EAST DOWN COMBINE
Reports by Clifford Browne
Gordon Bros & Sons 1st open Mt Charles
It’s hard to believe but we are already at the 5th young bird race and the season is well advanced now. Mount Charles was the racepoint for the weekend of August 17th but as I hinted last week, the weather was not suitable for a Saturday race and the Combine opted for a Saturday basketing and to go for a Sunday race. Sunday saw a bright morning with a fresh westerly wind so again it was going to be a fast race and as expected the leading birds were around the coastal clubs with Killyleagh, Annalong & Cloughey getting the lion’s share of the early ones.
Leading the field and enjoying another great race were the Gordon Bros & Sons team on 1859 followed by no less than 7 pigeons to the Annalong partnership of Kevin Rooney, Son & Dtr with just 3ypm between these seven. These were the leaders in the East section. The West section was won by Crossgar’s Tommy Horner & Sons followed by 6 more Crossgar birds, the top places open and section being:
East Down Combine Open
17/08/2013 1st Mount Charles YB
185 Members 5330 Birds Wind Westerly
1 Gordon Bros & Sons Killyleagh Central HPS 1859.305
2 K .Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1855.183
3 K .Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1854.705
4 K Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1854.705
5 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1854.227
6 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1854.227
7 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1853.272
8 K .Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1852.557
9 McComb Bros Killyleagh Central HPS 1850.259
10 Harper & Young Cloughey HPS 1849.936
11 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1847.327
12 G & P. Brown Annsborough HPS 1845.654
13 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1845.196
14 Harper & Young Cloughey HPS 1843.804
15 Harper & Young Cloughey HPS 1841.896
16 Gordon Bros & Sons Cloughey HPS 1840.937
17 Gordon Bros & Sons Cloughey HPS 1840.155
18 McComb Bros Killyleagh Central HPS 1840.125
19 Gordon Bros & Sons Cloughey HPS 1839.960
20 Gordon Bros & Sons Cloughey HPS 1839.960
West Section 56 Members 1751 Birds
1 T. Horner & Sons Crossgar HPS 1832.116
2 D Walsh Crossgar HPS 1830.663
3 Bunting & Reid Crossgar HPS 1818.286
4 McCartan & Woodsides Crossgar HPS 1815.029
5 McCartan & Woodsides Crossgar HPS 1809.026
6 Bunting & Reid Crossgar HPS 1802.273
7 McCartan & Woodsides Crossgar HPS 1799.897
8 J. Young & Ptnrs Dundonald HPS 1793.784
9 H Mc Avoy Comber Social HPS 1790.694
10 Bunting & Reid Crossgar HPS 1790.399
11 R Hunter Ballynahinch HPS 1787.401
12 Bunting & Reid Crossgar HPS 1787.310
East Section 129 Members 3579 Birds
1 Gordon Bros & Sons Killyleagh Central HPS 1859.305
2 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1855.183
3 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1854.705
4 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1854.705
5 K. Rooney ,Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1854.227
6 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1854.227
7 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1853.272
8 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1852.557
9 McComb Bros Killyleagh Central HPS 1850.259
10 Harper & Young Cloughey HPS 1849.936
11 K. Rooney, Son & Dtr Annalong HPS 1847.327
12 G & P. Brown Annsborough HPS 1845.654
THE BEST FROM THE CLUBS
Annalong K Rooney &son & dtr 1855, 1854, 1854 Annsborough G & P Brown 1845, M Croskery 1817, D Croskery & son 1807 Ballylesson 9 members sent 268 Birds 1st & 2nd John Patterson 1775, 1775, 3rd S. Casement & Son 1770 Ballynahinch R Hunter 1785, 1784 S & P Logan 1782 Ballywalter 1st, 2nd & 3rd Winston and Hugh McMaster with three dropping together on 1790, 1789 & 1787 winner a Blue Cock and the next two Blue Bar hens Bangor R Moore & son 1792, 1792, 1791 Cloughey Harper & Young 1849, 1843, 1841Comber H McAvoy 1790, F Gilmore 1789, H McAvoy 1784 Crossgar T Horner & sons 1832, Sid McLoughlin 1832, 1830 Donaghadee where 9 sent 266 1st D 7 K McCutcheon 1802 with a blue hen bred by Glen Buckley, Ferguson & Wilkinson were 2nd and 3rd with a red cheq hen and a blue pied cock 1788 & 1787 Downpatrick T Smyth 1835, P McCullough & dtr 1832, 1832 Drumaness E McLaughlin 1781, J Kirk & son 1781, E McLaughlin 1769 Dundonald J Young & ptnrs 1793, 1777, S Brown & sons 1777 Dundrum J Maguire & ptnrs 1800, S Foster, Connor & Perry 1766, 1764 Hillfoot D Brennan 1742, 1738, 1737 Killyleagh Central Gordon Bros & sons 1859, McComb Bros 1850, 1840 Millisle J Rankin 1817, 1816, R Strain & son 1810 Newcastle W McNeilly & son 1706, M/M Fisher 1665, D Hillen 1664 Newtownbreda W White & son 1755, 1754, 1754 Portavogie 15 sent 380 birds L Young 1830, 1829 W &N Cully 1825 Tyrella 1st C Mc Manus & Dtr 1821.2, 2nd S Milligan & Dtr 1807.2, 3rd D Mc Nabb & Ptrs 1795.3.
