MIDLANDS NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

MIKE LAKIN

Carentan - September 2012

‘A Very Fair Race’

Quite a few years ago I can remember the late Colin Brough of Congleton saying that a ‘touch’ of East in the wind helps inexperienced birds to stay on line and cross the broad strip of water known as the English Channel. At the time I had grave doubts but over the years I have ralised that the opinion was absolutely correct. The last Midlands National Flying Club race of 2012 when 3,434 birds were liberated at 11.00am into a south East wind by convoyer Ian French bears out precisely what Colin said was correct. Once into England the wind turned to more of a Southerly direction. This helped to give the club a very fair race. With not only the first four places being taken by four seperate sections but the next four birds following a similar pattern.

As was well highlighted last week, the race winner is a nice Marcel Sangers crossed Blue hen which recorded 1589 and wins the £1000 1st Prize and belongs to the loft of Worcestershire farmer John Fretwell. John explained to me that he studied Marcel’s results for some time before visiting and purchasing birds from him. This action was never regretted and some great results have been achieved by John over the past few seasons. The prepotency of the birds is highlighted by the fact that the National winner’s sire has scored from Bordeaux and she is related to the bird which won 1st SW section from Tours earlier in the year. John spoke very positively about the MNFC and the excellent conditions of his returning racers. We also chatted about the film that the club has commisioned in association with the famed film maker Jim Jenner. This is not to just highlight the ‘Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Race’ but also it is hoped that it will get into schools to educate youngsters and inspire the next generation of pigeon fanciers to our great hobby. John explained that he had also helped our cause by giving some late youngsters to a young lad and they are very closely related to his best pigeons. What a great gesture and a fabulous start in pigeons for a lucky young man.

John Fretwell, the winner of 1st MNFC Carentan

In 1st section and 2nd open we see an ultra successful fancier Gary Daykin known as ‘The Magician’ back among the top placings after a few problems but it looks like G & S Daykin are on track once again and as Gary told me ‘’I’ve found my wand again!’’. The bird which helped him find it is a Dark cock flying to the perch and is a Grandson of the partners 2 times national winner ‘Double Achievement’ and a good hen that was reported in Belgium earlier in the season after the Tours race. Yes like many of us 2012 hasn’t been the best of years but for the ‘Magician’ it has had a happy ending.

The 3rd placed bird which wins the 1st North section is just .1 of a yard behind the 2nd placed bird on 1568.4 belongs to the fantastic Wright Brothers who have an amazing record from the Club’s final young bird race. For anyone who questions my statement just consider this since 2009 the brothers have clocked up 1st, 3rd ,5th & 6th Open over the last four seasons. Once again it is a bird off the ‘Champion Barney’ lines purchased for a considerable ammount from the Eijerkamps Ponderosa stud. There is no doubt that the ‘Doncaster Sprint Wizards’ have got the ‘Wright’ tactics for the MNFC young bird channel race.

Talking about specialists how else could anyone describe 4th Open winner Roger ‘Gold Ring’ Sutton. This man has the happy knack of ‘slipping’ a Gold ring on his best young channel pigeons. He comes to Blackpool and buys his ‘Gold rings’ and invariably he picks up a nice cheque. On this occasion along woth his NW section winnings and a little pool money he collected over £1,500 not bad eh for an investment of £60!. Well done Roger for making it look so easy. It does help though when you own good pigeons like Roger. The lastest winner is from his old family which have been severely tested in National and classic races for many years. The young birds are trained and raced hard. The hens are then paired to retired racers and prepared on Vanrobaeys corn. The Gold Ring winner was sent sitting 10 days and was so keen that she went straight back on her eggs on her arrival home.

Roger Sutton, the winner of the Gold Ring Race

5th Open and 2nd NE section is filled by Richard Turner of Worksop on 1565. Richard is descibed as a ‘young generation’ fancier who is starting to hit the ‘high spots’. The bird is a Heremans –Ceusters x Van Loon from Peter Jonker and she is a granddaughter of Peter’s 2008 1st National Ace sprint pigeon. Her motivation was by being seperated from her mate then re-introduced just prior to basketing. It seems to have worked doesn’t it!

2nd NW section and 6th Open goes to R & J Goodwin & Son who timed in another Blue hen which was well fancied and will drag in a nice cheque for her efforts. Her velocity for the popular Cheddleton based loft is 1558. Well done folks.

A pigeon doing a great repeat performance is Doug & Mark Nesbitt’s Staf van Reet Blue Pied cock which is in 2nd SW section after winning 1st section fro Chale.This time he wins 7th Open and a large ammount of cash as the lads had him well pooled and nominated in the Bricon ETS Nom and Young Bird ‘Derby’ race which he won in a canter with a velocity of 1554. There is no doubt that the Nessies and their other partner Chris know how to get the best out of a bird when they get a ‘hot one’.

