NFC TARBES GRAND NATIONAL 2008

Report by www.elimarpigeons.com

The Blue Riband race of the National Flying Club, the Tarbes Grand National, got underway last Friday when Chief Convoyer Geoff Allen released approximately 4,000 birds at 5.50am into a light and variable wind turning light south en route for the 500-mile plus journey. Pigeons were recorded on the day in Cornwall and Kent and at 747 miles into Lancashire and 748 miles into Yorkshire, compelling evidence that every bird had a chance of taking leading honours – something which is true of nearly every Grand National, which is what makes it the fairest race on the calendar.

When the first verification came through showing a pigeon in Plymouth at 3.51pm followed by birds in Crewkerne and Southampton at 4.16pm it looked as if it was going to be ‘fasten-your-seatbelts time’. And so it was for a select few but it later transpired that this was anything but an easy Grand National, the velocities of the race winner and the 100th first bird verification showing a drop of 273 yards a minute. Up country it became evident that birds were not going to be dropping in left, right and centre and the mid-country and northern sections saw few timings, making it all the more remarkable that at the end of the day we had seen the furthest flying on-the-day pigeons in the 100 year plus history of the National Flying Club. Remarkable.

The main prize was landed at 4.28pm when Geoff & Catherine Cooper of Peasedown St John recorded an absolute flyer doing 1573ypm to win 1st Section G, 1st Open.

Geoff & Catherine Cooper.

The 2008 season started with a lot of apprehension for Geoff and Catherine as it was their first season racing to the new 85ft block-and-rendered loft they had built in the previous autumn. Although it was in the same position as the old lofts, everything about it was different, including the section layout and the boxes. They need not have worried, not only did they win the first National of the season with the BICC from Falaise with ‘J.W’, they have now won the most prestigious National in the country, one Geoff has been trying to win all his life. Up until now Geoff has had seven positions in the first twelve of the Grand National and he was starting to think he would never actually win one. On Friday afternoon an ex-pigeon fancier from North Devon, George Ridge, arrived to watch the Grand National birds home, as he has for the last few years, in fact Geoff and Catherine’s 2nd Section Bordeaux National winner in 2006 was named ‘George’ as it was the first of their National birds George had seen arrive. Geoff had calculated that the winner could do 53mph but he did not think it would be their loft. He was inside the loft checking the food and water pots when suddenly ‘George’ pushed over his shoulder and into his box. George Ridge, watching with Catherine outside, could not believe how well he trapped, trembling on the landing board and then rushing in. He was in brilliant condition and could have flown on until dark, although his wattle was very red where he had flown through some hard rain. When Catherine verified him she was told they were leading the race. She thought ‘brilliant, we shall probably get beaten by further flyers but let’s enjoy the moment while it lasts’. It was a nervous few hours waiting for the northern birds to be clocked in but finally they knew they had won. What a moment. All the hours of hard work that Geoff has put in to his own birds and the sport in general had been rewarded in the best possible way.

‘George’ started the season with club races from Minstead and Fareham, then into the Classic from Lessay and Messac where he was 180th Open, then into BBC Poitiers 350 miles. The race birds are all fed on a mix Geoff makes himself, using Versele Laga and Willsbridge corn. This year Geoff altered it slightly, giving a little more of this and a little less of that. He checks the food values of all the corn and tries to get the balance of fats, carbohydrates and proteins just right. When people ask what the birds are fed it is difficult to answer as Geoff may change the proportions of the mixture for different races. He thinks it is like fine tuning a racing car engine and different birds going to different races have different needs. The birds have been racing well to the new loft all season but Catherine was not happy with their urgency to trap after arriving home from the longer distances; they seemed to be homing to the loft rather than racing. In the shorter races it was not a problem but when the going was tough the love of home was not so apparent. Maybe this was due to the new loft. To win the Grand National everything has to be right – fitness, motivation and health.  Catherine persuaded Geoff to alter the ‘bedroom tactics’ prior to basketing, and whether this worked or not they don’t know but it certainly didn’t hinder them.

1st Open NFC Tarbes.

