“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.
‘Show Racer World’ – Number 5.
Mike & Theresa Horner of Alton.
One of Mike and Theresa Horner’s red hens is one of my favourite Show Racers and that is reflected in how many times I have personally carded her in Classic and National shows. I first became aware of the wonderful red hen, ‘Cilla’, when she won Best in Show RPRA Southern Region Show for her owners, Mike and Theresa Horner, in 2007. The day after the Southern Region Show, Mike showed at the Southern Counties SR Society show held at Gravesend and ‘Cilla’ won Best Opposite Sex, being beaten by her half-brother, who won Best in Show. Mike and Theresa won Best Opposite Sex at the 2008 RPRA Southern Region Show with their champion red hen, ‘Cilla’. Mike tells me she has won 69 cards in premier shows, including 33 firsts and both her parents were very successful breeding reds, with her sire being obtained from Colin Carter in 2003, and her dam from Tony Williams. Champion ‘Cilla’ won: BIS RPRA Southern Region, BOS RPRA Southern Region Show, BIS Southern Counties SRS Open Show, BOS Southern Counties SRS Open Show, BIS CHASE Charity Show, BOS CHASE Charity Show, BIS Thame & Oxford Open Show, BIS South Coast Championship Show, BIS Reading ‘Gold Cup’ Show and was five times best red at the Southern Counties SRS Shows. She was bred in 2004 and no longer lay eggs, but has bred many winners, including card winners at the BHW Blackpool Show. What a fantastic hen!
I first met Mike Horner back in November 2006, when he first won Best in Show at the R.P.R.A. Southern Region Show and I was there at the High Wycombe event judging. To say he was over joyed at his performance would be an under statement. This was his best performance ever with his Show Racers and he was over the moon! His team for the Southern Region Show were exceptionally good that year and in the light of that he fancied his chances. Mike and Theresa Horner won Best in Show (645 birds) with their four year old Mosaic show racer cock, ‘Barny’, and he has plenty of previous good form, having won in the show pen twelve times. He won Class 7. (Coloured Cock or Hen) at High Wycombe and also lifted two trophies, ‘Best Show Racer’ and ‘Best in Show’. He was a brilliant stock cock, breeding many winners including being the sire of ‘Bella’, winner of eight firsts and grand sire of ‘Misty’, winner of Supreme Champion SCSRS Show. A fantastic Show Racer cock!
Mike has been in pigeons, in one form or the other, all his life and is from a racing pigeon family, with his father and grandfathers being pigeon racers. He had racing pigeons up to the late 1970’s and flew in the Godalming & Dist. F.C. (Surrey Federation) with all the old greats of that time including, Stan Edgington, Paul Bridgewater, Alec Martin, Ron & Chris Cox and Eric Cannon. In those days he got lot of help from Pat McFadden, the secretary of the Godalming club at that time and raced the Channing of Wales family of pigeons. Years ago Mikes also kept a few Show Racers obtained from Bill Meader of London. The Horner racing loft had some good success, mostly from the longer channel races, as he flew on the natural system. He started up with the Show Racer properly on marring Theresa in 1980, with birds from Tony Williams, which were reds and mealies, and later some stock from Mr. & Mrs. Colin Carter of Churchdown. Mike’s latest champion, ‘Barny’, was bred from these original bloodlines.
He is a member of the Devon & Cornwall Show Racer Society, the Southern Counties Show Racer Society based at Gravesend and says he never missed a show for years at the Midland Show Racer Society, but it has now mover up to Birmingham and it’s to far to travel. His main show loft is a two section 18ft x 8ft structure, which houses his 32 bird show team and has a thick wood shavings litter on the floor. The few pairs of stock birds he owns are kept in a smaller loft and all are paired up in late January, producing about 30 young birds each season. Mike likes to split the show pairs up again in late May or early in June to get the moult going, ready for the show season the following winter. His nest boxes are removable and are taken out of the loft at the time of the birds being parted and replaced with ‘V’ perches, which the birds sit on through the show season. The birds are fed on a heavy racing mixture called ‘Cranleigh A1’, which he gets from Des McFadden’s ‘Pet’s Pantry’ at Cranleigh and
Mike gives them a conditioner every Sunday morning. Grit and Minerals are in front of the birds all the time. When Mike brings in a new stock bird he looks for a good type and likes a bigger bird in the hand. The birds never fly out and are given a bath at least once a week, with bath being moved from section to section every day. Mike is a busy self employed builder and hasn’t got the time for special preparation on his birds in the week leading up to a big show, but says his system has got a regular routine, which is the same week in and week out. His present day Show Racer family are bred down from the original Tony Williams / Colin Carter pigeons and has added a few blue chequers from Les Petty. Mike and Theresa travel around a lot judging at the National and Society shows every year and he says his wife is very helpful with his hobby. His favourite colours are reds and mealies and Mike told me the competition on the Show Racer scene is getting better every season and it’s getting harder and harder to win. His birds get about 15 shows in a season and Mike maintains the Welsh boys, Ron McCarthy and the late Norman Perry, were the fanciers to beat in the open National shows. Mike told me the fanciers on the Show Racer scene are a smashing bunch of lads and he really enjoys their company!