Mark Nesbitt of Nesbitt & Son, the YB 'Derby' race winners

Yet another Young bird specialist steps forward for 2nd North section 8th Open and 2nd in the Gold ring race and will collect close on a ‘grand’ for their efforts and this is Chrissie Howard and his team. Their bird is a daughter of a double G/son of Figo purchased from Herbots and the dam is a sister of Fenwick & Howards ’60 Hen’ and contains the blood of Nigel Laycock’s ‘Gold Spot’ x ‘C Ring Hen’ and Vandenabeeles ‘Turbo’. Chris’s secret is ...basket,basket and more basket. In other words he is a hard task master.

In 9th Open and 3rd SW section we see P Tanner and son. The Tanners are enjoying a wonderful season winning 25 x 1st club and Fed positions 2nd sec 3rd Open from Vire and 2nd & 5th section from Chale with the MNFC and 1st sec 2nd Open Fougeres in the MCC. So this latest result rounds off a great year with their Moens and Lambrecht family of pigeons. I’m told that their hens are flown on the widowhood system and trained from 50 miles returning to old cocks that they are paired to. Hard work brings rewards!

The 4th section place was won by Stokes and Son of Farlow who put up a velocity of 1533 with a Blue pied hen that was very well fancied and these lads are very consistent performers.

In 10th Open we see the West section winner Eddy Bateman who clocked in a Vandenabeele x Engels bird bred by Fred Tilston and son which Eddy purchased at a club fundraiser. I am told by the Tilstons that they have crossed their Engels birds with the M&D Evans blood for the first time and they are happy with the results as they also topped the Wrexham fed on the same day as the Midlands National. After racing steadily all season she proved her form by winning 1st club from Blandford the week before the national. The bird’s velocity is 1540.

We see one of our new generation of fanciers in 3rd NW section and 11th Open this being Louis Yemm of Chesterton. Louis is just 12 years old and one of our under 16’s who gets free membership to the club asthe MNFC is trying it’s best as I explained before to encourage young people to join our ranks and Louis is one of these. Louis timed a Dark Pied cock for a velocity of 1538 and what a thrill it must have been for him to see his bird home. I hope you have that pleasure many more times in your career young man.

4th NW section is Mr & Mrs Andy Hargreaves fresh from their MNFC win from Vire. They clocked a Blue hen this time and she is closely related to the partners Vire winner as her father is Grandsire of the National winner and is a Jack Walker Vandenabeele. Her dam is a Marc deCock hen obtained from their friends the Tonks family of Wednesbury and Arnie & Sylvie need no introductions from me as they are super fanciers. The hen was sent paired and Andy slipped a day old baby under her the day prior to basketing. It obviously did the trick because not only did it gee her up as her partner was clocked just 2 minutes after her and finishes in 8th section.

  

The NW section also saw the 2nd placed Young bird ‘Derby’ pigeon to the partnership of McGraw Clegg and Preece. These lads had a fabulous weekend winning the North Staffs Feds ‘4 bird race ‘ from Guernsey and nearly £1,500. They also won 1st band C in the MCC and finally took a nice cheque of over £400 off the MNFC. It beats working doesn’t it ‘Quick Draw’?.

  

The section also took 3rd share of the club’s Gold Ring and once again it went to Congleton in the form of Bill Beech whose 9th section winner was wearing an A ring and wins £350 ‘smackers’. Well done Bill. They are good pickers in ‘Bear Town’ as Congleton is known as. This was due to the town’s liking for ‘bear baiting’.

 Back to the North now and in not only 3rd but 4th section here is Albert & Mark Bainbridge of Knottingley. Both of these hens that were timed were ‘flirting’ with a young cock and it managed to flirt them both back in good time on 1535 and 1532 respectively. The first a Cheq W/F is from a pair of Belgian pigeons the dam being a direct Ernest de Witte and the second is a Soontjen x direct Staf van Reet. 5th North section is the almost ever present D & J Hawkins who once again clocked an M & D Evans Vandenabeele containing the blood of ‘Star craft’ x a daughter of ‘One so Wonderful’

 

Over to the wild West now and Devine and Kelly and they don’t come much wilder than these boys. In fact they were so wild they never got back to me after we left a message on their phone. All I know is that their 2nd section winner is a Blue cock and will get a cheque for the thick end of £200.They just beat off my friends Fred Tilston & Son and it’s great to see them in the winners enclosure once again. Their cock was flown on the ‘sliding door system’ and both of the parents were bred by their pal Gerry Clements the ‘cream of Manchester’ he is a Dirk and Elaine Van den Dreiche x Willy Thas and the week before gave notice by winning 2nd Wrexham fed. His dad was a good racer too and won 3rd Wrexham 2 bird from Caretan as a youngster.

