<pre><pre>Barcelona National 1 st OPEN 1 st SECTION D With Southfield History Mark Gilbert of Windsor Well, what can we say. History has been made. This year’s Barcelona race has seen the first ever pigeon to be timed in to the UK on the day. Mark Gilbert along with Nigel Langstaff &amp; Troy Birch and a phenomenal 2 year old pigeon “Southfield History” have written themselves in to the History books with an unbelievable never seen before performance. Many pigeons fanciers probably thought they would never be around to see a pigeon drop in to the UK on the day from Barcelona, amazing! The birds were liberated at 6am on Friday 7 th July With 27 members sending 103 birds, this will always be one Barcelona race we will never forget. Well done to everyone who timed. Southfield History Congratulations to Mark Gilbert, Nigel Langstaff &amp; Troy Birch of Windsor 1 st , 3 rd , 4 th , 5 th , 8 th , 11 th , 18 th &amp; 22 nd OPEN 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th , 5 th , 6 th , 7 th &amp; 9 th SECTION D. WELL, WHAT CAN I SAY BUT IT SEEMS OUR AMAZING SEASON HAS JUST got even better. I still don’t think what unfolded last night has even sunk in. Anyone who knows me will tell you how much I want to win Barcelona in the UK and how I have always said with the right conditions, right preparation and more importantly the right pigeons we could get a day pigeon on the clock. Well last night we made history at Southfield managing to clock the very first pigeon on the day from Barcelona. They were liberated at 6am and after flying 698 miles in 15 hours and 51 minutes we managed to win 1 st National and 6 th International from 16,561 birds. ‘Southfield History’ as she is now called was paired up earlier in the season and sent on a 5 day baby and she pulled out all the stops to get home to that baby. We decided to have a go at the Internationals on Natural only this year and it has really paid off as we were also 1 st National, 6 th International from Pau. Even though she is only 2 years old she does have previous form. Last year she flew the National Flying club Pau RACE AND AFTER FLYING 570 MILES IN JUST OVER 15 AND 1/2 HOURS SCORED 10TH SECTION, 33 rd National. Incidentally in the same race her nest mate scored 4 th SECTION, 19 th OPEN. NOT BAD FOR A PAIR OF YEARLINGS. Her Father is Son Naomi of Cor de Heijde 6 th Int. Barcelona and her Mother won 17 th Int. Barcelona for Twan Bongers so the apple didn’t fall far from those trees. I would just like to say thanks so much for all the messages I really do appreciate them but there are so many I would be here for days trying to answer them all. Kevin Foster of Longfield Hill has had an exceptional old bird season so far and with another truly outstanding performance from Barcelona, sending three birds and all three being timed on the second day to take 2 nd , 6 th &amp; 7 th OPEN 1 st , 2 nd &amp; 3 rd SECTION G. WELL DONE KEVIN. Firstly, can I offer congratulations to Mark Gilbert on his history making performance and the high standard he continues to set. In addition, very well done to all those that have clocked and will feature in the result. Having a smaller team this year and planning and preparing for the longer National and Internationals has required some thinking about but I am happy that my team have held their form in a year which has seen big losses and some very good pigeons going down. I sent 3 to Barcelona and if at 5am on the second day you had said that I would clock all three by 5pm and be in front of over 16,000 birds in the International RESULT WITH MY FIRST BIRD I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT YOU WERE MAD! My first pigeon was a three year old widower cock bred by the Belgian International fliers Van Ouwerkerk - Dekkers. He was one of a batch of 20 I bought in as late breds with a view to racing half of them. However most were too old to let out so only 4 were raced. He went to Tarbes NFC in 2022 returned early next morning and would have made the top 150 but