies.

There were several thousands of young birds on Guernsey that Saturday, with the Solent Federation and Central Southern Classic Flying Club being there. Guernsey had a blanket of mist over it for nearly three weeks prior to the L.& S.E.C.C. race and pigeon racing off the Island had been near impossible. On our arrival in Guernsey at 06.00hrs on the Saturday, the Island was fogged out, but the forecast said the Saturday would be the best day of the weekend, with the break coming lunch time. Sure enough the mist lifted and the sun came out at mid-day, we cut the strings, liberating at 12.25hrs in a strong south west wind. The convoy cleared the race point really well and within an hour it was a blue sky, sunshine and a crystal clear English Channel . At the home end the youngsters tumbled in and some members had all their birds home on the day

Mr. & Mrs. Ray Patton of Bishops Stortford won the race, flying 208 miles, with a blue Van Loon hen feeding a seven day old youngster. This was the hen's second race of her life, having her first two weeks previous and recording 1 st . club, 1 st . West Section Thames N.E. Counties F.C. from Littlehampton. Prior to winning the Guernsey Classic, she was given lots of training tosses from Epping and Redhill. Ray keeps only a few young birds in a small glass fronted young bird loft and says he likes them to pair up as this has produced his best results. In 1996 he won the Golden Ring and this was won with a young cock feeding a youngster.

Ray has been in the sport since 1995 and has won many firsts in sprint / middle distance races. His wife, Denise, is his pigeon partner and he says he would be lost without her help, as she does the training and lots of the work around the loft. The Patton's race 50 old birds on both Natural and Widowhood, and the whole loft is fed on a quality widowhood mixture. Eight cocks are raced in the inland races on the widowhood system and Ray says several of those birds are Federation toppers. The old birds get three training tosses before the first race and then are flown out around the loft twice a day, with no more training. The main family kept is Janssen, which are outstanding up to 400 miles.

Daryll Luxford of Crawley

The 1995 season saw Daryll Luxford have his third season on the trot with outstanding performances in the Classic young bird races. In the Young Bird National from Sartilly in 1995 the Luxford loft recorded 4th, 17th & 48th Sect, 40th, 144th & 314th Open, 1st & 6th Surrey Championship Club. At club level the babies recorded three times 1st Club, five times 2nd Club and 1st Continental Club from Poole . Daryll didn't fly many old bird races in the 1995 season but did chalk up 49th & 62nd Sect, 349th & 524th Open, 4th & 6th Surrey Championship Club from the Pau (550 miles) National.

In 1994 Daryll won London & South East Classic Club's young bird Classic from Guernsey for the second year running. The partners' 1994 winner was a March-hatched blue chequer hen named 'Lobelia' which only had two races as a youngster. She was first bird on the clock from Lyndhurst (66 miles) to record 12th Club, then into the Classic Guernsey (154 miles). This game hen recorded 1st Open, 1st SW Sect, lifting £825 prize and pool money and £75 vouchers from Stock Nutrition. Sire of 'Lobelia' flewthe Channel 12 times in three seasons including the Pau National in 1994. The dam was bred by Doug Genders of Storrington and was one of Daryll's favourite pigeons. Daryll won 4th Section, 40th Open Sartilly (NFC), 1st Surrey Championship Club in 1995 with his blue chequer pied cock '12', he is a full brother to 'Lobelia' the 1994 Classic winner. '12' was only lightly raced in 1995 and also won 3rd Club Poole, beaten by two loftmates. Highlight of the 1993 season was when their blue pied cock 'Rufio' won 1st Open, 1st SW Sect L&SE Classic Club Guernsey (1,465 birds). This game blue pied cock was the only pigeon in the convoy to record over 1400 ypm and his nestmate, also a blue pied cock, called 'Peter Pan', won 1st Club Lyndhurst and 2nd Club Lyndhurst in 1993. A fantastic performance by this nest pair which only had three races each as young birds in 1993.

The main loft was 15ft x 8ft with three sections, corridors and Sputnik trapping. The second loft was 15ft x 6ft and housed the young bird team. Daryll maintained warmth and ventilation were very important factors in good loft design. He currently houses 16 pairs of stock as he believes you must have a strong stock team and is always looking to improve the team. Daryll keeps 16 pairs of Natural racers and breeds about 50 youngsters each season. He pairs up all the old birds in late January and the racers rear only one round, then they are trained from 50 miles up to the first race. He doesn't like the race team feeding youngsters and racing. He believes the Widowhood system is the way forward for inland racing although his loft is geared for Channel races, as he maintains an experienced hen will always give that little extra over 500 miles. The birds are fed on Marimans mixes and peanuts are given now and again. The old birds are raced through to Bergerac (420 miles) and Pau (550 miles), with yearlings through to Nantes (275 miles). Youngsters get five races each, including the Channel if possible and get lots of training up to and along the coastline. All Daryll's birds are trained to the coast, with Channel racing in mind and says the youngsters can have as many as 40 coastal tosses before the first race.

Dick & Neil Steptoe of Oxted.

The London & South East Classic Club held its final race of the 2004 season, when members sent 1,600 young birds to Guernsey . The Saturday morning of the race dawned with blue skied, sunshine on the baskets, with a clear English Channel and the convoy was liberated at 09.00hrs. in a fresh south west wind. The members enjoyed a 'banger' of a race, with the leading pigeons making over 2050 y.p.m. and the classic secretary, Peter Coles, told me that only 10 members of the 190 who sent, failed to verify a pigeon.

Dick and Neil Steptoe of Oxted recorded the winning pigeon at 11.20hrs. flying 165 miles and clocked another bird 6seconds later to record 2nd. open. The father and son partnership sent 16 birds and their winner was a 'darkness' blue pied hen raced to the perch. This game hen won 23 rd. open at the first young bird Guernsey Classic in August and is bred down from the Vic Oliver's Van Reet bloodlines. She was given every Federation race in her build up and Neil told me that his youngsters normally get three 25 mile training tosses every week through the season. The second pigeon on the clock was another Van Reet blue pied hen, sent sitting due to hatch eggs and she is a granddaughter of the Steptoe's champion hen, 'Double Top', winner of 1st. open Combine Alencon and 1st. open Combine Bergerac in the same season. A brilliant line of Van Reets! Neil says all the 50 young birds go on the 'darkness' system and race the programme each season.

Neil has been in the sport 25 years, with his father, Dick, joining him and forming the present partnership in 1990. They race 36 cocks and 12 hens on the widowhood system, with the hens being re-paired half way through the season to race the longer channel events, on the natural system. The Steptoe's have four lofts, with super traps, and pair up the racers in January. The race team rear a pair of youngsters and go on the widowhood when sitting their second round of eggs. They are given ten 30 mile training tosses when they are driving to the second nest and the whole team go to the first four inland races to get them fit, with some of the cocks staying inland for the season, and the hens being the main channel racers on the natural system. Neil says he brakes down at the end of the week and they are fed on 'Gerry Plus' and 'Breeders Plus'. The double Combine winning hen, 'Double Top', was sent to Alencon , sitting 10 day old eggs, then won the Combine from Bergerac feeding the youngsters when they hatched. Neil and Dick keep 20 pairs of stock birds, which are mainly Van Reet and Janssen, and these are paired up the same time as the racers, so their first round of eggs can be floated in the race loft. The stock team are fed on 'Breeders Plus' and are separated after they have reared two rounds of youngsters, the breeders and young birds are kept on deep litter, with the widowhood lofts being scraped out twice a day.

That it for this week! I would like to wish all our members of the London & South East Classic Club a great race from Guernsey this weekend! My phone number is: 01372 463480. See yer!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.