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BICC FALAISE 2 Report by www.elimarpigeons.com After a one-day holdover, the BICC’s second race of the season got underway at 7.30am last Sunday, the convoy of around four and a half thousand birds being released at Falaise into a north-east wind. Given the conditions it looked as though the west of the country would hold the advantage, and so it proved, however it was far from one-way traffic, as a quick glance at the result testifies. 1st Section, 1st Open was won by Spencer Jones of Pontypool who timed a 3y cock who has not been paired this year at all. He has had 4 races on the south-east route and is a winner previously of 2 x 1st. Sire is ‘Champion That’s My Boy’ when paired to a daughter of aCamphius hen from Moore, Ogden & Godwin. Spencer feeds a normal w/h mix and breaks them down before building them up but he was saying that if the pigeons are good enough they win no matter how they are fed! He had 7 out of 10 on the day and they arrived in perfect condition, indeed they were soon back out flying around the loft. Spencer is a previous winner of 1st and 3rd National Lerwick and 3rd National Crieff and now he has won another National in his first year with the BICC. This National winner will be aimed at BICC Alencon. Our congratulations to Spencer on a terrific performance. 2nd West Section, 2nd Open falls to Arnold Bros of Abertillery. Tyrone and Kevin clocked a 4y chequer pied hen now named ‘Glynn’s Girl’. She was paired up on 14th February, reared a young bird then was on a second round of eggs before going on roundabout. She was fed Super Widowhood and depurative. She was bred by Denis Ford from his old Hansenne lines. Two years ago she won1st club, 9th section, 15th national, and as prep this year she flew three inland races. She was closely followed on the same minute by a 6y Houben/Busschaert cheq hen and they could not believe how good a condition they were both in on arrival. Next target for the 2nd Open hen could be Pau International but she might go to Messac in two weeks’ time to keep her on her toes. They had 12 out of 19 on the day and one the next day. Previous top performances include 1st National from Dax, San Sebastian and Bergerac. It is their ambition to win Barcelona or Pau International!
Tyrone Arnold. Photo courtesy of Dave Padfield. 1st North Section, 3rd Open is the irrepressible duo of Chris Davenport & Darren Roberts of Chirk near Wrexham. This is just the most recent of a long line of recent section wins at national level and this time they can thank a yearling blue Busschaert, one of twelve youngsters exchanged last year with Tommy Laskey of the North-East (5 of these were sent to this race and 4 were back in the loft when we spoke). She won 2nd club from Chepstow earlier this season and was clocked 2 or 3 times as a YB. She was on roundabout and was hopper fed barley until 3 days before basketing, then the food was changed to Superstar Plus and Energy Plus, as much as she could eat. She was also given a Flagyl tablet for canker at basketing. Darren said they decided for this race to go on a 320-mile round trip to the Grove marking station to, quote: ‘Get our birds in the same baskets as the faster birds from down south and it seems to have paid off!’ They would like to extend their congratulations to the two fanciers who beat them in the open.
3rd West Section, 4th Open is won by Janet and Ken Wilcox of Radstock, who had this to say: ‘Once again we enjoyed the excellent facilities of the BICC organisation. Thanks are due to good our friends Geoff and Cath Cooper for taking the birds to Salisbury marking station for us. The first bird timed was from our Kirkland family of pigeons being a Desmet/Bauwen cross. She is a blue yearling hen flown on roundabout. She flew the WoESRC young bird programme. This year she has not been paired up and has flown 5 races to East Prawle and Littlehampton, this being her fist channel race. Sire is a blue Desmetthat has been a prolific prize-winner including 97th Open Alencon NFC. Dam is a Bauwen hen, always at stock being a g.daughter of champion ‘Thermal King’, 3 times Pau on the day scoring: 1990 11th Open Pau CSCFC; 1992 4th Open Pau CSCFC; 1993 4th Open Pau CSCFC. All being over 15 hours on wing. The dam is also a half-sister to‘Lamplighter’, 7th Open CSCFC Nantes in a strong NE wind and 2nd Open Pau CSCFC in a strong NE wind, 16 hours 18 minutes on wing, farthest flying bird on the day. These birds excel in east winds. Four birds arrived in the next hour and our returns on the day were 6 out of 8 hens sent. Sincere thanks again to Geoff and Cath for taking our birds to marking as without their help sending would not have been possible.’
The Wilcox’s loft. 4th West Section, 5th Open was landed by Mr & Mrs Mears of Newport, who had this to say: ‘We have been flying for approx 25 years. The bird was a late-bred hen hatched August 2007, the breeding being Dale Newcombe x Brian Kaid, and she had previously had two inland races. She has not won before. We fly natural and hopper feed with Bucktons VIP. She was tired and weather-beaten and we have no firm plans for her yet. We had 70 per cent returns on the day and other birds back next day. Our ambition is to clock from Palamos or Barcelona on the winning day.’ This loft is a past winner of 1st Welsh Grand National from Lerwick with the only bird in race time and 1st South Road National from San Sebastian.
