THE RACE WE WILL PROBABLY NEVER WIN.
The Barcelona International is the mother of all races. It has grandeur, greatness, severe difficulty, kudos, spectacle and is unique in its awesome spectacle. In this race, the marathon specialists come out to play every year. We set a clock for this one race only, as we are in love with the racepoint. We were lucky to win the difficult Western section in the BICC this year, yet are not deluded to think that we will win the International-I do not expect the UK to do so!! I think racing is all about strain building ,and what you plough back into the sport. In race reality, they are all good birds that you time in this race, as it is never a paper bag race. Weather is always variable en route-it remains the formula one of pigeon racing. Jim Emerton.
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BIRDS YOU CAN TRUST.
Good, reliable 7 to 900 mile race birds are rare. This is a race reality fact, no matter the origin/breeding of the birds and who races them in the UK. The commercial hype will tell you otherwise! Strike whilst the iron is hot with reliable birds as their performance peak has gone too soon. Wise to breed from versatile birds that can score at different distances-the men that conquer big distances are wise and clever fanciers. However no such thing as an absolutely pure, homozygous pigeon strain. All the famous birds of named fanciers have outbreeds in their evolution like Alois Stichelbaut and Jan Aarden. The big names were humans not pigeons, which are all a mixed bunch, yet wise to inbreed to performance factors-speed/endurance /stamina etc. Jim Emerton.
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SEPTEMBER LATEBREDS.
We have a round off our Barcelona birds to further the quality of the stock loft. They need top nutrition and care ,when they will be ready for breeding in March the following year. These birds can become the backbone of the loft ,and watch for children and grandchildren of them for racing results. Concentrate your breeding around your own performance birds to build a strain. I like an introverted approach when you focus in the mirror and the confines of your own backyard, then you may real progress, as constantly buying in fresh birds can lead to no town! Feed the latebreds all they can eat of the marathon mix. Jim Emerton.
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BROTHER TIMES SISTER MATINGS.
I love these combinations in an inbred strain. After 42 years of dedication Dark Destiny and his nest mate brother were my no1 and 2 stock cocks responsible for my winners from 71 to 879 miles. These were direct children of The Iron Man and Iron Hen ,high performance brother/sister from DVH Stichelbauts. Years later Dark Velvet and Joes Delight were great brother times sister birds that scored well at Saintes 569 miles and Pau over 700 miles. All 4 birds, all from the foundation birds-I had 7,have bred a dynasty of good birds up to Barcelona International level ,the race they go to in the modern era. Yes ,feel free to experiment with these pairings, that is from birds of great intrinsic quality, which you discover in race reality. Jim Emerton.
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