I had closed my clock after the first day. Amazingly he arrived badly hawked and with a broken leg spending the next month in his nest box. Even after the moult I wasn’t happy with his feathering on his rump and watched him closely in his racing for which at no time did he look anything less than 100% fit and none more so when he dropped from Barcelona looking like he had another 100 miles in him. His sire is a very good breeder for VOD father of 12 th Nat Perpignan, 29 th International and others to score from St Vincent and Pau Nationals. In turn he was a direct son of De Sterke 24 th Nat Barcelona and brother to 5 th Nat Barcelona and out of the top pigeon ‘Mr St Vincent’ winner of 1 st Nat St Vincent. His dam is a daughter of ‘Night Flier’ 21 st Nat Barcelona clocked at 1.04am. The second pigeon is a three year old hen, again bred by Van Ouwerkerk Dekkers. I liked her from day 1 and once in racing nearly pulled her out of the race team when I went back to check her breeding,and like the cock has looked superfit from day 1 and convinced me by her condition on arrival after Tarbes NFC last year where she was my 4 th pigeon taking 94 th Nat that she was going to Barcelona in 2023. Her sire is ‘Paulo’ 4 th National Pau and a brother to 18 th Nat Perpignan, 47 th Nat Agen, 53 rd Nat Narbonne. and other top 100 national prizewinners. Her dam is a direct daughter of ‘Mr St Vincent’ 1st National St Vincent. and the line of Poco Barcelona 1st Nat ace pigeon PIPA and 5th Nat Barcelona. The third pigeon, was a 4 year old hen previously 11 th Nat NFC St Philbert and other Nat prizes. Her sire is son of De Cas Barcelona ace pigeon when paired to a daughter of New Laureatte x kleine Jade. Her mother is a Grand daughter of Starlight x melissa when paired to the father of My 2016 Le Mans Nat winner. So having mentioned earlier that planning and preparation are a big part of racing then lady Luck has a part to play and I know Clare Norman will will recall this. After returning from Agen marking I realised I had sent the wrong pigeon and left my No 1 candidate at home ’42’. I was so annoyed with myself ! I then decided to add ’42’ to the Tarbes team of 4 and take one out to add to the Barcelona team. ’42’ was my first pigeon from NFC Tarbes well up in the result, and the cock I added to the Barcelona team was the Belgian cock 2 nd National!! What do we know about pigeons? Kevin Foster 2 nd OPEN WITH HIS HEN 30 MINUTES AFTER ARRIVING HOME 1 st &amp; 3 rd SECTION A 9 th &amp; 21 st OPEN MR &amp; MRS MICK BUNNEY OF PAULSGROVE. BLUE HEN: RACED CELIBATE AND PAIRED one week before Barcelona not a desired condition but circumstances demanded it, her breeding is from my original Dordin family which I started back in 1980, last year she was 7 th OPEN AND 2 nd SECTION IN THE BICC BARCELONA RACE and would have been 1 st SECTION A IN THE BBC HAD I HAD DUPLICATED. Mick Bunney Lee &amp; Kevin Buddle Lee &amp; Kevin Buddle of Dover 10 th , 14 th &amp; 16 th OPEN 4 th , 6 th , 7 th &amp; 10 th SECTION G. OUR 4 th Sec G, 10 th OPEN BBC Barcelona is a 5 year old hen flown on our Widowhood Chaos System. In preparation for Barcelona she had the following races this year: 3x inland to 130 miles, BICC Alencon 194 miles, BICC St Philbert 267 miles, BICC St Maixent 332 miles. She has been fed Vanrobaeys corns this year and fats added in the last week before race marking. She has previously flow: BICC Lerwick 2021 631 miles &amp; BICC Barcelona 2022 676 miles and she is a half sister to our 2019 BBC Barcelona winner ‘Triple Two’. Her sire is ‘Mike’ winner of: 3 rd OPEN BICC MARSEILLE 2014, 4 th OPEN BICC MARSEILLE 2011, 9 th OPEN BICC Marseille 2013, 13 th OPEN BICC PAU 2015, 13 th OPEN BICC AGEN 2014, 24 th OPEN BICC PERPIGNAN 2012, 37 th OPEN BICC Pau 2013, 60 th OPEN BICC PAU 2013, 64 th OPEN BICC PAU 2012 &amp; BICC CERTIFICATE OF MERIT AWARD, Her Dam is a daughter of ‘Pipi’ winner of: 4 th BICC Barcelona 2011, 9 th BICC Barcelona 2014, 10 th BICC Barcelona 2013 &amp; verified Injured