EAST DOWN COMBINE
Reports by Clifford Browne
“BLUE BOY” WINS COMBINE FOR C & D SMYTH & SONS
The 4th race of the season saw the East Down Combine back in Mount Charles in Co. Tipperary and again the birds had to face a North Easterly wind which kept the leading velocities in the 1200s. Colin & Dorothy Smyth & Sons had two birds in the top dozen of the Combine open result from the first Mount Charles race at 5th and 10th and are racing very, very consistently and this week they again have two in the top twelve of the open, timing both the winner of 1st Open and 5th Open and these birds were paired together with the cock "Blue Boy" winning 1st Open 1st West Section and the hen "Blue Lady" was 5th Open 3rd West Section. The top places were well spread around the Combine and the velocities indicate that it was another good race. The top placings in open and Section were:
East Down Combine Open - 2nd Mount Charles
Flown on 05/05/2012. Wind North-east.
207 Members 5675 Birds
1 C & D Smyth & Sons Ballylesson HPS 1298.5
2 James. Cleland Annsborough HPS 1295.38
3 F.Black & Sons Downpatrick HPS 1291.31
4 S.Brown & Sons Dundonald HPS 1285.8
5 C & D Smyth & Sons Ballylesson HPS 1285.6
6 Ferguson & Wilkinson Donaghadee RPC 1285.4
7 S Milligan & Dtr Tyrella HPS 1284.91
8 A Murray & Son Dundrum HPS 1284.90
9 R Moore & Son Bangor RPC 1284.8
10 S Milligan & Dtr Tyrella HPS 1284.2
11 D & R Topping Ballynahinch HPS 1283.0
12 W.White & Son Newtownbreda HPS 1282.6
West Section 74 Members 2261 Birds
1 C & D Smyth & Sons Ballylesson HPS 1298.5
2 S.Brown & Sons Dundonald HPS 1285.8
3 C & D Smyth & Sons Ballylesson HPS 1285.6
4 D & R Topping Ballynahinch HPS 1283.0
5 W.White & Son Newtownbreda HPS 1282.6
6 W.White & Son Newtownbreda HPS 1282.6
East Section 133 Members 3414 Birds
1 James. Cleland Annsborough HPS 1295.38
2 F.Black & Sons Downpatrick HPS 1291.31
3 Ferguson & Wilkinson Donaghadee RPC 1285.4
4 S Milligan & Dtr Tyrella HPS 1284.91
5 A Murray & Son Dundrum HPS 1284.90
6 R Moore & Son Bangor RPC 1284.89
The Best From The Clubs
Annalong and again this week it is Kevin & Kristopher Rooney with the top three 1246, 1244 and 1229
Annsborough where as mentioned James Cleland is 1st club 2nd Open 1st East Section on 1295 followed by R J Keown on 1289 and Pritchard bros on 1274
Ballylesson The fourth old bird race was flown from Mount Charles some 156 miles to most lofts the winner and their third club win this season was to the lofts of Colin & Dorothy Smyth & sons. Their winning blue yearling hen travelled the 156 miles in 3 hours 31 mins to record a velocity of 1298.5 ypm to win 1st Club 1st Open 1st West Section, also Colin and Dorothy finished second and third club with two blue hens on 1285.6 and 1276.2 ypm. 13 members sent 391 birds
Ballynahinch and it is 11th open for the partnership of D & R Topping on 1283 with Jim Gillespie & sons 2nd and 3rd on 1283 and 1266
Ballywalter 1st Sam Regan on 1280 with a Cattrysse roundabout hen runner up in the first race in the club. 2nd Winston and Hugh McMaster with a Blue yearling Cock on 1267, 3rd Sam Regan with a Blue yearling roundabout hen1259
Bangor and again it is Reggie Moore & son 1st and 3rd 1284 and 1271 with Lambert & Stewart 2nd on 1276
Cloughey was won by the Harper & Young partnership on 1280, W & N Cully were 2nd on 1271 and Gordon Bros & sons were 3rd on 1270
Comber Francis Gilmore repeats last week's performance with a 1,2,3 result 1259, 1247 and 1241
Crossgar Sam Duke has the winner here on 1276, Joe McGreevy is 2nd on 1261 and McCartan & Woodsides 3rd on 1261
Donaghadee Ferguson & Wilkinson were 1st and 2nd on 1285 and 1265. The winner was blue yearling hen and the runner up a yearling chequer cock, both Janssen from their Lunt, Wall & Green bloodlines
Downpatrick F Black & sons win on 1291 ,P Lue & son were 2nd on 1265 and T Smyth was 3rd 1259
Drumaness J Kirk & Son are 1st and 3rd 1251 and 1230 with C Laverty & dtr 3rd 1239
Dundonald 1st and 2nd for Stephen Brown & sons 1285, 1276 with J Young & ptnrs 3rd on 1274
Dundrum Archie & Paddy Murray take the top three 1284, 1238 and 1235
Hillfoot W & L Robinson were 1st and 3rd 1261 and 1216 with M/M Spence 2nd on 1216
Killyleagh Central McComb Bros take 1st and 2nd 1272 and 1264 with H McAlister 3rd on 1264
Millisle was won by R Christie on 1252, R N L Brown was 2nd on 1251 and J Rankin 3rd on 1243
Newcastle first two again to E & A Rogan 1237 and 1226 with Ronan McVeigh 3rd on 1219
Newtownbreda Walter & Gareth White are 1st and 2nd 1282 and 1282 with T Marshall & son 3rd on 1274