Mr & Mrs Mears. Photo courtesy of Gareth Watkins. 5th West Section, 6th Open was won by 73-year-old Colin Pearce of Pontypool, who says he was born in a loft and has never been away from pigeons. Colin clocked a 4y cheq hen sent on a 2-day old youngster. She was hopper fed barley then three days before the race was given a bit of protein including quite a few beans. A consistent hen down out of the old Willy Clerebauts, she had prep races from Llittlehampton and Salisbury. If she stays on eggs she will probably go to BICC Alencon next. Colin has now set his sights on winning the BICC after having put up many good performances in other top clubs including winning 2nd CSCFC and 1st & 2nd Welsh South Road National two years running. He topped the fed 8 times in 2007.
Colin Pearce. Photo courtesy of Dave Padfield. Tony Cowan of Southampton wins 1st Centre Section with a yearling chequer cock flown on Tony’s own aggravation system, which keeps them on their toes.He is a Louis Coorman through Bob Fenech, who bred Tony 12 young birds to race. This came about when Tony went over to film at the Coormans loft. The Coorman family were based on pigeons that learned to break away from the batches and not go along with the drag. Tony was saying that they are a very quiet pigeons. This cock, although he has not scored before, has always been knocking on the door and this season he had had just one prior race. Tony mixes as many different grains as possible because he likes his birds to have a good variety. His winner returned in brilliant condition and will now have another 2 or 3 races this season at the highest level. This loft sent 8 and had 6 on the day, all yearlings. Remarkably Tony has won 2nd National seven times and he won his first race in 1949 racing with the Cathays club in Cardiff, where Jim Hooper’s uncle was secretary and everything else that goes with such jobs. Tony was the first fancier to win a car in an open pigeon race and was also the first fancier to win two cars in pigeon racing. Being a Welshman, he was saying that after this section win it would have been ideal if Cardiff had won the FA Cup. He added that he has seen and handled more champions than anyone else has ever done and admits that he still does not know all there is to know about pigeons. He keeps a maximum of 18 cocks plus 7 pairs of stock, mainly the Klaks from Brian Long, and is looking forward to crossing them with the Coormans. 2nd Centre Section goes to Nev Charlton and Barry Cooper of Overton in Hampshire, both of whom flew previously in partnership with their late fathers. Nev came back into the sport 4 years ago after going to a sale of Verkerks in Manchester with the late Mark Kidby, who had been trying to get Nev to start flying again for the past 15 years. Mark was looking for a hen to cross into his Van Triest pigeons but none were fancied at the sale, but much to Mark’s amazement Nev bid for a young cock, and it went to Mark’s as Nev didn’t even have a loft. Ironically, this is the father of the hen clocked, and sire of loads of good pigeons. The winning hen is a 3y on a kind of roundabout system that fits into a morning-only time spent on the birds. After 2pm they are kept in as Nev’s working and Barry works a shift system. Previous efforts this year have been training with the Wilts Cont, and the BICC Falaise 1, when she was the first bird and in the result. She has always been consistent. Next race will probably be around the 400-mile mark with one of the Classic/Nationals, as this is what the partnership like racing. They say winning one would be fantastic, and competing against the best is the only way to improve. Winning the section and 15th Open CSCFC Fougeres has been one of the highlights since coming back into the sport, along with many top 50 positions in the big ones. Back in the 70s and 80s they had many, many great times, including topping the Fed from every racepoint Inland and the Channel up to and including Niort and Bergerac, having the only bird on the day from Nantes in the Fed and only bird on the day Section F from Pau NFC, winning 5 Open races in a row and an RPRA Award Best LoftSouthern Region 1978.Nev says coming back after 15 years has been an eye-opener and he could not believe how much the systems and feeding had moved on, along with the velocities. Not to mention the pro teams who are hard to beat with their quality and quantity.However, only 10 to 12 pairs are kept at this loft and they have no intention of getting any bigger. Mark Webster of Ettington wins 3rd Centre Section. Mark wrote the following: ‘I started keeping pigeons when I was twelve when I found an injured young bird while on a paper round while living in Southend on Sea. I kept them up until I was approx 17, then had approx three years keeping and showing Border canaries, which I had kept alongside the pigeons. I had the pigeons back for another couple of years, still not racing just keeping. At this point my rugby had started to take off and I was offered a contract and turned semi-professional for Mosely in Birmingham and then onto Worcester for five years. Once I finished playing I got the pigeons again immediately, built a new loft in 1999 and started to race in 2000 for the first time. I then moved to Ettington in 2002, built the loft I had always wanted and started again with a new team of pigeons where we are now. My winner is a blue hen from 2005, bred in the stock pen here at Ettington. She was