“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.
Three Borders Federation (Honiton Race 1).
The Three Borders Federation has had seven races so far this season and we have had seven different winners, with the competition being very strong. The Federation were at Honiton for the seventh old bird race and the convoy of 678 birds had an early toss to beat the heat, being liberated with sun on the baskets at 9.30hrs into a light North / North East wind situation. The Federation convoyer, Dom McCoy is very ‘smart’ and liberated the birds early to avoid the high temperatures on the day and the members enjoyed a steady, but good race. In last week’s article I gave a special mention to Jim Andrews & Son of the Mitcham & Merton club, who have been ‘knocking on the door’ to win the Federation all season. Well ‘bingo’ a week later and they have topped the Honiton Federation result, winning 1st, 2nd, 5th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd Federation. I spoke to Ben after the race and he said, ‘it was a hot day, but the birds came really well! The Federation winner was our good blue widowhood cock, ‘Jim’s Delight’ and he has a long list of good positions to his credit, including eight times first club and four times 1st Federation. On one occasion he recorded 2nd Federation, being beaten by a loft mate and has also won the Surrey Federation and the Three Borders Federation. He was one of a small batch of youngsters that Jim purchased from a fancier in the Midlands, but I don’t think he has a pedigree’. What a fantastic pigeon! I think ‘Jim’s Delight’ has the best pedigree in the world, his wonderful performances! The Andrews partnership have won so far this season in the Three Borders Federation: 7th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 20th Federation Blandford, 4th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th, 23rd Federation Weymouth, 7th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 20th, 22nd, 25th Federation Wincanton, 8th, 15th, 17th, 20th Federation Kingsdown, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 17th, 22nd, 25th Federation Wincanton, 1st, 5th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 20th, 26th Federation Honiton. Brilliant pigeon racing!
The first ten in the Honiton Federation result were: 1) Jim & Mark Andrews 1574: 2) M/M Pitchley 1571: 3) M/M Pitchley 1570: 4) A. Lita 1560: 5) Jim & Mark Andrews 1560: 6) Kamil Kotowski 1558: 7) Stuart Emans 1557: 8) Stuart Emans 1557: 9) Stuart Emans 1556: 10) Stuart Emans 1556. This was race number seven of the season and at this point the Mitcham & Merton club are leading for the ‘Federation Points Trophy’ with 32 points, with the Ashridge club being R/U on 25 points.
Jim Andrews has been an outstanding pigeon racer for over 60 year and at 90 years of age, he still has a great interest in the sport and sits and waits for the birds to return on race days. Jim’s son Mark runs the partners pigeon loft now, with Jim’s grandson, Ben, who is the loft manager. Mark told me, Ben is the pigeon racing brains and the ‘main man’ with their successful loft management. The partners have a really smart loft set up, made up of two 20ft lofts with ETS clocking. They race 18 pairs on the roundabout system and race the cocks and hens with great success. I asked Ben what families of pigeons they raced and he said, ‘we have several families, but that is not important to us, we just enjoy racing good pigeons. We have a lot of blues and blue chequers in our loft and like Federation inland racing best’. They put their 40 young birds on the ‘darkness’ system ever year and they race the Federation Programme. Mark and Ben are strictly racing men and never show their birds. The 2022 season was a highlight for their loft and saw them win 21 first in the clubs and 1st Surrey Federation twice! The Andrews partnership has won 1st Three Borders Federation from Truro and Honiton (twice) in recent seasons. Well done to Mark and Ben!
Mr. & Mrs. Day & Murphy of Mitcham.
The SMT Combine got the 1979 racing season off to a great start by sending 4,753 birds to Plymouth and to find a Combine winner it turned out to be a ‘nail biter’, with the top pigeons being divide on decimal points. Plymouth was a last minute substitute race point, as the haulage contractor failed to get a traffic permit owing to a civil servants dispute and Vire in France had to be dropped from the race programme. The top four birds, which were the only birds which recorded over 1300ypm, were Mr. & Mrs. Day & Murphy 1303.90ypm, Terry Goodsell 1303.70ypm, G. Wheeler 1302ypm and then Terry Goodsell on 1300ypm.