Tyrella where again the winner is Sean Milligan & dtr with two together for 1st and 2nd both on 1284. Sean Halpin & sons were 3rd on 1269
East Down 2bird News
The 2 bird result from the first Mount Charles was:
Gordon Bros& sons, Cloughey, 1209.6 and 7th open
McCartan & Woodsides, Crossgar, 1195.8
M Jennings, Annsborough, 1187.1
R Moore & son, Bangor, 1177
C&D Smyth & sons, Ballylesson, 1175.6
W White & son, Newtownbreda, 1166.3
News From Around The Ards Peninsula
& Peninsula 3B Club
Report by Sam Regan
Second Victory in Amalgamation for The Gordon Team
The Peninsula members were in Mount Charles for the third old bird race of 2012 and yet again this year the pigeons had a North East wind to make them have a good test to reach home to their lofts. The results saw the prizes distributed between all four clubs racing with the Amalgamation and the Cloughey members Gordon Bros and sons continued their good start to the season with win number two in the Amalgamation with a fancied pigeon which also takes the red card in the Three Bird Club to add to its success. This strong team of birds were also 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 13th and14th. Another piece of excellent racing from the family.
Runner up is the Ballywalter club winning team the McMaster family racing to their lofts in Ballyhalbert and Winston, Margaret and Hugh have had a great start to the old bird season with this being their third club victory in a row. This pigeon, a yearling Blue Hen, also won in a head wind in the first race from Mullingar - well done on a brilliant race. It’s back to Cloughey club where Nial and Walker Cully clocked a good pigeon to be 2nd club and 3rd Amalgamation and get their first ticket of the season. Now further North, to Donaghadee club winners, the partnership of Harry Wilkinson and Bennett Ferguson who timed an experienced three year old Blue Janssen Cock, the breeding coming from the English lofts of Wall, Green and Lunt. They also clocked a second well fancied pigeon into 11th position and this bird took the blue card in the three bird club for the Ballybuttle based team to make it a nice day. Near neighbour to the Ferguson and Wilkinson partnership Jackie Rankin is 8th Peninsula Amalgamation and gets him and the Millisle Club their first card with the Amalgamation since their return to Combine racing and fellow club members Robert Strain and son clocked into their loft for 10th place in to the Peninsula Amal. Congratulations to both fanciers. Full result saw 40 members send 1121 birds to the race point.
1st, 5th to 7th, 9th, 12th to 14th Gordon Bros & sons 1209, 1182x3, 1172, 1157, 1155, 1153.
2nd W.McMaster & son 1197.
3rd W&N.Cully 1194.
4th & 11th Ferguson & Wilkinson 1192, 1168.
8th J.Rankin 1179.
10th R.Strain & son 1169.
Now to the 3 Bird Club 20/60.
1st (A.B.C.Nom) Gordon Bros & sons 1209.
2nd (A.B.C.Ferguson & Wilkinson) 1168.
3rd on 1144 are Johnnie and Trevor Palmer A.B.C. of Ballywalter club with a yearling Blue CocK.
That's all for this week and remember if you could forward me the details of YOUR winning birds as soon as possible. Next race is a return to Mt. Charles for part two , good luck and best wishes to all fliers.
South Down Federation
with Brendan McLoughlin
G & P Brown make it 2 wins out of 3 races
The East Down Combine moved on to Mount Charles in Co Tipperary for their third race of the season. With the birds released at 11.15 am in a north north-easterly wind this was going to be a more difficult race for the birds. Last week's winner was doing 1701 yards per minute but this week's South Down Federation winner was doing 1205, with the East Down Combine Open being won in Dundonald by Roy Irwin on a velocity of 1220.
The winner of the Fed this week is Annsborough’s G & P Brown who got off to a great start taking 1st and 2nd Fed in the first race from Mullingar. This week they are 1st and 3rd Fed with both birds featuring in the section and Open results at 3rd and 5th section, 9th and 27th Open. Geraldine and Patrick were Fanciers of the Year in the Federation last year and have started off well in their quest to retain that honour. Their first bird is a yearling cock from stock obtained from Kevin and Kristopher Rooney. The sire is Lindelauf and these birds have featured regularly for both the Rooneys and the Browns. The dam is Busschaert from the birds Kevin and Kristopher got from D Shield Son & Dtr from the North East of England. Geraldine & Patrick’s second pigeon is a Van Dyck bred by the Rooneys and is another yearling cock. This one was 3rd club Tullamore the previous week.