racing on widowhood and will now be paired and allowed eggs. I feed standard corn but the best quality, mainly Verse Laga mixes but I do like to mix three to four bags together. I always feed light in the morning and a full mix at night but feel you do have to keep a close eye on the weather re the strength of the mixes etc. Good pigeons on form will never over eat, in my opinion. I select the pigeons to type, which for me is of medium build and apple bodied and they must have super smooth feathering. Once they have completed this process it is just down to intelligence and performance. If I have a pair of stock pigeons that I have bred 10 young birds off and I achieve a super pigeon that scores well, wins the fed well etc I will then remove both parents from the stock loft and replace them with the winning pigeon in order to concentrate that winning gene. I have no problem putting pigeons to stock as yearlings. The father and mother of this pigeon have both completed the above process and are both 2002 pigeons. Last year I timed in five pigeons quickly in the MNFC when they sent nearly 8000 birds. All were in the top 60 of the open, five were within a minute and 40 seconds and the father of this hen was sire to 3 of them with two different hens and grandfather to one other. I cannot remember the exact positions in the race but I think they were something like 36, 42, 44, 46 and 52 open from nearly 8000 birds (I have had a quick look for the result but cannot find it at the moment). The velocities were somewhere in the 1000s, like yesterday. True racing, againin my opinion. This year my hen has had one 20 mile training toss, 2 x Bath approx 59 miles and 1 x Lulworth Castle approx 106 miles. She has won numerous club prizes since a young bird and was one of the famous five in the MNFC mentioned above. As a matter of interest her nest mate was 05X79563 and is a blue cock. In 2006 he was my best yearling and I had high hopes for him. One day he returned very late having had all the flights on both wings cut completely in half and his RPRA ring cut off. How he made it home I will never know. If the person that did this is reading this article thanks very much, it’s a good job I'm not a one-pigeon loft. He is very happy in the stock pen now and is currently on loan with a good friend of mine in Coventry, due to come back this summer. My hen was tired on arrival but her body weight was good. Her wattles and cere were bright pink suggesting she had seen a lot of rain. She will now go to the next BICC race from Alencon when she should be on eggs. My returns were very poor. I had 4 out of 12 on the day and one on Monday morning. This was a major disappointment to me because as a loft good returns are normally oneof my strongest points and my biggest goalas a manager for my team. Must come from my rugby days. My ambition is to win a National. I only started racing in them last year and I do not intend to stop until I achieve it. I am really looking forward to the next weekend with the NFC and MNFC as it is the cocks’ turn then and I feel much more confident conditioning cocks than I do hens.’ We then asked Mark what had been his best previous performances, and he replied: ‘I am terrible at remembering results - once the race has finished I am already forgetting it and moving on to the preparation of the next race. I have been 2nd Section MCC 4th Open, I havewon the Coventry and Warwickshire Feds nine times and on one occasion took the first four in the Coventry Fed and also won the Warwickshire Fed on the same day. That was special to me as they were both fast races and I was the shortest flyer in both Feds. I have won three Open races and approximately 60 club firsts over the last five years, which helped earn me the nickname the Ettington Ace, which was quite amusing. I often think it should be the Ettington Arse though! To date I think the most special was the MNFC result last year with five in the top 60 open on a really tough day. I sure I'm right in saying that no one else had a second bird while I had five, and that was very special to me in a group of real class flyers that I really respect. Thank you for asking me to write a few lines, it is an honour to be asked. Enjoy your racing and when things don’t go to plan look at yourself first not the pigeons. I say to everyone, pigeons are an open book, you just have to learn how to read. Learn to be a stock man, get good pigeons, keep them healthy and don’t fill them up with bottles of this and that, build a good loftand the rest will follow.’ 1st East Section goes to Bruce McAllister who timed a 2y blue hen. She is raced to the natural shed where they can do what they want. The widowhood cocks have only just had their first race so it has been left to the odd pigeons in the natural shed to keep the loft going. She had two club races prior to this and has won minor cards but nothing of any consequence. Her sire was from Peter Fox off a Mike Ganus pigeon, with the mother being a Staf van Reet granddaughter of Toey. She arrivedvery tired and her wattles were red raw. She sat out for several minutes before going into the loft but the following morning she was fine. She will now enjoy a two-week rest and the main plan with her is the Tarbes Grand National as it is Bruce’s main ambition in the sport to win that race. Bruce’s returns were just over half on the day, with four on the loft early next morning and others returning during the day.
