“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT
Three Borders Federation (Blandford Race)
Derek Reid of Weybridge has been one Surrey’s premier pigeon racers for many years, winning top honours in Federation, Combine and National every season. The Three Borders Federation sent 1,441 birds to Blandford (80 miles) for the first old bird race of the 2016 season and Derek was back at the top of the Federation result sheet, with a good two year old widowhood cock. The Federation convoyer, Dom McCoy, liberated the birds at 09.45hrs in a west wind and Derek’s game cock won the Federation by 4ypm clear!
The first ten in the Blandford Federation result were: 1) Derek Reid 1791: 2) A. Stoner & son 1787: 3) A. Stoner & son 1783: 4) Frank & Sue Carson 1781: 5) Frank & Sue Carson 1781: 6) Frank & Sue Carson 1780: 7) Frank & Sue Carson 1779: 8) Frank & Sue Carson 1778: 9) D. Seedwell 1778: 10) Frank & Sue Carson 1776.
I visited Derek’s home in Weybridge just after his Federation win in July 2015 and what a fantastic garden and loft set up he has there in Surrey. He lives about a mile or so from where my daughter, Caroline, lives, so I was familiar with the area and we could not have picked a better day weather wise for the loft visit. Derek has several smart lofts at the bottom end of his massive lawn and all had pan tiled roofs. He races the widowhood system and uses traditional widowhood nest boxes. The lofts are all closed in and the main widowhood racing loft is fitted with a big trapping station for ETS clocking, and has a corridor, with grill floors for easy cleaning out. The stock birds have a very spacious loft, fitted with a wire flight so the inmates can get out in the weather. Derek’s young birds have their own loft and when I visited, his wife was out giving the youngsters a training toss.
Talking to Derek after he won the Three Borders Federation from Taunton in 2015, he said, ‘I don’t know how I won the Federation from 117 miles with one of my long distance Jan Aarden cocks. The winning pigeon, ‘Louis’, is a son of my champion cock, ‘Dark Smaragd’, winner of 1st section G, 1st open BBC Palamos (675 miles) in the 2005 season and his grand dam was a daughter of Champion ‘Incredible’, winner of ten premier prizes from 620 to 793 miles, including three times Barcelona’.
Derek Reid has a fantastic racing record over many years some of his best pigeons are: the blue cock, Champion ‘Ryan’s Express’: 1st section E, 1st open NFC St. Nazaire in 2005, Champion ‘Dark Smaragd’: 1st section G, 1st open BBC Palamos (675 miles) in 2005, Champion ‘Wim’: 1st section G, 1st open BBC Bordeaux (450 miles) in 2006, ‘Black Jack’: 2nd section, 2nd open BBC Bordeaux in 2006 ( beaten by ‘Wim’) and ‘The Tours Cock’: 2009: 1st Three Borders Federation, 2nd SMT Combine Tours (280 miles).
Derek tells me his local pigeon club at Spelthorne is going from strength to strength and with a recent influx of new members, has now got 17 flying members. The Spelthorne South Road is only a small friendly club, based at Spelthorne Sports and Social Club, Staines Road West, Sunbury on Thames, just one mile off Junction 1 of the M3 Motorway. Small club it might be, but is of the highest quality, having several Federation winners in recent times and had three 1st SMT Combine winners in the space of three seasons. In one of those seasons the Three Borders Federation flew it first channel with the SMT Combine from Alencon in mid- May. Mick Nunn, the hard working secretary of the Spelthorne SRFC won the Federation by 15ypm clear and at the same time topped the Combine with his good widowhood blue chequer cock, ‘Elisee’s Choice’. Mick purchased the dam of the Combine winner at the 2010 Three Borders Federation Breeder / Buyer sale for £35 and she was bred by Derek Reid. She is now named ‘Derek’s Girl’ and was bred from the very best of Derek’s National winning family. A while ago I drove to Laleham near Staines, to visit the 2013 Federation winning loft of Will Worley, and you couldn’t get a smaller set up than his. Will had had a lot of good success in recent years and the 2013 season has seen him win 1st, 2nd Spelthorne club, 1st, 3rd Three Borders Federation Yeovil (1259 birds), 1st Spelthorne club Taunton, plus several other premier positions in one of the strongest clubs in the Federation. Derek Reid had bred Will a batch of ten young birds to race and the 1st and 3rd Federation winners were part of that job lot. The Federation winner was a handsome dark cock and Wil told me at the time that he really liked the pigeon from the first time he saw him, and the 3rd Federation winner was, ‘The 52 Hen’, a beautiful blue chequer hen. These two birds were mated together and went to the Yeovil race sitting eggs in a bowl on the loft floor. The two birds came from the race together, trapped together, but were split in the Federation result by Will’s slow clocking method! Derek Reid’s pigeons have been very successful for his loft at Weybridge and for many other fanciers in the UK.
Dorin & Denis Melinte of Harrow
In recent seasons Dorin Melinte has concentrated on long distance pigeon racing with the British Barcelona Club, British International Championship Club and National Flying Club. The 2015 proved to be one of his best seasons and two brilliant pigeons in his Harrow loft have shone out above the others. The first was the handsome white flighted blue chequer cock, ‘Unique Junior’ and he is a son of the champion racing and breeding cock, ‘Unique’, when mated to a Van De Wegan hen. He is a super pigeon in the hand, being long cast, with nice silky feathering. ‘Unique Junior’ is only two years old and has a brilliant racing record already, winning: 2014: 10th section, 21st open BICC Agen (514 miles), 2015: 10th open BBC Palamos (694 miles), 1st Greater Distance Club (only bird clocked in race time), 16th open BICC Marseille (653 miles). He likes to race to ten day old eggs or a small youngster and on his build up to the long distance Nationals in 2015 he had two inland and three races from France.
The other ‘star’ of the 2015 season was the three year old blue chequer hen, ‘The Spanish Princess’ and she really is a class act! This wonderful hen has recorded: 2013: 124th open Agen (514 miles): 2014: 2nd section, 8th open BICC Perpignan ( 624 miles), 4th section, 33rd open BICC Barcelona (714 miles): 2015: 4th open BICC Barcelona (714 miles), 2nd Greater Distance Club. At the time of submitting this article Dorin has clocked ‘Unique Junior’ and ‘The Spanish Princess’ from the BICC Perpignan International (639 miles) to record 40th and 41st open (provisional). A fantastic performance! Dorin raced on the round-about system for the early part of the 2015 season and repaired up in June to set the birds up for the long distance Nationals and International races.
That’s our article for this week.
I can be contacted with any pigeon ‘banter’ on telephone number: 01372 463480
or email me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT
(www.keithmott.com)