“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT
Three Borders Federation (Yeovil 2 YB Race)
The Federation had 769 birds at the comeback Yeovil race in mid-August and Ken Wise of the Isleworth club topped the Federation result for the second time this season. Ken had a ‘banger’ doing 1973 ypm, winning the Federation by 30 ypm and recorded 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th Federation. A fantastic performance! A fast race was expected, with Dom McCoy liberating at 09.30hrs in a south west wind and the member soon had all their entries back on their perches.
The first ten in the Yeovil 2 Federation result were: 1) Ken Wise 1973: 2) Bill Looker 1943: 3) Malik & Khan 1930: 4) Ken Wise 1927: 5) Ken Wise 1925: 6) Ken Wise 1923: 7) G. Randall 1915: 8) D. Brown 1908: 9) T. McCoy & son: 10) M/M T. Leonard 1900.
Ken Wise had a brilliant race from Blandford the weekend before winning the Federation, recording: 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 23rd, 25th Federation. Kenny’s young birds are coming really well, also winning 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, 25th Federation Yeovil (1,207 birds) two weekends previous and winning the first four young bird races in the Isleworth cub. The Wise loft also won 1st Federation Taunton (693) with an old bird in the 2016 season.
The Wise loft’s 100 young birds go on the ‘darkness’ system from weaning until the 21st June each season and says his birds are not in total black out when on the system, but maintains the loft is light enough to read a newspaper. The babies are trained ever day as soon as they begin to run and are still on the ‘dark’. Training is intense for the youngsters, but once they start to race, training is kept to three regular 30 mile tosses per week and they race the full young bird programme, as Ken thinks they need races to educate them for later life. His young bird feeding system has been the same for years and told me they get no more than 1¼ ounces each per day, ¼ of depurative in the morning and 1 ounce of young bird no maize mixture in the evening, with the mixture being changed to widowhood once racing starts. He treats his birds for all the normal things when necessary and once racing starts he treats on the Travipharma BV system, which he is well known for as he has been their agent for many years, and works on their stand at the BHW Blackpool Show every year.
The wise loft has won five RPRA Awards in all, two being won in the 2008 season and has put up a string of major performances over a lot of years. In those three seasons he won the young bird average in the Three Borders Federation twice and was runner-up once, and 2008 season saw him win the average, plus 1st Federation twice. He set new records in the Three Border Federation in 2008 and in one young bird Yeovil race won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd open with 1,644 birds competing. Brilliant pigeon racing! The Federation winner was Ken’s handsome Willy Thas blue chequer cock, ‘DE 049’ and he was raced to the perch. Ken told me one of his biggest thrills of the season was when he won the Federation in the longest young bird race from Yelverton (177 miles), with his good blue hen ‘DE 130’ and she won by 5ypm and was disadvantaged by flying against the wind. This game little hen was a M. & D. Evans / Vandenbeele, being a granddaughter of ‘Benneton’ and was sent to Yelverton showing to young cock. In 2008 Ken won five of the seven young bird races in the Isleworth club and was second in the other two.
Ken has had some brilliant young bird seasons in recent years. He worked very hard training his 2009 youngsters from Portsmouth and Southampton, both 50 mile plus tosses and he enjoyed a great young bird’s season, winning some brilliant positions at the back end of the season. Ken sent two big teams to the NFC Fougeres (219 miles) Young Bird National and London & South East Classic Club Guernsey (168 miles) race, both staged on the same Saturday in September. The L&SECC sent 2,157 young birds and Ken’s ETS system was working overtime and recorded: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th SW Section, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 20th, 22nd, 31st, 32nd, 37th, 38th, 40th, 42nd, 58th, 59th, 69th, 74th, 84th, 87th, 88th open, 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 11th Gold Ring (£1,100). First bird clocked to record 1st SW Section, 4th open was Ken’s good Gaby Vandenabeele blue hen, ‘De 09’; she was bred by his good friend Ray Horton of Morpeth in Northumberland. The NFC Fougeres race was a steadier event and the Isleworth loft recorded a rake of premier positions including: 6th Section E, 7th, 17th, 43rd, 62nd, 89th, and 94th open. First bird home from the National was another Gaby Vandenabeele pigeon, this time a blue cock sent feeding a big baby. In recent seasons the Wise loft has raced the Gaby Vandenabeele pigeons obtained from Mark & Dickie Evans of Doncaster and continued to enjoy outstanding success, winning top position in the Federation National and Classic, including three times 1st open London & South East Classic Club, twice with young birds. Fantastic pigeon flying by any ones standards!