‘George’ has won many prizes over the last few years including 42nd National BICC Saran, 30th National BBC Carlisle, 150th Classic Cholet, 2nd Section 102nd Open NFC Bordeaux, 207th National NFC Tarbes and 130th Classic Fougeres. He is part of a family of birds that win from 60 miles through to 650 miles. His sire is a full brother to ‘J.W’ who won the BICC National this year from Falaise approx 200 miles. His sire is ‘Titch’ who won prizes from Plymouth through to Pau NFC and is still breeding in the stock loft at 14 years of age. The granddam is a daughter of Deweerdt’s ‘Boris’ who won 38th International Perpignan. ‘George’s’ dam is a full sister to ‘Mr Consistent’ who won 5th NFC Dax and 37th International Dax. Her sire, ‘George’s’ grandsire, is ‘Emiel III’, a son of Deweerdt’s ‘Emiel’ 1st Bordeaux International. Her dam, ‘George’s’ granddam, is a sister to Nicholls 3rd National NFC Pau, 4th Classic Bergerac, ‘21’ multiple prize winner and breeder and ‘Fiddle 2nd BICC National Perpignan and 9th BICC National Pau.

The Coopers’ widowhood loft.

The birds are raced on the simplest of widowhood systems, paired in January, rearing two young birds at the start of the season, then separated until the end of March, when they are re-paired and allowed to sit approx four to six days. The hens are then taken away and the birds are on widowhood being exercised twice a day. Normally during this time they have two short training tosses, but this year because of the new loft they had four, from five to twenty miles. There is no training after this, as it is not needed if the birds are exercising well and also there are so many peregrine falcons en route. The hens are not shown before racing as Geoff likes them to be calm when they are in the basket, but he makes sure they are always there on their return as it is important not to let the birds down. All the yearlings go to 300 or 400 miles, it depends on how hard the 300 mile race is.  The two year olds go to 400 to 450 miles and if this is an easy race then they may go to 500 miles plus. If they are fast two year olds Geoff will not send them to 560 miles preferring to keep them another year. The young birds fly the full programme including any National or Classic. The cocks may be stopped after one channel race but the hens will go to as many as possible. This year Geoff is organising a young bird race with High Littleton club from Tours, 300 miles to Peasedown St John and it is open to everyone. He believes that young bird channel races are getting shorter and shorter and to have good pigeons they need to be tested as young birds. As Geoff races cocks the hens need to be tested in their first year and any that do well are then placed in the stock loft and can be confidently bred from. Geoff firmly believes in keeping it simple, aiming for health, motivation and fitness, and says if you can have all three together and you have well bred birds then success should not be far away.

The stock loft is the hub of the loft, it is from here their success starts. Geoff and Catherine’s birds are mainly Deweerdts with a few Elsakers. In the loft at the moment there are three National winners of Geoff’s and several sons and daughters of National and International winners. If someone does well with a bird from Geoff’s family then Geoff will always have one back for the stock loft. This way he introduces new vigour, without losing the winning line. Geoff’s advice to anybody would be to buy the best you can afford and he says one pair close to the winners are better than two pairs a generation away.

This family have bred winners and National winners for many other fanciers, in fact Geoff could not understand why they would win Classics and Nationals and he could only win 2nds, 3rds, etc. This weekend it all changed. On closing, Geoff and Catherine would like to congratulate the northern fanciers who recorded some fantastic performances, also the many fanciers who timed in on the day for the first time. They said many dreams came true this weekend, not just for the winners.

1st Section A was won by Mr & Mrs Tim Joy of Nutbourne who clocked a blue yearling cock, the lines being the old Steeles crossed with Ernie Deacon’s Southwells and there is also a bit of Kenny Hine blood in the mix. Tim has raced since he was 14 and is now nearly 70. His birds are flown natural to an open loft on the farm being fed on local farm wheat, barley and green peas and sometimes a few horse beans plus clean water. Nothing else is used. His section winner had no land races, just Messac and Lessay in preparation. It is clearly bred for the distance and arrived in wonderful condition, as did each of his first 6 birds. These comprised 5 yearlings and a 3y and all were clocked. The winner will now be rested until next year. Tim added that he is not interested in widowhood flying because working on a farm he can leave his birds on the open hole, which keeps them fitand they really enjoy their liberty. It is lovely to see the old Steele lines, which have been in this loft for over 50 years, coming to the fore. Tim’s ambition is to win the Grand National or Palamos with the BBC.

Tim Joy.