East Down2bird News
The 2 bird result from Tullamore once again demonstrates the competition levels in this club when to win you have to have a good bird in the open or as this week in fact win the open. That is good selecting. In fact the first four birds all made the Combine’s Open result.
1st McCartan & Woodsides 1801.934 (1st Open)
2nd Gordon Bros& sons 1801.249 (2nd Open)
3rd D&W Carlile& son 1782.969 (25th open)
4th Bunting& Reid 1769.251 (30th open)
5th H&A Keenan 1754.440
6th K Ambrose 1750.619
SAM REGAN REPORTS FROM AROUND THE ARDS PENINSULAR
Brian Young First From Mullingar
The third race of the young bird year saw the East Down Combine in Mullingar for their liberation. Like the previous weeks the birds had a helping wind to assist them on their flight home. This week it was South West and with the birds away at 07.45 all was set for a fast race. With the wind very suitable for the coastal clubs on the Peninsula their arrival was eagerly expected and the pigeons did not let their owners down.
First pigeon in the Ards Peninsula was clocked in Portavogie by the club's secretary Brian Young and very well done, a top result on a velocity of 1955 and he had three birds home together to the loft. Brian is a brother of Jim Young of Dundonald who had set the Combine alight by winning the first two open races from Navan and from this race Mullingar took first in the west section and must be heartily congratulated on this. I am saying this because the Amalgamation winner is a youngster from a pair of Van Reets bred by Brian's older brother Jim and this Blue Cock keeps the Young family to the fore with its victory. As I said earlier, Brian timed three birds and having told you about the first, his second pigeon was a Blue w/f Hen bred by his good friend Albert Gregg of East Belfast and was a Cooremans and wins 2nd Amalgamation 2nd Open, while the third pigeon which was placed fourth open was one of three youngsters gifted to Brian by the well known fancier and good friend Johnnie Hall and is from his Hartog lines.
The next pigeon in the result sees Billy Donnan clock a youngster for 3rd Amalgamation 3rd open on 1951 getting in between the three birds from the winning loft. Bill lives in Cloughey and has raced pigeons since his school days with Portavogie and always gets his share of top prizes having topped the Combine in the old birds and in this case clocked his bird which contains the best blood of two notable names in the pigeon world, on the sire's side Bob Donaldson from North East of England while the dam is from Sheldon Leonard of Arklow and is from his Thurston lines to give yet another great result.
Next on the sheet are the very strong lofts of the Gordon family timing yet another batch of top placed pigeons which they do weekly. In this case they take the 5th to 14th places not only in the Peninsula but also in the open result and a latter bird wins the three bird club to make it victory for the third week in a row for the team and again very well flown to all the family.
That’s it for this week and it's down to Tullamore for the fourth race of the young bird racing season and maybe a light head wind would be nice to set up everybody’s pigeons before the longer distances appear. Remember any info on winners is a great help.
Full Result. 51/1501 birds.