Don Day and Johnny Murphy’s Combine winner was a Janssen blue cock, named ‘Day Return’, and he was bred by the partner’s good friend, Freres Van Grunderbeek of St. Stevens, Wolvwe, Belgium. This little apple bodied cock was no stranger to winning, having previously won many major positions including: 1976: 1st club, 4th Croydon Federation Seaton, 1977: 1st club, 1st Surrey Federation Exeter. The partners named him ‘Day Return’ as he never had a night out, even over the Channel and his nest mate was also a good winner. Don’s wife, Rene, was very keen on the birds and John told me at that time, that she had the velocity worked out within minutes of timing in.
The partners housed their 28 pairs of old birds in a smart 18ft, three section loft and about 50 young birds were bred each year to race, and these were kept in a 12ft loft. The two main families raced were Janssen and Delbar and they raced well at all distances, long and short. Don and John likes to see a nice eye on a pigeon, but put no importance on it and maintained you only get out of your pigeons what you put in, when it came to winning races. The feed was a good mixture and ‘Red Band’, and youngsters were held in until they had thrown their second flight, as the partner maintained this saved losses. They started training about four weeks before their first race and the birds got one toss per week once racing started.
Don and John had recorded many premier wins in the past, including: 1st club, 2nd Surrey Federation, 5th SMT Combine Niort. The old birds were raced hard on the natural system and the youngsters were only raced lightly. The partners rated Terry Goodsell the best local fancier and said he had the widowhood system off to a fine art. Terry was a very unlucky pigeon racer at that time, recording 2nd, 4th SMT Combine Plymouth in 1979 and previously won 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th SMT Combine Plymouth in 1977.
John Cox of Mitcham.
Members of the STM Combine sent 1,809 birds to the second longest old bird race from Niort and once again the convoy had a hard push home, with only five birds recording over 1000ypm. The clear winner, on 1031 ypm, was a nice apple bodied Westcott blue chequer hen named ‘Little ten’ and she was owned by John Cox. She was the Surrey Federation’s third Combine winner of the 1979 racing season and was sent to Niort sitting 12 day old eggs.
At that time John had started up racing pigeons eleven years previous, to an old garden shed and was helped on his way by his good friend, Michael Gumble of Earlsfield. He housed his family of Westcott pigeon in a 15ft x 6ft loft and told me his biggest thrilling experience was winning Bergerac in 1972. The birds were paired up the first week in February and were raced on the natural system, but were put on a semi-widowhood system for the early part of the racing season. John hopper fed the birds and gave them a small seed cake as a tit-bit. He told me at the time that he didn’t know anything about eye sign and maintained that a big heart was what made a champion pigeon. He trained from 25 miles every day and liked the youngsters to race through the programme. John maintained ‘deep litter’ was a lazy way of keeping pigeons and he hated wild pigeons.
John had a keen silent partner in Tommy Penfold, and they flew in full partnership from 1980. The sire of ‘Little Ten’ was a stock bird, bred down from the finest Westcott bloodlines and was sire of three winners at that time. Her dam had flown the English Channel many times, recording several major positions including: 1st club, 19th Federation, 22nd Combine Bergerac and 3rd club, 19th Federation, 35th Combine Bergerac. John started racing with the Westcott pigeons in 1976 and had won a lot of positions, including seven firsts since then.
The late Jack and John Newell of Feltham were at it again after winning the Combine from Angers in 1979 and then they came out too win 1st club, 1st West Middlesex Federation, 3rd SMT Combine Niort, behind John Cox and his game ‘Little Ten’! A really brilliant performance!
That’s it for this week! Well done to the Andrews partnership for their first Federation winner of the season! Great pigeon racing by the Mitcham & Merton loft! If you win and want a write up in this space, contact me on telephone number: 07535 484584 or email me on:
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)