The winners of 1st Section B are Mike & Linda Jarvis of Southampton who are assisted by silent partner Nigel Llewellyn. Mike, who flew his first race in 1954 while still at school, timed a 6y natural hen sitting 9 days. He said: ‘Apart from the National I have only been racing in the BICC this year and her 1st race was Alencon 177 mls where she was 9th Open 4,000 birds. Next was Saran 245 mls then Tarbes. In addition to club cards she as been 168th Open Tarbes NFC 2005 clocked on day in almost darkness and 24th Open Bergerac BICC 2006. She is Rutter Bros blood from their clearance sale x Van Der Esp from Nigel Llewellyn. She was very good on arrival and I must congratulate the convoyer for a job well done. Regards feeding, no two years are the same This season after reading about Chris Gordan’s feeding methods, I have fed a lot of barley then built the birds up before the race on Gem fats and peanuts.’ Mike also told us that he just tries to keep things simple. He said years ago he would have said to win the King’s Cup was the aim but now he is quite pleased to get them all home in good time. Sadly, however, it looks like he has lost one of his old faithfuls in this race. In a distinguished pigeon career, Mike has won 1st Open Messac CSCFC, 1st Open Guernsey CSCFC, 1st Open Bergerac BICC, twice 1st Section B Pau/Tarbes NFC and 3rd & 4th Section B NFC Dax International. As for his latest section winner, he says, ‘I will send her back to Tarbes next year to try and relieve Geoff and Catherine Cooper of the King’s Cup.’

Mike Jarvis.

1st Section B - a beautiful cheq hen.

Mike Staddon of Crewkerne won 1st, 2nd & 3rd Section C. Mike told us: ‘My section winner is a dark cheq cock bred by my best friend Sheldon Leonard, Arklow, Eire, master breeder, best vet and fearless buyer of the world’s best bloodlines in conjunction with his good friend Andre Roodhooft of Belgium, who is also a good friend of mine. I feel honoured to know these two gentlemen. The bloodlines of contain Lou Wouters of whose line Andre and Sheldon have the best in the world, with some Hofkens, Flor Engels and Kanibal blood from Dirk van Dyke also in his breeding. I’ve been saying to Sheldon all season that this super cock was going to win a big prize. He has been in super form, but for the last two weeks after flying Alencon NFC he has been absolutely bouncing. I was very confident I would get him in good time from Tarbes, though I did not expect him so quick, but I love being surprised. He beat my E.T.A. by over one hour. It was a really exciting and brilliant day, especially getting two hens close behind to win 1st, 2nd and 3rd Section C from over 545 miles. It doesn’t get any better bar winning it. All the pigeons I sent to Tarbes were flown on pure widowhood and I must congratulate the convoyer on the super condition the pigeons homed in. The pigeons were fed on Versele Laga Sport in 2008, but I usually change the corn every year trying to improve performances. Who knows what I will feed in 2009? I do like fiddling around with feed, especially with barley and fats, and I do put supplements on the corn but no pigeon supplements, only what I can acquire from the local shops and supermarkets, as most pigeon supplements whether on the corn or in the water are a waste of money. The pigeons only get clean water in the drinkers 24/7. I’m delighted to record my 25th x 1st Section C in the NFC.’

Mike Staddon.

1st & 2nd Section C for Mike Staddon.

Henry Baker & Son of Plymouth take 1st Section D. Local flyer Ian Johnston paid them a visit and had this to say: ‘Henry and Daniel timed a superb 5y mealy widowhood cock now named The Spirit of Discovery by that most enthusiastic of National fanciers here in the West Country, Nobby Henley. It is bred off Kirkpatrick lines from Louella stock paired to a Janssen of Tumley Lofts Red Fox lines. Having raced consistently throughout the season, he was prepared specifically for this race by being given his hen on the day prior to basketing to provide maximum incentive. The strong winds brought quite a shock to the Baker family, who all have an interest in the pigeons. Their winner arrived at 15.51hrs, which was considerably earlier than was anticipated. On the day of the race Henry was not feeling in the best of health and was spending much of the day indoors whilst his wife Marie was keeping a tentative watch on the loft just in case there was an early arrival. So you can imagine how panic set in as Marie spotted their mealy in the garden. After shouting to Henry, he rushed to the loft, removed the race rubber, which he subsequently dropped before eventually clocking and registering their pigeon. Then came probably the longest hour or two of their lives as the first to clock and having to wait while the race unfolded. As things panned out they were to be beaten by Geoff and Catherine Cooper, who they are only too pleased to congratulate. The Bakers know only too well just how it feels to win a National having won this season’s first NFC race from Fougeres. Henry was full of praise for his son Daniel who plays such a huge part in managing their small team of pigeons. The day they won 2nd Open NFC Tarbes is without a doubt a day the whole family will never forget.’ Our thanks to Ian for compiling these details.

Henry & Daniel Baker.

1st Section D.