Bruce McAllister (L) pictured with Les Parkinson. P. Jackson & Son of Bromley are 2nd East Section, the team being made up of 45-year old Mr Jackson, a fancier for nearly 30 years, and his 19-year old son who helps a lot. They clocked a 3y blue hen on full widowhood bred by their friend Jos Thone being a granddaughter of 'Sars' and 'Rania'. She was fed 100% widowhood mix and this season had been trained hard to 56 miles before having a prep race from Portland, 122 miles. She has not scored before but could once have topped the Surrey Fed but for a bad trap. On arrival she was full of condition and looked as if she could have flown the distance again. Her next target is Tours in the LSECC. This loft had 6 out of 7 on the day. Some of the top previous performances recorded are: 1st Open NFC Fougeres 07; 3rd Open LSECC Bergerac; 3rd Open LSECC Cholet; 4th Open NFC Old Hens 07; 1st Sect LSECC Guernsey YB 03 & 07; 1st Sect E Yelverton 06; 1st Sect LSECC Tours 03; numerous positions in the first 20 YB NFC.On the same day as this BICC Falaise race they won provisionally 11th Open LSECC Alencon. They opened the season with 1st, 2nd & 3rd Surrey Federation 122 miles; 2nd race - 2nd Surrey Fed; 3rd race - 2nd Surrey Federation; 4th race - 1st, 2nd, 4th & 5th Surrey Federation 179 miles.
P. Jackson & Son’s blue hen.
P. Jackson. 3rd East Section is Colin Hoskins of Bexleyheath who clocked a 2y roundabout cock having its second race of the season (its first race was BICC Falaise 1). It is bred from a Van Loon Cock and a Ritchie Ryder 'special', both sire and dam via stock originally obtained fromRitchie Ryder (Wirral). The sire and dam have always beenconsistent pigeons and are now at stock. All Colin's pigeons only race Channel events with the BICC, London and South East Classic Club and Bromley Continental, though local clubs (Bromley Wednesday and Sidcup) provide inland training events, for which he is grateful.Colin sent eight to Falaise 2 and had six on the day. 4th East Section is Charlie Simmons of Basildon, who has been racing for 36 years. He timed a blue pied yearling cock raced on traditional widowhood and fed a general Versele-Laga mix. He is a Soontjen on the dam’s side with the mother being dam of the loft, while the sire was from a clearance sale fromKarly Lewis. He prized as a young bird when 71st L&SECC with his sister in front of him and this year he has had four prep races. Charlie said all his birds were in good condition when they returned and he that whichever race he has sent to with the BICC they have always come back in good nick. His winner will probably go back to Alencon. Geoff Bebbington of Northwich wins 2nd North Section with a dark cheq white/flight Jan Aarden out of the De Joop lines and he is a great grandchild of Invincible Spirit. He is a 2y flying on widowhood and fed on the Gerry Plus system. This is the second time at Falaise with the BICC this year for this cock and Geoff said that, like all his all his team, he had been a pain in the lead up as he knew his hen was nearby because he could hear her calling and he had been looking for her. Geoff was late for work twice last week through him not coming in. He was not, however, a pooler because he was behind the first week. Out of the 17 sent to the race, Geoff had 10 back on the day and he said he had every confidence that the rest would be back the next day if they could get past the hawks and wires. He added that the ones that were back knew they had been but this was their first nose wind of the season and with east in it, too. He is looking forward to getting the birds ready for the next BICC event. He would like to congratulate Davenport & Roberts on winning the North Section.
Geoff & Paula Bebbington
Geoff Bebington’s winner. Gordon Rigg of Congleton, who takes 3rd North Section, is a fancier who has always set his sights on national racing and, since moving to Cheshire, has won 2 x 1sts at national level. Gordon races the pigeons on his own and is dedicated to them, with his first interest starting at 8 years of age. This latest performeris a 4y cheq Dusarduyn/Delbarhen raced on the roundabout, and she will now be paired and aimed at one of the International races. The feed is 75% barley with a good racing mix prior to basketing. Gordon likes to work the pigeons and her preparation was Swainswick, BICC Falaise 1 and Yeovil. She was dehydrated when she arrived but after a drink soon picked up. Gordon is no stranger to the top of the list after winning 1st NFC, 1st BICC, 1st Section 10th Open Dax, 1st NWCC Saintes, twice 1st NW Section MNFC plus many more. His main aim now is to time in from Barcelona on the winning day.
Gordon Rigg. Congratulations to everyone who timed good pigeons. Remember, early times, full results and reports for each BICC race can be found on www.elimarpigeons.com |