 

4th section is claimed by John Hankey of Platt Bridge. John’s bird which is a hen recorded 1527 just three yards behind the 2&3 section winners which were seperated by decimals. Her breeding is Staf van Reet x Naghtagaele x Bruggeman and was prepared on the darkness system with her first flight just half grown. She has already won prizes in the club.

 

The 3rd section winner in the NE is Pete Hudson who flys with a silent partner Fred Hall. It was another darkness young bird which performed here a Vandenabeele Blue Pied cock who was newly paired and he was carrying when sent and he recorded 1518.

 

4th section goes to one of the sports characters Monty Buxton of Denby. He clocked another ‘darkie YB’ a cock bred from a direct Lindelauf which I’m told is a prolific producer when paired to a daughter of Syndicate Lofts famed ‘Drum’ which is of Madam Vink Koopman breeding. My ‘spy’ Jos tells me that Monty has had a good YB season after losing a lot of old birds and Jos said ‘’I told Mont to join the club!’’

Moving ‘Darn Sarf’ now to the South East to be exact and we see John & Neil Cave take the section win with a Mike Radolilovich Staf van Reet Blue pied hen recording 1508 and 33rd Open which on the day was a very good result. I am informed that john has to use one arm since he lost the use of his right hand in a road accident as a 16 year old. Obviously Neil his son has become his ‘right hand man’ if you will pardon the pun which as a fellow ‘one armer’ I feel entitled to say.Incidently John and his son also fill 4th section but I have no details about this bird but Well done on a fine result.

2nd SE section is filled by Andy Billingham of Leighton Buzzard unfortunately we couldn’t get hold of Andy but I remember him win the MNFC a few years ago with one of his Pallatt based Staf Van Reets. It’s nice to see you back on top again Andy.

In 3rd SE section we see Mr & Mrs Colin Thorpe who clocked a Frank Tasker based Willy Thas x Haelterman. Their young cock was initially raced on the ‘sliding door system’ before being paired and sent to the race sitting on 4 day old eggs. The quality of the pairing was proved in the club’s first race from Caretan when a sister won 27th Open.

 

Winning the SC section we see a very familiar name in Clive and Donna Yates of Glascote who clocked one of their famed Wildies. This hen actually has 3 of her grandparents with MNFC wins on her pedigree. So it is clear that she was bred to win! Clive told me that she was one of seven birds which dropped together to take the first seven places in the fed the week before the National race.

 

A Louella based Jan Arden x Busschaert chequered hen took 2nd section for John Fletcher of Shepshed. This bird won 2nd club the previous week from Caretan proving that pigeons are quick learners. The loft had 4 of their 6 birds entered on the day and I’m told they homed in fine condition.

 

I was delighted to see one of the MNFC committee men in 3rd place in the section in the form of John Gilbert of Nuneaton. John’s bird is a Vandenabeele x stock from Eddie Keyte a previous MNFC winner. John who a great worker for the sport and is Chairman of the Warwickshire fed. He set a record recently by taking the first 20 fed positions from Bath. I bet you were very popular there Johnny boy. John sportingly sends his congratulations to both John Fretwell and Clive Yates.

 

Another very successful loft in the form of Leicester’s Chris & Denise Sutton claim 4th section with a Gilbert Meire x Willy Thas pigeon. This hen recorded a velocity of 1473.

Gavin Fletcher of Bridlington won 1st position in the East section with a superb performance with his Blue Pied Cock which recorded 1465 and won the section by nearly 50 YPM. Sadly I couldnt get any details as the number that we have was not recognised but congratulations on a great pigeon.

2nd and 3rd section is filled by Scarborough’s Mr & Mrs Pete Chapman who timed two quick uns on 1407 and 1406. Both birds contain Jos Thone blood. The first being 100% Thone and the same way bred as the partners Chale section winner in 2011. Their  2nd timer is a thone x Pobor bird which Pete says is a good cross and he is keen to see how these bloodlines perform in 2013 as he has plenty of 2-3 year olds that are showing great potential.

4th section is filled by Drinkell, son & Parrott. This Grimsby partnership won the section from Tours a few weeks ago. This time the damage is done with a dark hen which contains the blood of the lofts ‘Brugge Cock’ which won 2nd National from Brugge with the MNFC.

  

Before I sign off now I would just like to put on record by sincere thanks for my ‘band of helpers’ who aid me in providing our members with such good coverage of our races. Thanks lads and lasses it is very much appreciated.

   

Dont forget to get your orders in for the Club’s Annual Dinner at the Doncaster race course.’ It promises to be a fabulous weekend with a race meeting on the Friday the Old Comrades show and the MNFC’s Prize Presentation which includes the Queen's Diamond Jubilee race regional winners awards which the club is providing to the RPRA regions that competed with us. It should be ‘a not to be missed occasion'.