Some of Mike and Theresa’s best birds are: ‘Princess’ a red hen bred in 2000 and she was one of the top pigeon in the Alton loft winning fourteen firsts in Society shows. Mike says this grand ol’ hen is well past showing now, but has producing some outstanding young birds. ‘Blue Boy’ was a blue cock bred in 2004 and he won eight Society firsts to his credit. ‘Freddie’ a mealy cock also bred in the 2004 season and he had won six firsts in the Show Society events. Another beautiful blue cock that graced the Horner’s loft was ‘Cassius’ and he won twelve firsts in the show pen and two of them at SCSRS Shows.
Every January we all looked forward to the CHASE Charity Show and Auction, held at the Horsham YMCA Football Club and were put on by the Horsham Pigeon Club, under the leadership of Show Secretaries, Gordon and Delia Marsh and in later years, Clive Turner. Mike and Theresa Horner won BIS in the Show Racer classes several times and I can remember one of the wins with their champion red hen, ‘Cilla’, who had at that time previously won BIS at the 2007 RPRA Southern Region Show and then BOS at the 2008 RPRA show. What a fantastic hen, that went on and won everything in front of her after that.
Les Petty & Phillip Crawford of Little Addington.
Lester Petty and Phillip Crawford are one of the leading Show Racer partnerships in the UK in recent years and they set a new record at the 2018 BHW Blackpool Show, by winning six classes in that show. I believe the previous record was held by Doug McClary and he won five classes. One of their best seasons was in 2011 when they won BIS and BOS at the RPRA Southern Region Show and also won BIS at the Dome Show, with a beautiful silver hen which was one of their most successful birds, also winning her class at many shows. Les and Phil ended that season winning class one (old cocks) at the BHW Blackpool Show and in the last seven years they have won class one four times. Last year they broke the record at Blackpool by winning six classes.
I recently met up with Les at the recent RPRA Southern Region Show and he told me, ‘I first met Phil Crawford when we both lived in Aylesbury back in 1998 and I was keen to acquire some show racers, and Colin Hill introduced me to Phillip. At that time Phil was very friendly with the late Paul Rogers and a lot of his birds had come from Paul. Phil gifted me my first show racers and Paul bred me six young birds, one a red hen called ‘600’, because of her ring number, bred me some really successful birds. I showed for a couple of years on my own and won my first class at the BHW Blackpool Show in 2000 with a mosaic cock bought from the sales class at the RP ‘Old Comrades’ show. We formed the partnership in 2002 and not long after that Phil moved to Wales and I moved to Northampton. We thought it would mean we could show in two societies so we joined the Monmouth and also remained members of the Midlands which we have continued to do until this day’.
The 150 mile drive up the M1 motorway to Nottingham in early November, to judge at the National Young Bird Show, started my 2015 judging commitment and I must say, I was looking forward to it very much, after my lay off from judging in 2014. The Rushcliffe Leisure Centre in Nottingham is a brilliant venue to hold a big show like the National Young Bird and this wonderful show has been run by Andy Lowe for about the last 25 years and the 2015 event was sponsored by Howdens and the Roper Store. Andy runs the show, being assisted on the Show Racer side by Les and Sarah Carter, who have been very successful for many years exhibiting the Colin Carter pigeons. The show is run under NPA rules and the entry was down slightly that year as there was another show staged locally, but about 400 birds were entered, which included the usual Racer and Show Racer classes and several fancy Tumbler, Fantail and Roller classes. The Les Petty and Phillip Crawford partnership won ‘Best in Show’ and ‘Best Opposite Sex’ with two wonderful mealies, which very closely related.