from Barcelona 2012, 4x Barcelona Int 673miles. Our second pigeon to be timed winning 6 th Sec G, 14 th OPEN IS A 5 YEAR OLD HEN, DAUGHTER OF OUR ‘ELSA’ 1 st Nat BICC Narbonne 2014 557 miles when paired to a son of ‘Tom’ &amp; ‘Lynx’ 1st Nat BICC Marseille 2017. Congratulations to Mark Gilbert and his team on his historic amazing achievement from Barcelona International. After his top performance from Tarbes the previous week, Doug is certainly enjoying life, sending just the one pigeon to Barcelona Doug Gatland of Hookwood 12 th OPEN 5 th SECTION G. I TIMED MY BARCELONA SINGLE ENTRY AT 8:02PM ON the second day arriving in torrential rain. He is a 4 year old light blue chequer cock now named Cornish Dream and has been prepared for Barcelona since birth, a real effort considering the restrictions placed upon us through covid and the impact of the new EU regulations. Cornish Dream was bred by Duncan Harvey of St Buryan, Cornwall and was a co breeding effort with the late Trevor Jenkyn from Penzance, I moved to new house in January 2019 and in March Duncan and Trevor provided me with a team of young birds, with Trevor saying to me “wouldn’t it be great to get one to Barcelona!” Cornish Dream is a previous winner of 14 th SECTION 38 th BICC National Tarbes and in preparation for Barcelona had flown the BICC Alencon, St Philbert and St Maxient-Ecole races. Both the Sire and Dam were Louella Dutch distance pigeons purchased by Trevor the sire being a grandson of Times 6 and Icon with the dam a granddaughter of Red Rum, La Rosa Benita and Barcelona 241. Doug Gatland’s cock bird 2 nd SECTION A 13 th OPEN MARTIN, CLARE &amp; JACK NORMAN (MANNOR LOFTS) FROM SOUTHAMPTON. OUR LONE ENTRY WAS a 4 year old hen and is bred half from our good friend Andy Parsons and half from Mick De Carteret of Guernsey. She flew Barcelona last year but was just out of race time and previously as a two year old she was 14 th OPEN CSCFC Elgin. Martin, Clare &amp; Jack Norman’s Hen Mark Bulled 1 st SECTION J 16 th OPEN WITH HIS SINGLE ENTRY. FIRSTLY, CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM GILBERT ON THEIR AMAZING achievement, surely one of the best ever in to the UK and well done to all others who timed on the second day. I timed a 5 year old warrior, often slow but always reliable, he flew Bordeaux 474 miles as a yearling, scored 125 th Pau NFC 585 miles as a 2 year old. Flew North twice to Lerwick 584 miles and now finally Barcelona 711 miles South, even picking up a 1 st Sect NRCC Perth on the way. He is from a son of Legacy x a daughter of Tom from Lee and Kevin Buddle. I think that may be his lot now. 17 th OPEN STEVE, SALLY &amp; PAUL RHODES OF AYLESHAM. RHODES FAMILY WITH OUR BARCELONA TIMER. HE IS FROM OUR Zaragoza 3 rd Open x International hen Freieldenhoffen, her sire Forest Junior, he was out of race time from Barcelona last year a bit better this time. Raced on roundabout, the photo taken with his hen just re paired, as she was our second bird on fourth morning not timed. We have competed from Barcelona for many years and am proud to have been in the race when Mark’s ultra game hen turned in that performance. Congratulations to Mark and his team. Steve, Sally &amp; Paul Rhodes 19 th OPEN SIMON FEAR OF HAYES. BRED OUT OF DRENNAN EXPECTED. THE SIRE IS A RED COCK FROM BILL KNOX GB17R33312 and the dam is a Spanish Diploma winner GB09N62680 chequer hen 47 th OPEN BARCELONA 2012, 21 st OPEN BARCELONA 2013 AND 9 th OPEN BARCELONA 2014. SHE WAS ALSO 42 nd OPEN FOUGERES AS A YOUNG BIRD. 20 th Open Bill Knox (S R &amp; W H Knox) of Canterbury. My Barcelona pigeon was a 6 year old having previously flown Barcelona in 2020 coming late but in race time i regretted not timing. He has flown Alecon and Saran this year and was sent sitting 8 day eggs after rearing a single young bird. He has flown Channel 18 times 36th Narbonne in 2019 and 346 open Guernsey in 2021.He is grandson of 2nd open Pau X 1st open Barcelona BICC on his fathers side and his dam was granddaughter of Red