PETER & JAN OBERTELLI
of Sutton-in-Ashfield
by Keith Mott
Peter Obertelli, known in many parts as the ‘Italian Stallion’, enjoyed one of his best racing seasons ever in 2012 and finished up highest prize winner in his club, the very strong Sutton Premier RPC. The ‘Stallion’ ran away with it, winning 30 prizes in the first four positions, including winning eleven times 1st club and many top positions in the Notts & Derby Federation, including 1st Federation Bedhampton (2042 birds). The star pigeon of the season was their good roundabout blue hen, ‘Jan’s Delight’, bred by the very successful South Normanton loft of Ingram & Langton. This game hen likes a hard day, winning the Federation doing 1303 ypm and her racing record in the 2012 season was excellent, winning 1st club, 1st Federation Bedhampton, 1st club Windrush, 1st club Buckingham, and several other prizes in the Sutton club. Peter and Jan’s racing performances in the 2012 season were: 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th club Stratford, 2nd club Stratford, 1st club Windrush, 1st, 3rd club Newbury, 1st, 2nd, 4th club, 1st, 12th Federation (2042 birds) Bedhampton, 2nd, 3rd, 6th club Carentan, 1st, 4th, 5th club Buckingham, 2nd, 5th,6th club, 9th Federation Bedhampton, 1st club Messac, 1st, 2nd club, 13th, 15th Federation (1544 birds)Newbury, 3rd club Newbury, 1st,5th, 6th club, 3rd Federation (1134 birds) Stratford, 3rd club Buckingham, 1st, 2nd, 3rd club Windrush, 3rd club Newbury, 2nd, 3rd, 4th club, 11th Federation (1366 birds) Bedhampton, 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th club, 8th, 16th Federation (1611 birds) Buckingham, 1st, 6th club, 15th Federation Windrush. A fantastic performance, racing in one of the strongest clubs in the Midlands!
The Obertelli pigeon set up is made of seven lofts of different design, which are set out in a square and Peter tells me, ‘they are pretty basic, with some being converted garden sheds. The main factor about my lofts is the inmates like them and race well to them’. The square of lofts has a slabbed area in the middle and all the structures are built at least 2ft off the ground. The lofts are well ventilated and deep litter has been used in previous seasons, but Peter wasn’t impressed with it, finding it very dusty. He spends a lot time with his birds; in the summer and winter and they are cleaned out every day. The Obertelli old bird race team is made up with 15 pairs on the round about system and these are paired up in mid February. They are fed on ‘All Rounder’ mixture, which is as the name surgests is a general mixture and this sees them though the racing season to 509 miles, with not much else added. Peter thinks the moult is a very important time of the year and gives his birds plenty of rest, backed up with a good heavy feed, with extra condition seed and linseed. The racers are trained from 20 miles down the M1 motorway three times a week and the cocks and hens are allowed to run together on marking day. The birds are left together for about an hour on their return home from the race and mid-week training continues right through to the end of the season. Peter re-pairs the old birds for the longest races and likes them sitting ten day old eggs for the major 500 mile events. Peter prefers sprint racing and although he wins his fair shair of old bird races, he like young bird racing best. He is a member of one of the strongest clubs in the Midlands, in the form of the Sutton Central Club and is flying against premier fanciers like Ron Vardy and Phil Elliot, but he says this is great to keep his approach sharp, and spurs him on to try harder to win. Peter loves to show his racing pigeons and has won many firsts through the years in club and open events, with big birdage. This is a testament to the wonderful condition he keeps his pigeons in!
The main pigeons raced are stock obtained from Ingram & Langton of South Normanton in Derbyshire and Dean Skuse of Newstead Village, near Hucknall in Nottinghamshire. Pigeons bred from these fanciers have won at all distances for Peter and of course the latest Obertelli champion, ‘Jan’s Delight’, was bred by Ingram & Langton. These breeders are fed on ‘Breeders’ mixture and when bringing in new stock birds, Peter looks for an appled well balanced body, intelligent eye and light in the hand, but above all it must come from premier winning bloodlines. In 2010 Peter purchased a small team of youngsters to race from the successful loft of Ingram & Leyton, who has been a premier fanciers in Derbyshire for many years. The youngsters raced well for the Obertelli loft, but one, a blue white flight hen now named ‘The Leyton Hen’ was outstanding and won several top prizes. After she recorded 6th club Newbury, 1st club, 20th Federation (2,261 birds) Salisbury racing in the Sutton Central Flying Club, Peter got her ready for the Derby, Burton & District SR Federation Grand National Race, which is the big money end of season race in the Midlands and is flown Vire (300 miles) in France. This race turned out very difficult, with only 13 birds being clocked on the day of liberation and ‘The Leyton Hen’ recorded 7th open. Another premier young bird for Peter in the 2010 season was ‘The Italian Stallion’ and he won a list of club positions including 1st club, 2nd Federation (1,659 birds) Newbury. The 50 young birds Peter breeds each season start training at 15 miles and when they reach the 30 miles down the M1 motorway stage they stay there, being given three tosses a week until the end of the racing season. Peter has put them on the darkness system in recent years and he had brilliant young bird seasons. The young birds are raced to the perch and are never sent further than 180 miles.
Piero (Peter) Obertelli was born in a small village north of Malan called Piacenza, near Morfasso and the family house was built in the Italian mountains, and on a good clear day you could she the Swiss Alps. Peter is from a big family, with six brothers and five sisters, and tells me only one of his brothers was also interested in pigeons and that was Renato, who was a very successful fancier in the London area a few years ago. When the family lived in the Italian mountains the older brotherswould chop down trees for logs for the house fires and to sell, plus they lived off the cattle, sheep and poultry they kept. The young Piero used to hunt for fox and badger in the mountains, which often got him into trouble with his parents, as he should have been working in the woods cutting trees. He kept a few Fantails when he was a lad and started racing pigeons when he came to the U.K. in 1976. He bought a house with a nice long garden in Hounslow, near Heathrow Airport, and very soon erected a pigeon loft. Peter recalls the premier fanciers locally in the 1970s were Jack Knowles, George Burgess, Brian Goodwin and Eric Hurley. At that time pigeon racing was his passion, but he still enjoyed hunting and quite often went shooting pheasant and hare. The birds he obtained in 1976 were purchased for 50p each from Petticoat Lane Market in London and after doing no good with these birds he decided to purchase some better stock. About that time Eric Hurley of Hanwell was packing up so Peter purchased four hens and a cock, all Stassarts, from him and these birds were the base of his 1970s family. Peter broke his novice status at Leicester the first young bird race in 1976 and also won the longest young bird race from Durham that same year. Peter's three most outstanding 1977 young birds were the red chequer cock, ‘Albion Lad’, winner of 1st Club, 1st Thames Valley Federation Pontefract, a blue pied cock named ‘Albion Galahad’, winner of 1st Two Rivers 2-B Club Nottingham and 2nd Club, 3rd Thames Valley Federation Leicester (beaten by loftmate) and last, but by no means least, the dark chequer cock, ‘Albion Rocket’, winner of 1st Club, 2nd Thames Valley Federation Leicester. On moving up to the midlands in 1990, Peter and Jan packed up the pigeons, but aquired a field near their home in Sutton-in-Ashfield, and started keeping a few chickens, sheep and of cause Jan’s beloved Horse. Peter restarted with pigeons in 2004 and the lofts were erected on the field, which has proved to be an excellent environment for the birds.
Well there you have it, a little up date on the ‘Italian Stallion’s’ fantastic 2012 performances. Well done Peter! I can be contacted with any pigeon banter on telephone number: 01372 463480.
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)