Les Petty was born in Greenwich, South London and he tells me his dad was a fancier, racing in the Friendly Homing Society. He had his first small 8ft x 6ft loft, which his dad built, with a small aviary on one end and he was about ten years old at the time. Les said, ‘my first pigeons were two pairs of Sion Mealies from one of my dad’s pals, Tom Sexton and another of dad’s friends, Ray Baker of Eltham, was very successful and taught me a lot about eye-sign. My interest in pigeons only lasted until I was about fourteen when football and girls took over. Years later in 1998 I was settle down and decided to restart and bought a pair of show racers at the Comrade Show, not sure how good they were I asked the opinion of an experience fancier standing by the sale pens. He turned out to be Ralph Howman and his birds form the basis of my red and Mealies today. At the time I was living in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and was introduced to Phil Crawford who lived about 10 minutes away, and he also kept show racers. He took me under his wing and taught me a lot about showing and encouraged me to join the Midland S.R.S. He also introduced me to Paul Rogers whose birds featured strongly in Phil’s team and I was given some of those birds whose bloodlines are still present in my team today’. He started showing in 1999 and in 2003 Phillip Crawford and Les decided to from the partnership and were quite successful. In 2005 Phil had to move to Wales and Les moved to Northamptonshire where he is still today and they are members of the Monmouth as well as Midland Show Racer Society. Several years ago Les met Alistair Tankard and on becoming great friend with him, have spent holidays at his house in the Scottish Highlands. Les says he has some of the best blues and blue chequers he has ever seen and Alistair has given Petty & Crawford some superb birds over the years. Two of Les and Phillip’s best Show Racers are: Red Cock GB 08S6522 winner of.1st Yearling Cock Bridlington 2009, Reserve Champion National Winners Show 2010, 1st Old Cocks Blackpool 2011 and Silver Hen GB 09S06208 winner of Best in Show Nation Winner Show 2011.
The partners have two lofts, the first a brick built 18ft x 9ft two sections structure with double glazed and is heated, which houses old and young cocks. Loft number two is made of timber and is 16ft x 8ft, with two sections and this houses their old and young hens. Les and Phillip pair up their 20 pairs of Show Racers in the second week of February each year and they breed about 60 young birds. They clean out twice a day and bath the birds twice a week during the show season, and keep more red and mealy birds than other colours. The partners have a penning room, which is heated and birds are penned the night prior to the show. Les Petty is currently the chairman of the Midland Show Racer Society and they only have about six members who show regularly, but the standard of birds is very good. Les is also a member of the Midland Columbarium Society based in Towcester Northants, where he also shows his German Beauty homers.
Colin Reynolds of Gravesend.
The Show Secretary of the Southern Counties Show Racer Society, Colin Reynolds, has won Best in Show at most of the major shows and he tells me he has a good winning family of blues, which believe it or not, originally started from a pair of blue chequers! He has been Show Secretary for about ten seasons and says he like the standard colours of blue chequer, blue, red chequer and mealy best, although he has several Mosaics in the loft. Colin keeps 20 pairs of Show Racers in his four section ‘L’ Shaped loft and pairs them up after the BHW Blackpool Show in January. The birds are fed on a high protein mixture, which includes Beans and Maple Peas. He has been keeping Show Racers since 2004, when the SCSRS was formed and says the Societies chairman, Jim Trim, was a big help in getting him going. The Reynolds loft has won Best in Show many times through the years, including BIS at the Thame Show in 2010. Colin started in the sport as a ten year old lad, when he got his stock birds by catching ‘roadies’ in old farm buildings near his home in Morpeth, in the North East of England. He has now been in the sport over 60 years and obtained his first racing pigeons in the 1950’s from Clarke Brothers who had won the Combine in long distance races. Colin moved to Gillingham in Kent, in 1971 and enjoyed racing long distance, with the Les Stevens / Fabry pigeons for many years. He raced very successfully with 16 natural pairs, but went completely over to Show Racer in 2004. Colin Reynolds, one of the sports workers and outstanding show men!
Eric & Nick Yule of Aberdeen.
The 2020 BHW Blackpool Show attacked a show entry of 2,000 birds and ‘Supreme Champion’ and ‘Best in Show’ over all was won by a handsome racing pigeon blue chequer cock named ‘Pole Dark’, which also won ‘Best Racer in Show’ and was owned by Eric and Nick Yule of Aberdeen in Scotland. Eric and Nick continue the Scottish dominance of the ‘Supreme Champion’ trophy at Blackpool, with McCord & Turpie winning it in 2019, and John & Alice Bell winning it in previous years.
Eric Yule has been racing and showing pigeons many years and his son, Nicky, has always taken an interest in his dad’s hobby and joined the present day partnership when he was 13 years old. Eric races 40 pairs on the roundabout system and keeps 20 pairs of stock birds. Nicky is the show man and picks out pigeons to exhibit and conditions then at his loft. Nick’s show loft is separate from the racers and it has four sections, all with deep litter on the floors. He told me that in his opinion, the loft design has no consequent as long as it is clean and dry, and there is no big secrets in winning, dedication brings you success with pigeons. The more you put in the more you get out! His first pigeons were Kirkpatrick crossed with the Ko Nipus pigeons, and in the early days the young Nicky was very influenced by the late Bob McDonald’s wonderful racing and showing performances. Nick is a tile fixer by trade and says his biggest thrill in his 31 years in the sport was winning ‘Supreme Champion’ and ‘Best in Show’ at the BHW Blackpool Show in 2020.