Bryan Poulton of Shepperton is the winner of 1st Section E. A fancier for 54 years, he clocked a 7y natural hen sitting 14 days. Like most of his team, she is a combination of Cattrysse and Dordin birds and established over 20 years ago. She has won many position in French races including: 2002 - as a yearling 1st club, 2nd Three Borders Federation Bergerac; 2003 -3rd club Bergerac; 2005 - 2nd club, 11th Fed 24th SMT Combine Poitiers; 2006 -6th club,20th Fed Bergerac. As prep she had 2 inland races then Messac, winning 4th club. She was fed a mixture ofpellets and conditioner seed in a morning and Irish mixture in the evening and Bryan said such was her condition that it was hard to tell she had just flown 564 miles.She has now been retired. This was Bryan’s first National race for 15 years. Asked whether he found it easier or harder to prepare pigeons for the distance than the shorter ones, he replied: ‘After 54 years I am still trying to find out how you prepare a pigeon for any race. Over the yearsI have wonBergerac/Bordeauxin local clubssome 13timesand I get great pleasure from seeing birds returning home on the day after flying over 450 miles.Having been Secretaryof the Three Borders Federation for over 20 years has limited the timethat I can spend with the pigeons and therefore a resultsuch as thisisa very pleasant experience.’

Bryan Poulton.

1st & 2nd Section F was won by Frank Lloyd & Eamon Kelly of Abingdon, former winners of 1st Open NFC Pau with Little Margaret. They have flown in partnership for 36 years and at the moment Frank is in hospital sothis was a big lift for him. We spoke to Eamon who told us: ‘This season we have been helped by Mark Jarvis aged 14 who lives in the village. He has been a great help and sport needs more young people like him. Our 1st Sectionwinner was bought at the Wantage breeder/buyer sale and was bred by Maurice Hull from Stanford in the Vale.It is a 3y cheq hen. Maurice has been a very consistent flyer at club level for many years.Our 2nd Section winner was bred by Paul Kenny of East Hendred and is a Mark Kidby/Stan Dangerfield cross stemming from Stan's good distance family.This is a 5y cheq cock. Both pigeons were raced on natural, the hen racing back to a 2-day old young bird and the cock feeding a big young birdand taking notice of his hen again. Allrace birds are fed half Gerry Plus, half Super Widowood.We use Gemthepax twice weekly and Adherb also twice weekly. Peanuts are fed in the evening as I think this treat is very important for long distance racing.Both pigeons have racedvery well in the past winning many positions in all the various clubs.On arrival both were in excellent condition, the hen goingstraight to her nest box without feedingor watering.Hopefully both birds will be ready to fly in theSaintes National. We sent 14 birds and in addition to the two we timed on the day we had 4 birds on the 2nd day and 2 more on the 3rd day. I would like to thank the convoyer Geoff Allan forall his hard work and a special thanks to John Edwards forall the time and effort he hasput into the club this year.Also, I would like to congratulate all the winners in this Tarbes race on their very good performances, especially on the day up to nearly 750mls.

Eamon Kelly and Mark Jarvis.

1st Section F. 

Ron & Yvonne Thompson of Stotfold are 1st Section H. Ron told us: ‘My hobby began in 1959 looking after my father’s pigeons in Welwyn. We won the McMullens Cup 1st and 2nd with Smithy's Little Hen from Hetton (I still have the cup). In 1968I kept and raced pigeons in Berlin, Germany whilst in the British Army and in 1972 I topped the fed from Amsterdam to Berlin 600km - my first taste of success over there. The following year I came home to England and joined the Hatfield club with considerable success, winning2 x 2nd Open L.N.R. Berwick, 4th Open L.N.R. Stonehaven, 2 x6th Open L.N.R Stonehaven, 1st club Lerwick 577 miles (only sent one bird), 20th Open L.N.R. Thurso and an RPRA Silver Jubilee Award London Region for 2nd and 14th combine with a yearling hen. In 1984 I raced south for a while and won 1st Inter Counties South Road Fed Weymouth. Then in 1986 I became ill with pigeon lung and gave up the hobby for ten years. In 1996 a blood test proved all clear and I returned to the hobby at Hatfield North Road. I moved to Arlesey in 2000, joined the Baldock club and won 1st, 2nd and 3rd UBI Combine Picauville in 2002. Three years on I moved to Stotfold with stock birds given to me by Michael Shepherd, these being of the Jim Biss strain, which brings us to today's winner. He is a 3y natural cock sent feeding a five-day old baby, his first of the year. His sire is a Jim Biss bird of Supercrack Crusson lines and the dam is from Peter Titmuss x Les Varney Cattrysse lines. He was having his fourth National race of the season and was fed on a light feed am and a heavy feed pm with peanuts added. He arrived in good condition but will now be put away for the season. He was scoring for the first time as I play a waiting game with my distance birds.’

