STAFFORDSHIRE MOORLANDS & DISTRICT FEDERATION

                         by Brian Smith                                      

 

PRESS  RELEASE

SMDF No 83                                                                                             26 October 2015

The time has come to talk of many things …..

…….. no, not of shoes and ships and sealing wax or cabbages and kings but things of matters related to our beloved sport of pigeon racing. The time for the Autumn meetings where clubs and Federations meet and review what has taken place in the season just passed and look forward to what lies ahead in the season to come is upon us.

Staffordshire Moorlands & District Federation are no exception to this rule and as a result have just held their Autumn Management Committee meeting, not so much to look back but more to look forward and examine what lies ahead for the remainder of 2015 and throughout 2016. We all agreed we had a magnificent 2015 racing season and duly patted ourselves on the back we hope you all agree!

Now for the serious stuff.

SMDF Racing Season 2016

After such a successful 2015 racing season what else could we do but agree a new convoying contract with Geoff Silvester. He provided such an excellent service last year that we were happy to offer him a new contract and this time for both the 2016 & 2017 seasons, which he gladly accepted. So there is no change on that front.

We also agreed to start racing with Old Birds next year on April 17 and with Young Birds on 30 July with a two week gap between Old and Young Bird racing. This means there will be no SMDF racing on Saturday 16 July and Saturday 30 July which should give all members plenty of time to finish off their YB training, provided Mother Nature does not interfere!

The actual race points are yet to be confirmed but it was agreed that there will be 10 OB Inland races, 3 OB Channel races and 7 YB Inland races.

It was also agreed there will be an OB Yearling Classic race flown in conjunction with the Federation Carentan race, a Breeder/Buyer YB race flown in conjunction with the Federation Yeovil YB race and a Gold Ring race in conjunction with the Federation Kingsdown race. The dates for all these races will be finalised in the next few days and the information will be posted on the Federation website (www.moorlandsfedpigeons.co.uk) as soon as they are to hand. So keep your eyes open.

Just as an aside there will be a few more Gold Rings available for next year’s race but the limit will only be 750 so make sure you get your order in pretty quickly. Details of who to apply to for your rings are on the website.

 

Jackpot Racing for 2016

Slight changes were made to the format for Jackpot Racing in 2016. Instead of having two Jackpot Racing seasons, Old Bird & Young Bird, during 2016 the seasons will be combined (Inland Only) with the Jackpot prize for the overall winner. This is of course in addition to the weekly Jackpot Prizes as in previous years.

 

2015 Prize Presentation Bonanza 12 December 2015

 

Our Federation secretary, Andy Webb, has undertaken some sterling work to make sure that this year’s Prize Presentation will be at least as good as last year’s and more than likely better! From what you told us about last year’s event you really enjoyed the format and the family atmosphere that was created by holding the Prize Presentation on a Saturday afternoon when the whole of the family could come along and enjoy the event. So we have repeated it again this year including the free buffet and economical drinks with just a few tweaks to the order of things so there is no hanging around waiting for things to happen.

 

The afternoon will comprise three main events, a Pigeon Show, a Prize Presentation and an Auction of some rather Special Birds.

 

Pigeon Show

During the afternoon there will be a Pigeon Show comprising 4 Classes Old Cocks, Old Hens, Young Cocks and Young Hens all judged through wires. Penning will be from 12 noon 1.00pm and judging will commence promptly at 1.15pm. Full details of entry costs and prizes will be available on the website in the very near future. The judges for the various classes will be Brian Lee and Brian Littlewood.

 

Prize Presentation

Starting at 1.15pm will be the Prize Presentation with the honours being done this year by Mike Lakin of Midlands National Flying Club fame.

 

This year the SMDF will be paying out Prize Money in excess of £10,000 with £5,440 being distributed amongst the Breeder/Buyer winners, £4,375 amongst the Gold Ring race winners, £430.00 for the 4 Bird Yearling winners and £237.50 to the Jackpot winner.

 

Whilst the Prize Presentation is taking place the judges will be carrying out their duties with the Show Birds.

 

Auction

Next on the agenda will be the Auction of the birds that have kindly been donated this year by Brian Littlewood, Wignall & Barnie, Roger Lowe, Joe Booth, Wes Whitehouse and Alan Dungworth all champions in their own right and whose birds have performed in an outstanding manner during last season in National Racing.

 

An Auction not to be missed if you want to stock your loft with winners for the future! Our friendly auctioneer, the Macclesfield Magician, will always help you to select the right bird for you.

 

That just about brings you all up to date with the events discussed at the recent Management meeting but naturally I have received my usual update on things Packmoor, so it’s over to you Jeff.

 

Packmoor News

 

Not a lot to say about Packmoor this week but the one thing that has happened is the Horse Racing night we held on the Sat 24th October at the Grapes Inn our headquarter. After a few technical problems with the DVD player that got sorted very quickly the event got underway. Rob Slack and myself went to the pub at 7pm and people had already started to arrive and there was a steady flow of people arriving. At around 8-30 when the first race got underway the place was packed, it was nice to see so many people having a good time. One thing l did notice was Roy Taylor going to pick his winnings up after every race. He later told me he picked the winner on the first six races also getting a share of the booze in the auction race. So we had one happy punter at least. Anyway as well as the pigeon people there were a lot of people who are regulars at the pub. It was a good mix and l think everybody enjoyed the nigh. These nights provide funds for the pigeon club and also give a bit back to the landlord who provides us with somewhere to basket our birds and a nice room for the meetings we hold during the year.

 

But as we all know putting these events on we need people to organise and run them but at Packmoor we have a great team in Rob, Janet and Kath who do a great deal to keep the night running smoothly. The only thing that was not up to standard was the photos we took that was my job so sorry about the quality of the photos. We at are lucky to have some good people who sponsor the club so over the next few weeks l will give them a mention just to thank them. That's all for this week

Jeff

 

Jeff’s pictures are a lot better than some I have seen but we need to get a bit more info about them before we can publish, so I will hold them over and put them in next week’s article. Thanks Jeff for everything once again, I don’t know what we would do without you.

 

Can’t add any more this week so I’ll close by saying I hope you all have the Prize Presentation Bonanza date in your diaries and I hope to see you all there.

 

Cheers for Now.

 

Brian Smith - Press Officer