MAIDSTONE YBs - August 2014

by Tom Harris

DAVIES & COOMBES

1ST, 2ND, 3RD, 4TH & 5TH OPEN

Davies & Coombes

Saturday August 23rd and the Welsh National Flying Club got their 2014 young bird programme underway with the first outing from Maidstone in Kent. With an uneventful journey east along the M4 corridor to the liberation site, the lorry arrived safely within the early hours, which allowed the birds to settle. Saturday morning and with good visibility and clear skies reported on site and along the line of flight, it was an early decision to hold off the liberation till around 9am, as it was reported that there were a number of federations positioned throughout our flight path and by allowing these to get away it gave us a clearer run towards home and hopefully would avoided any unnecessary clashing. With a brisk west north-westerly head wind and a 160 mile journey ahead of the convoy the team finally released our entries at 08.45, reporting that the birds cleared within no time in the direction of home.

Leading the field is the Pengam partnership of Davies & Coombes who timed in five of their entries within a few seconds to claim the top five positions in the open at 12.39.47 with a vel of 1231.8. The open winner is a blue hen which has been reared on the darkness and is bred down from the partnership’s Frans Zwols pigeons on the sire’s side, which they introduced just a few years back direct from Frans himself, crossed with a g.daughter of Olypmpic Stallion from Joop Koop.

2nd open on a vel of 1231.7 is a young blue pied hen which is 100% Frans Zwols bloodlines coming down through Young Euro a son of Euro on the sire’s side whilst paired to a dtr of King of Rekkon.

3rd open on a vel of 1231.18 is yet another hen for the partnership, this time of Leon Boers of Holland bloodlines bred down through Work Force crossed with yet another of Fran Zwols pigeons on the dam’s side. This hen has already scored highly this year prior to the Maidstone race when she claimed 1st club from Newbury a few weeks back.

4th open and we remain with the partnership, this time another blue hen on 1231.18 bred on the sire’s side from the partnership’s national and combine winning family from 2003. The sire also has numerous positions at club, fed and national level including 4x1st club, 2nd and 4th national Lillers 260 miles crossed with a pure Leon Boers hen.

For 5th open and the fifth arrival rounding off an outstanding performance and finalising this week’s top five positions is a 100% Frans Zwols and yes another hen on a vel of 1231.10. On looking back at the winning pigeons, I am assured that the partnership did send cocks to this race as well but with the head wind it no doubt favoured the hens this week over the cocks.

So there it is, the first of three young bird events and once again we are pleased with the decision of our race controllers and convoying team for sitting back when there was an opportunity of getting the birds away early but decided to wait for the right moment to go. This in turn resulted in most lofts recording the majority of their entries by clock checking, which at this stage of the year and with major losses around the country being reported on, is vital to assure future yearlings for our members.

We move on now next week a few miles further to a more southerly liberation site at Battle, which is positioned on the outskirts of Hastings, so hopefully we can repeat this outcome and look forward to our final race from Ramsgate which rounds off the 2014 season.

The presentation night is next on the agenda once racing ceases. This will be held at the Seamans Mission Club in Newport on Saturday 13th December along with the Welsh North Road Federation. The price of tickets has also once again been held as per the past two years by our caterers at £18.00 per head. Over the past years we have been fortunate to sell out so remember tickets are limited and will be reserved on a first come first served basis, so get your numbers in early to avoid disappointment.

Finally a big thank you to Linda Buckly at the measuring department of the NWHU for helping me out with distances for our members over the past weeks. I know it’s been an added work load for you, however it has been done without hesitation when required, so thank you.

This week’s top ten positions.

1. Davies&Coombs, C 1231.888 3:54:36 164,361 NW14B8481 £120.00 £120.00

2. Davies&Coombs, C 1231.713 3:54:38 164,361 NW14B8477 £75.00 £75.00

3. Davies&Coombs, C 1231.189 3:54:44 164,361 NW14B8496 £50.00 £50.00

4. Davies&Coombs, C 1231.189 3:54:44 164,361 NW14B8435 £40.00 £40.00

5. Davies&Coombs, C 1231.101 3:54:45 164,361 NW14B8414 £35.00 £35.00

6. M&JHughes, C 1230.441 4:0:6 167,1509 NW14B8307 £30.00 £30.00

7. M&JHughes, C 1230.271 4:0:8 167,1509 NW14B8322 £25.00 £25.00

8. Hall&Macullum, C 1230.049 3:55:41 164,1262 NW14B6783 £20.00 £20.00

9. Hall&Macullum, C 1229.875 3:55:43 164,1262 NW14B6771 £15.00 ABCDEF £126.00 £141.00

10. Davies&Coombs, C 1226.052 3:55:43 164,361 NW14B8427 £10.00 £10.00

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