Ron Thompson.

1st Section H.

Mr & Mrs Jim Ashfield & Son of Birminham, flying 649 miles, win 1st Section I. Jim, who has been in the sport since 1972, timed a 3y widowhood cock bred from his own family of pigeons, which have been cultivated over a number of years. Apart from inland races it has been to Lessay and was his first bird back flying into a hard north-east wind and also Falaise, which was a holdover and a north-east wind on return. He has not taken any major prizes but has always been a channel contender and, having returned in excellent condition, he may well now go to Saintes. Jim feeds a mixture comprised of Vanrobaeys and Versele Laga. He uses Turbo-hydrate andgives peanuts aweek prior to the race. This is a welcome boost for Jim as earlier in the year a fox entered his loft from the stall trap and decimated the team, killing 23 cock birds, so success this term has been achieved with only a handful of birds. Jim has two main aims, which are poles apart. One is to win this race, the other is to win the Vanrobaeys Gold Ring Classic, in which race in 2006 he took 8 prizes winning a Carribean cruise and £4,000 in prize-money, followed by £2,000 in the 2007 Rohnfried breeder-buyer. This is certainly a versatile loft and it was a marvellous performance to win 6th Open at 649 miles.

Jim & Margaret Ashfield. Photo courtesy of Mark Palmer.

1st Section I. Photo courtesy of Mark Palmer.

1st Section J went to the father and son team of Tim & Jeremy Davies of Malvern who timed a 2y blue hen. Jeremy had this to say: ‘She has been on natural all season and for this year’s Grand National race she was sent on a 2-day old youngster. On the mother’s side is a pure De Klak 1995 bred hen, which we bred off 2 direct birds. This hen as a young bird won the Glos Fed Championship and their Gold ring race in 1995 from Cherbourg, a very hard race with thick mist in the UK and a NE wind. After this we put her to stock but she did not breed much in her first few years and to be honest we forgot all about her. Then at the age of 11 years she paired up to our cock bird called Jimmy Powell. Only one egg was fertile in that nest and we put this young bird into the team and she became the hen Something Special, our section winner. Her father, Jimmy Powell, is 2001 bred cock. He is so named as Jimmy had bought 6 young birds off us and when he came to collect them this young cock had a limp as a piece of straw had gone between the leg. We said to Jimmy we would pick him another bird and so we put the blue cock back in the loft. We raced Jimmy in 2002 and he became our best sprint cock winning 5 x 1st prizes and many 2nds and 3rds and his trapping stopped him from winning a lot more. We put him away for a few years and he came back to the race loft on the north road in 2006, and the longer the races, the better he came, then on a 300 mile race he came back hawked with half his tail and wing missing so he was stopped. In 2007 he came out to race on the south as a 6 year old and again as the races got longer he was going in our clock. I said to my father, if he flies Tarbes then that will be it for him and he’ll go into retirement. Well, we sent 4 including Something Special (who was a yearling then) and her father Jimmy Powell. We timed Something Special on the winning day finishing 78th Open 9th Section this being only the 2nd channel race of her life, and Jimmy Powell two hours later. I then said to my father, she is ‘Something Special’ and next year we will pair her to Jimmy and do some inbreeding. In 2008 we floated 3 pairs of eggs from them and the 4th round they brought up themselves. We then gave her a month’s rest and put her back into the race loft to prepare her for racing. The young birds are like clones of their parents and next year they will be crossed out with our other long distance pigeons. The breeding of Jimmy we are not too sure about but we are not going to worry about that as his breeding is in his results and offpring.

Section J winner Something Special and her sire Jimmy Powell.

‘When the birds are inland they are fed on Bucktons Widowhood 50% and 50% depurative. A week before their 1st channel race they are put on 100% Bucktons Widowhood mix and they stay on this for the rest of the season. They will not be broken down, then when we get over 300 miles they get a handful of peanuts after their main feed. We use a lot of cider vinegar and garlic in the water. We find that the avian probiotic Flightpath has kept our birds in top health and we use it every fortnight on the food mixed with a touch of oil. Apart from this they get nothing more than fresh water. As they were going over 600 miles to Tarbes they were given 75 % peanuts the last 3 day before shipping. Something Special had 3 inland races up to 130 miles then she had Messac with the BBC 290 miles and Poiters 394 miles with the BBC. She was our first bird from Messac winning 73rd Open with over 2,000 birds in the race and it was a tough one with 9 hours on the wing. She arrived from Tarbes in perfect condition, trapping like a bullet and she had a lot left in her tank. She will now retire and we hope to breed around her and her sire Jimmy.