The Eric and Nick Yule partnership has an excellent racing and showing record over many years, with the highlights being: 1st North Section SNFC Rennes (643 miles), three times 1st North Section SNFC Sartilly (587 miles), 1st North Section SNFC Frome (415 miles), 1st North Section SNFC Littlehampton (451 miles), ‘Best in Show’ at the NEHU Show, ‘Best in Show’ at the RP Old Comrades Show, three times ‘Best Racing Pigeon’ at the BHW Blackpool Show, three times ‘Best Racing Pigeon’ at the RP Old Comrades Show and the most recent, ‘Supreme Champion’ and ‘Best in Show’ at the BHW Blackpool Show. A wonderful all round loft performance!
The base family of pigeons at the Aberdeen loft are Bob McDonald and Dickie Greame, with new stock being added every year. Nick told me when selecting a new pigeon to bring in, it has to look good and handle well. He has brought in ten to fifteen birds from Leir Market in Belgium for the last seven years and had winners every season. The racing team have not been paired for the last three years, with the cocks racing to nest boxes and the hen to the perch. They race from the first race through to the last and are fed on a good widowhood mixture, with a pot of Barley in front of them all the time. The birds are parted in early August, to ensure they have a good moult and then get them ready for the shows. During the moulting period they are fed on a ‘moult’ mixture and are given vitamins in the drinking water. Nicky says, he has no really thoughts on inbreeding, as almost all his birds are crossed. He breeds 20 late breds every year and these are trained in the winter mouths of that year.
I have had the great pleasure of judging several times at the NEHU Show at both Peterlee and South Shields over the years, including ‘Best in Show’ a couple of times. On one occasion that I judged BIS in 2011, Eric and Nicky Yule won ‘Best Opposite Sex’ with their wonderful blue chequer cock ‘Andy Carroll’. This champion cock won many shows and was ‘Best in Show’ at the NEHU Show the year previous, in 2010. I could write all day long about the Yule’s wins at Open and National show, but two other outstand pigeons were: ‘Murphy’ winner of many firsts, including ‘Best in Show’ at the RP Old Comrades Show and ‘The Blackpool Cock’, also the winner of many firsts, including winning first two years on the trot at the BHW Blackpool Show.
I visited Eric's Aberdeen home in 1997 and was greatly impressed by the man and his wonderful team of multi-purpose pigeons, which have excelled at racing and showing. Over the years Eric has recorded many major positions in national long-distance races, with 1996 being his best season, winning 3rd North Section Sartilly (1) SNFC (587 miles); 1st North Sect Rennes SNFC (631 miles); 1st North Sect Sartilly (2) SNFC. At that time the loft had won Best Racer in Show at the BHW Blackpool Show twice and also twice at the RP Old Comrades Show. Eric had had outstanding success with his good Kirkpatrick red chequer cock which won ‘Best Racer in Show’ at both the major shows in one season. A fantastic performance! ‘The Red Cock’ had also been a good racer, winning many cards in races up to 300 miles. At that time Eric's, smart 20ft loft had four sections and the birds were trapped through drop holes. The main loft had a closed-in front to keep the inmates warm and dry and the nest boxes were also very secluded, with hardboard fronts. Eric began in the sport in 1963 with a pair in a rabbit hutch and was only really interested in long-distance racing. His 40 pairs of natural racers were paired up in early February and, after rearing a pair of squeakers, were parted again. They were trained and race the first four races apart, and then were re-paired for the rest of the season, it with the long-distance nationals in mind. The old birds got three 25-mile training tosses every week through the season. The birds were hopper fed a good mixture, with extra maize being added as the distance increased. The star bird on my visit to the Aberdeen loft was a blue chequer cock and he was a blend of several top long-distance families which run through the loft. This cock had won several cards racing, including 1st North Section, 85th open Rennes (SNFC) 631 miles, being sent feeding two big youngsters. A good type as well as good performance was preferred when selecting stock birds. Stock birds were paired up the same time as the racers so their first round of eggs could be floated in the racing loft. Since my visit to their loft in 1997, Eric and Nicky have won it all, including ‘Supreme Champion’ and ‘Best in Show’ at the BHW Blackpool Show in 2020.
Well that’s our article for this week! I hope my readers have enjoyed reading about the brilliant success of these Show Race lofts. I can be contacted with any pigeon ‘banter’ on telephone number: 01372 463480 or email me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com).