I first became aware of Billy Looker and his wonderful team of pigeons when he won the Three Borders Federation from Messac in the 2015 season, after which I invite him to my home to have some birds photographed for the article. He came to Claygate in February and on seeing his six pigeons and their race performances it was clear to me that his great performance started long before his Messac success. His 2015 Federation winner was his yearling blue cock, now named ‘The Fed Topper’, and he is a son of Bill’s champion stock cock, ‘Lenny the Lion’. The blue cock was raced on the roundabout system and recorded from Messac (258 miles) 1st club, 1st Three Borders Federation, 3rd SMT Combine (1,164 birds).
Billy has raced his old birds on the roundabout, with outstanding results for several years and tells me, he can accommodate 24 pairs, and finds the system very enjoyable. During the racing season the cocks are in with the nest boxes and the racing hens are on perches. The racers are let together on the marking day and on their return from the race they are left together for one hour, before going back on the system. Bill’s loft is 20ft long, with four section and the young bird section has a 5ft aviary so the inmates can enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. The structure is fitted through out with roof lights, for nature light and vents at the bottom and at roof level for good ventilation. Deep litter is not used in the racing loft, as Bill like to keep an eye on the birds dropping at all times. He has eight stock pairs which are housed in a 8ft breeding loft and he uses deep litter in this loft, which he says has never been a problem to the birds. The race birds are paired up in January and normally they single rear a youngster and then the hens and their youngsters are removed at around 16 days, and then they are on the roundabout system to start racing. They then start to get regular exercise around the loft and once they are going well at home, Billy starts to train them for about eight tosses up to 30 miles before the first Federation race. As previously stated the racers see their mates on the marking and they are never broken down with their feeding. Training tosses along the south coast are preferred and Billy tells me that he never trains during the racing season, unless their form drops and then he will give them a tosses or two to bring them back. He has started enjoying channel racing in recent seasons and likes to pick his races for certain pigeons. The old birds are fed on Mariman’s Varimax and Super Power 50/50 mixture, and he has found there is no wastage, and they fly well on this feeding.
The main family kept at the Mitcham loft are: Staf Van Reets from Lenny Jenkins of Dagenham in Essex, plus some of Lenny’s own family of pigeons and the very successful Muller / Aarden pigeons from the Padfield Brothers in Wales. Billy pairs the stock birds up in Mid-January, the same time as the race team, so he can under lay the first round of eggs from the stock birds in the racing loft and he feeds the stock birds on Versa Laga ‘Breeding’ mixture, with extra Maple Peas added. Billy’s number one breeding cock is the blue Staf Van Reet, ‘Lenny The Lion’ and he was purchased from Lenny Jenkins in 2011, and he has bred many premier racers for the Looker loft from the outset. The nest pair, ‘The Combine Hen’ and ‘28105’ are his daughters, the 2015 Messac Federation winner, ‘The Fed Topper’ is a son and ‘Mason’ is a granddaughter. A fantastic breeding cock! Billy tells me he has six direct from ‘Lenny the Lion’ currently in the race team and all have done well at Federation and National level. He breeds about 30 youngsters each season to race and these are put on the Dark System as soon as they are weaned. When they are flying strong around the loft, he starts their training at 10 miles and then they progress up to the 30 miles stage and once they get there, he keep them at 30 miles until the first Federation race. The young birds are fed on Versa Laga ‘Breed and Wean’ and Gerry Plus 50/50 mixture. They are not split during the racing season and Billy is not to bothered if they pair up and have eggs or youngsters, in fact he tells me, he has had some good performances with his young birds sitting. He likes them to race the whole young bird programme if possible and enjoys the longer races best. He is not averse to sending his babies across the English Channel. To educate the young birds is Bill’s main aim every season and maintains the more training the better for them in later life. Once racing has finished the birds are parted ready for the moult period, which Billy maintains is a very important time of the year. He feeds a good moulting mixture, with a lot of oil seeds and gives them plenty of warm baths. He thinks a good moult is key to good performances the following season! He is not into the eyesign theory, but says he shows his birds at the local club’s winter events. Billy maintains it is a good thing to keep the members in touch in the winter months and it is a good excuse to go down the pub!
Well done to these fanciers on a wonderful performance from Yeovil! Well that it for another week. I can be contacted with any pigeon news and ‘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)