James Cleland of Annsborough had a great race here with three birds in the Fed result and his fourth bird taking 10th club. James’ first bird was 5th section, 12th Open. For many years James concentrated solely on distance racing but in recent years has built an impressive team of birds to compete in the sprint – middle distance races as well. For the most part these pigeons are Soontjens from Maurice Alexander, Ballymena and Pros Roosens from Martin Flynn, Drumaness. However it is to another strain that we go to for his first bird this week. This one is a Freddy Vandenheede yearling cock that was unraced as a young bird. James’ second pigeon this week taking 8th Fed is a two-year-old hen. The breeding is Pros Roosen x Gust Janssen. The pigeon at 10th Fed is a yearling hen and is a Soontjens. The sire is down from pigeons obtained from Maurice Alexander while the dam is from John Greenaway, Bondhill.
Annsborough’s Michael Jennings is 4th Fed, 12th section, 31st Open with a yearling hen with a great race record as a young bird. This bird was 8th Fed, 95th North section in the Skibbereen Young Bird National, having been 8th Fed the previous week from Skibbereen Derby, and 6th Fed, 7th section, 16th Open Talbenny the week before. It’s sire is a mealy Van De Ryck cock that he got from John Jobey in November. The dam is the Van De Wegan hen that bred his section winner in 2008 and the Talbenny winner in 2009, plus other prize-winners.
Mickey Croskery of Annsborough is 5th Fed, 14th section this week with a daughter of ‘Joe 90’, winner of a Talbenny Open in the East Down Combine in 2010. He was also 2nd Open from Bude in 2008 but was unraced in 2009. In 2010 he was also 1st Fed from Mount Charles, when it was 3rd section and 3rd Open. It was also 7th Fed, 18th section, 31st Open from the Joe Ringland Skibbereen Classic. The sire of this bird is a son of the ‘Provence’ cock while the dam is a Janus & Fox.
D Croskery & Son are 6th Fed this week with the blue cock that was 1st Fed, 19th North section, 127th Open Skibbereen Young Bird National last year. It’s nest mate had been 1st Fed the previous week from the Skibbereen Derby. The dam was reared for the late Eddie Coulter of Lisburn, but when Eddie gave up the pigeons Dolen got this pigeon back. It is from the De Klaks and its dam was 9th Open from Portland. The sire is from the racing loft and has had two x 1sts racing. The breeding again is from the original De Klaks.
Newcastle’s E & A Rogan are 7th Fed this week and they have been having a super season having taken the first seven positions in the club result from Tullamore. The pigeon timed here is a De Klak Janssen from their friend Brian Murray of Manchester’s pigeons. These birds have done really well for Eddie and Aidie and I know that they have picked up a lot of tips from Brian.
The result is completed by Annsborough’s R J Keown at 9th Fed. RJ’s pigeon is exceptionally well bred and is from a son of ‘Oscar’, a prolific breeder and on the dam’s side it is down from the ‘show cock’. These pigeons have bred numerous prize-winners in recent years for RJ.
Full Result: 1, G & P Brown Annsborough 1205; 2, J Cleland Annsborough 1204; 3, G & P Brown 1188; 4, M Jennings Annsborough 1187; 5, M Croskery Annsborough 1186; 6, D Croskery & Son 1176; 7, E & A Rogan Newcastle 1175.5; 8, J Cleland 1175.4; 9, R J Keown Annsborough 1175.0; 10, J Cleland 1170:
- Around the Clubs: In Tyrella S Milligan & Dtr take the top three, while in Annalong K Rooney & Son take the top three there. In Dundrum J Maguire & Ptrs lead the way from S Foster, Connor & Parry and A Murray & Son. In Newcastle E & A Rogan are 1st and 2nd with Dan Hillen 3rd. Annsborough is as per the Fed result.
- The 2nd Round of the Knock Out is on this week from Fermoy. The first round saw a few big names go down, with G & P Brown, D Croskery & Son and M Croskery all going out at this stage. Ties of the 2nd round are J Cleland v R J Keown and S Milligan & Dtr v B Higgins.
Harmony Lofts Hot Spot Results weekend 5/5/12
Top result for the ever consistent Ronnie Williamson winning 1st club Bondhill and taking a top Open & Section position with bird 08277 vel 1338 collecting £50 prize. This blue Gaby cock was a Hot Spot winner as a young bird.
For the 5th race this year the birds move on to Fermoy.