Alert 1st open BICC Barcelona and Minx 1st open Barcelona BICC so bred for the job. Bill &amp; Tricia Knox 1 st Section C Dave &amp; John Staddon of Ditcheat. They had this to report. &quot;Hi Clare &amp; Martin, congratulations on your Barcelona pigeon. Dad and I are really pleased for you. Firstly, massive congratulations to our great friends Mark Gilbert, Nigel Langstaff and Troy Birch (Team Southfield Lofts) on their truly historic win from Barcelona. What a truly fantastic achievement to time a day bird from this iconic Spanish race point, absolute history makers. Well done to all the other sections winners and everybody who timed a pigeon with special mention for the runner-up Kevin Foster who timed 3/3 on the second day, another great piece of flying from a gentleman of the sport. We are delighted to win the Section from Barcelona. Our section winner a 2019 Blue cock and is now named Deano and was bred by Dean Pallatt and Dean Junior from their elite breeding centre. He is 100% Jelle Jellema&#039;s bloodline, His sire is a grandson of Romee, Zwarte Goud and Snelle Jelle. The Dam is a granddaughter of Dirke the father of Kleine Jade 1st International Barcelona and also features Rika, Marcus, Golden Future and Frankenstein in her pedigree. Dean sent us some youngsters to race in 2019 and 2020 and this cock is from the first draft. This cock is a nestmate of our 2022 Barcelona Section winner called Pallats Pride. There can&#039;t be too many Nest brothers to have both won the SECTION FROM BARCELONA. DEANO HAD WON 2 nd SECTION BICC BARCELONA IN 2022 BUT DID IT MUCH QUICKER THIS TIME BUT still not as quickly as we would have liked as we were hoping for a 2nd-day pigeon. He still won the section on the third day so we remain pleased and hope he can improve with more experience. He has come out of the race in very good order so will be considered for the Elne International race. In preparation for Barcelona, he had four inland races, then Alencon, St Philbert and St Maixent-Ecole with the BICC. He is raced on the Chaos widowhood system and fed on Bamfords Staddon Chaos Mix &amp; Bamfords Energy Corn. Dave &amp; John Staddon OPEN PROVISIONAL OPEN MEM NO FLYING NAME TOWN RING NUMBER MLS A-A-T DAY VELOCITY 1 D1102 M Gilbert Windsor GB21B07251 697 1030 21 51 27 1 1290.399 2 G126 K Foster Longfield Hill B20-6160947 685 930 7 17 19 2 1053.447 3 D1102 M Gilbert Windsor GB18B04634 697 1030 9 27 40 2 962.438 4 D1102 M Gilbert Windsor GB20B06429 697 1030 13 24 37 2 811.673 5 D1102 M Gilbert Windsor GB21V98307 697 1030 13 37 52 2 804.625 6 G126 K Foster Longfield Hill B20-6247393 685 930 15 12 16 2 744.649 7 G126 K Foster Longfield Hill GB19D40432 685 930 17 4 51 2 696.269 8 D1102 M Gilbert Windsor GB20B06297 697 1030 18 5 10 2 684.683 9 A803 Mr &amp; Mrs Bunney Paulsgrove GB18N56739 661 1712 16 34 14 2 684.437 10 G106 L &amp; K Buddle Dover GB18B00192 663 18 17 43 35 2 658.675 11 D1102 M Gilbert Windsor GB20B06455 697 1030 20 7 2 2 641.112 12 G115 D Gatland Hookwood GB19N10311 675 682 20 2 37 2 622.146 13 A1108 Mannor Lofts (M C &amp; Southampton GB19N34886 671 1232 8 19 12 3 520.056 14 G106 L &amp; K Buddle Dover GB18B00240 663 18 8 28 58 3 511.132 16 J58 M Bulled Harlow GB18B00547 711 1198 12 8 12 3 500.583 15 G106 L &amp; K Buddle Dover GB19V11523 663 18 9 16 41 3 499.332 17 G67 M/M S Rhodes Aylesham GB18N11107 670 154 10 14 10 3 493.832 18 D1102 M Gilbert Windsor GB20N70701 697 1030 12 48 53 3 482.818 19 D152 Mr &amp; Mrs S Fear Hayes GB17N066502 699 1362 14 21 38 3 467.111 20 G220 SR &amp; WH Knox Canterbury GB17F13367 676 465 14 49 12 3 446.747 21 A803 Mr &amp; Mrs Bunney Paulsgrove GB18N56732 661 1712 16 1 18 3 425.783 21 D1102 M Gilbert Windsor GB19B06361 697 1030 19 13 6 3 419.442 22 G106 L &amp; K Buddle Dover GB18B00125 663 18 17 29 17 3 413.312 24 C38 D &amp; J Staddon Shepton GB19N33492 699 997 20 56 53 3 406.230 Clare Norman. Tel: 023 8057 3919 Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. </pre></pre>
Document content could not be extracted.