‘We timed another bird in the following morning and then had another in the afternoon so 3 from 6 on the Saturday. We believe that when you come to fly the distance and head over 400 miles everything has to be right – health, feeding, motivation and loft environment. If anything is left to chance you will fail and lose good pigeons. To us there are two types of pigeons - good ones and bad ones. These days with the correct management you get all sorts of different strains flying the distance. I would say when you’re flying over 600 miles it takes a bird with fantastic staying power and these you can only breed through selection with the basket at that distance. We said the last time we were in a report that we would like to win the National over 600 miles so winning the Section and being high in the Open is one of many dreams come true. We would like to say thank you to the NFC organisation for putting on this Grand National race. We would also like the NFC to think about doing an International race again as this we would love to compete in. And on a last note we congratulate Geoff and Catherine Copper on their fantastic performance. Also a special mention must go to Brian Denney on taking the first 6 positions in Section K - truly remarkable. We must pay this guy a loft visit  - all we need now is the invite!’

Shelling peas once again at 748 miles is Brian Denney who recorded 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th Section K, his section winner being the only bird on the day into Section K being timed at 9.56pm, four minutes before the hours of darkness kicked and thus setting a record for the furthest flying pigeon ever to be recorded on the day of toss in any race staged by the NFC, which, of course, stretches back well over 100 years. Spare a thought for Dave Impett of Blackpool, on the other side of the Pennines, who timed on the same minute flying just 431 yards short of Brian’s distance. Not forgetting Brian Scott of Clitheroe, who finishes in front of both on the Open result flying 743 miles! The Section K winner is a 4y widowhood cock from a family Brian Denney has been cultivating since 1962 and which for many years now has been based on 700-mile winners. Brian is retired nowadays and is ably assisted by his lovely wife Thelma, who takes great pride in their performances, and rightly so, as Brian must be as good as anyone in the world at this extreme distance. Prep for the section winner was Fougeres, Angers and three land races and this was the first time he has scored, which is no great surprise as Brian only prepares his pigeons for the long ones, using federation races as trainers without competing for club prizes. Considering he had flown 16 hours, Brian says he was in good condition but he had lost a bit of weight. He was fed Gerry Plus and Superstar Plus, Hormoform, peanuts and hempseed, and was given Blitzform in the water but nothing else. He will be put away for this season and lined up for a similar campaign in 2009. For the record, two of the first three Brian recorded last year from this race went again this time and are 4th and 5th Section. Brian would like to congratulate the winner and everyone who timed good pigeons because in his opinion, even though the leading early velocities were high, this was a hard race.

Brian Denney.

Bill Bresnahan of Liverpool wins 1st Section L with his single entry, flying 722 miles. A brilliant performance. Bill flies the birds on his own to a 64ft loft, keeping a good sized stock team but only about 12 in the race team. He has raced pigeons on and off since the mid-60s and on this occasion he timed a 2y widowhood cock.It is apure Van Wanroy which goes back to champion Kliene Donker, the parents being purchased from the Ponderosa. The sire was raced and was a good pigeon called the Disqualified Cock. As prep the section winner flew Fougeres where he was in the first 15 of the section after 11hrs 53mins on the wing, and also Falaise with the MNFC spending 13hrs 30mins on the wing (found in the loft), which is why Bill had plenty of confidence sending him to this race. He only had two races as a yearling. Bill said his condition on arrival was out of this world, indeed a friend arrived to handle him at 10.30 that night and thought he could have gone back again. He was out flying next morning as if he had not been. Bill does not have any strict way of feeding, he mixes his own corn and gives what he thinks they require on a daily basis. The week before Tarbes he won Wigan 2B and he has also recently fulfilled his ambition of winning the North West Nantes 2B, so the loft is really on song. His winner is entered into the Eccles 2B where he is all pooled and also into the Greater Single Distance Club, both in conjunction with the NFC. Bill would like to thank all those people who have phoned and congratulated him on winning the section.

Bill Bresnahan (L), 1st Section L with Les Parkinson, 3rd Section L.

1st Section L.

The wing of a 724-miler on the day.

That wraps up the Grand National. Many other good performances were put up in this race and some of these will be featured in Les Parkinson’s weekly notes.