1st, 2nd & 4th B. Young 1955, 1954, 1950.
3rd B& J. Donnan 1951.
4th to 14th Gordon Bros & sons 1948, 1947 x 6, 1946 x 3.
3 Bird Club 19/57
1st Gordon Bros & sons A.B.C 1936.
2nd W&N.Cully A.B.C. NOM 1926.
3rd B&J.Donnan A.B.C. 1893
Amalgamation Victory for Gordon Family
The Peninsula Amalgamation moved further south to Tullamore for their next race of the 2013 young bird season and the birds were liberated early and made light work of the flight home. Cloughey members dominated the race taking all the Amalgamation places.
Top fliers Gordon Bros and sons continued to have their pigeons in great form and had a pile of birds reaching the family lofts close to the ferry port of Portaferry on the West side of the Ards Peninsula. They won the Amalgamation and East Section and only lost the Open title by 0.7 of a yard but many congratulations on a brilliant performance. Drew Harper and Martin Young had a pigeon placed in among the Gordon Bros birds to their Portavogie home for 7th and continue with good results in the 2013 year.
Full result 54/1551
1st/6th & 8th to 14th. Gordon Bros & sons 1801x2, 1800x4, 1799x7.
7th Harper & Young 1800.
In the three bird club yet another victory with their young bird team for the Gordon family. Runner up is the winning pigeon in Ballywalter club a Belgian young bird a Blue Cheq Cock from the loft of Walter and Norman Carlile. Third goes to Drew Harper and Martin Young.
19/57
1st ABC 1801. Gordon Bros & sons.
2nd ABC NOM 1782. D& W. Carlile & son.
3rd ABC 1778. Harper & Young.
The fifth race sees the Combine march further south to Mount Charles. Remember any information is very helpful, until then, best wishes to all.
Harmony Lofts Hot Spot Result Weekend 17/8/13
Ballynahinch’s Club member John Abernethy is the owner of Harmony Lofts and whilst competing in his own right very successfully with the Combine through the Ballynahinch club also runs a number of events through his Harmony lofts and provides great training facilities throughout the season, which I know many have benefited from and for this weekend’s event. John writes:
“We decided on this occasion to have two Hot Spot Races this weekend due to the NIPA & Ulster Fed having their race on Friday & the EDC holding their race on Sunday & different wind conditions.
Friday was the NIPA & Ulster Fed. Harmony Lofts birds had an excellent race with the loft of Gregory McEvoy, Beechpark Social, taking 1st Hot Spot, clocking his Soontjen Hen 23558 vel 1612 for 1st Club, 2nd Section D & 3rd Open with 21,000 birds competing to collect £ 50 winnings.
Close behind is the very consistent loft of Jimmy Burrows, Eastway, with bird 23176 vel 1607 for 1st Club, 1st Section C & 4th Open & winning £30.
Third Hot Spot is won by South Belfast’s new member, Allister McEwen who is off to a good start with 1st Club, 25th Section D & 34th Open with bird 23441 vel 1590 & collects £20. Well done Allister.
Other excellent results are Jimmy Burrows taking 4th Club, 6th Section C & 43rd Open with ring 23179 vel 1584. Also bird 23174 vel 1570 17th Section C, 78th Open.
Eddie McKnight wins 2nd Club Blackwatertown, 35th Section E & 148th Open with bird 23564 vel 1548.
The East Down Combine held its race on Sunday 18th & as you can see the velocities are much faster, hence our decision for a second Hot Spot Race. Taking pride of place is Charlie McVeigh who races in a very strong Annalong Club but has claimed top hot spot in the Combine with his Harmony Lofts Gaby Vandenabeele winning £50 with bird 23648 vel 1821 for 6th Club. Tommy Horner, Crossgar has got his birds into gear winning 2nd & 3rd Hot Spot to collect a total of £50 with birds 23282 vel 1783 & 23595 vel 1779.
Don't forget our Midweek Race from Navan when birds will be race marked Tuesday 20th August between 7pm & 9pm for a race on Wednesday 21st August. Trainers are also very welcome.
Remember, if you're not in - you can't win!”
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This week sees the birds move on to Fermoy.
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