MICK TUCK

of Witley

by Keith Mott

Mick Tuck’s 2014 racing season nearly finished a total disaster, after a cat entered his loft and attached his pigeons, killing one and injuring several others. He is a very successful long distance enthusiast and his whole season is a build up to the NFC Tarbes Grand National and the Bergerac Combine races. Mick gives his race candidates lots of early morning training tosses off Hayling Island, on the south coast, and a couple of days before the NFC Tarbes marking he returned from training to finds the cat in the loft. Needless to say he could not send to the Grand National and lost his entry money! The Combine Bergerac race was a few weeks later and he managed to get his small team settled back on eggs, and set up for that the longest and last old bird race in the Godalming Club. His good blue cock, ‘The Cannon Cock’ lost his hen in the cat attack, but paired up to a young hen and was sent to Bergerac sitting two day old eggs. The Bergerac race in 2014 was one of the hardest for many years and Mick clocked the blue cock at 19.38hrs on the day of liberation to win 1st club, 2nd Federation (449 miles). The race really was a ‘stinker’ with only three birds clocked on the day in the Federation and only 25 in race time, with the Tuck loft getting six home and timing three of them. ‘The Cannon Cock’ is a beautiful pigeon to handle and look at, and is bred from the very best of Eric Cannon’s wonderful long distance family. His sire is the 2007 bred blue chequer cock; ‘Tucky’s Pride’ and he won a long list of premier positions in the NFC Pau and Tarbes Nationals. In spite of his cat problems, Mick has had a good season winning: 1st club, 3rd Federation Nort sur Erdre, 1st Godalming club and well up in the Federation result from the Truro young bird race.

When I asked Mick what sort of racing he liked he replied, ‘definitely long distance! There's nothing worse than getting a phone call to say that the birds are up and predicting that they will be in the loft within 15 minutes, that’s rubbish. I like just a few birds on the day, that's my sort of racing’. I have known Mick for some twenty five plus years now, as he races in the Godalming Club and was a friend of my late friend, Eric Cannon of Wormley. Mick's main family of pigeons are Eric Cannon, with crosses into that being mainly for distance racing. He maintains that his friend, the late, great, Eric Cannon, of Wormley, was the best fancier in the Surrey area and his National achievements were second to none. When it came to racing in the Pau National, he really knew his stuff. Mick is very special pigeon racer and is defiantly a man with a small racing team, and big performances! He also enjoyed a brilliant 2013 season with the climax being the longest old bird race from Bergerac (450 miles) in France. The Bergerac birds were liberated at 05.40hrs into a strong head wind and Mick recorded the only four birds on the day of liberation in the very strong Godalming club, and won 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th South Coast Federation. This wonderful performance is typical of Mick Tuck’s performance from Bergerac year in and year out, he sends only about six birds and finishes up at the in the top few in the Federation and Combine. A brilliant fancier! Mick tells me the 2013 Bergerac race was also a very hard event, with only 16 birds recorded in the Federation on the day of liberation and his Federation winner was his beautiful blue chequer pied hen, ‘Tucky’s Favourite’. She is an Eric Cannon / Van Gill cross, being sent to Bergerac sitting ten day old eggs, and this two year old has had a brilliant 2013 season, recording 1st club, 1st Federation Bergerac, 2nd club, 10th Federation, 10th Combine Saintes and 4th club, 16th Federation, 16th Combine Messac. Well done toe Mick on his wonderful 2014 Bergerac performance!

TERRY HALEY

of Abbots Langley

I think I have known Terry and Karen Haley well over 35 years and all that time the ‘Watford Wizard’ has always been at the top of the game, being one of the all-time premier North Road fanciers in the U.K. Every season I seem to be reporting on the fantastic racing performances put up by my good ol’ mate, Terry, and the 2014 season has not been the exception. These days he is famed in the sport for racing the same pigeons on the south and north road with outstanding success. Terry tells me, he won nine firsts in the Watford NRFC and in the very strong Boxmoor SRHS. He only flew occasionally in the north road club, winning four fists and concentrating on the south road, he was highest prize winner in the Boxmoor club, winning the Old Bird Average and Combined Old and Young Bird Average in the Inter Counties Federation. Terry likes his Saturday Federation racing but is also very successful at National level and a few of his premier positions won in the 2014 season were: 2nd UBI Combine Le Mans (1,742 birds) 256 miles, 85th, 188th open NFC Tarbes (2,769 birds) 586 miles, 68th open BICC Alencon (6,600 birds) 227miles, 96th open BBC Messac (2,261 birds) 275 miles, 39th open BBC Bordeaux (675 birds) 470 miles, 291st open BICC Tours (3,655 birds) 303 miles, 27th UBI Combine Carentan (1,865 birds), 183rd open BICC Le Mans (1,936 birds), 98th open NFC Messac (6,393 birds), 17th UBI Combine Falaise (2,403 birds) 195 miles, 16th UBI Combine Poitiers (893 birds) 367 birds, 67th, 77th open BICC Le Mans (1,936 birds), 132nd open BICC Guernsey (1,014 birds) 179 miles, 37th open BBC Fougeres (230 birds) 235 miles, 89th, 96th open NFC Falaise (917 birds) 195 miles, 39th open BICC Falaise (1,263 birds), 43rd open BBC Fougeres (1,008 birds). Another great performance put up in the 2014 season by the Haley loft! Terry had several star birds in the 2014 season, but the two that get my vote for the best were firstly, the yearling blue hen, ‘Double Dutch’, which was purchased on the Continent by Terry and she recorded: 2nd UBI Combine Le Mans (1,742 birds), 98th open NFC Messac (6,393 birds), 27th UBI Combine Carentan (1,865 birds), 183rd open BICC Le Mans (1,936 birds). The other was the yearling blue chequer hen, ‘Miss Muir’, and she was bred by the premier long distance racer, Alistair Muir of Dorking. This great hen flew the English Channel eight times (1,822 miles) in the 2014 season and recorded: 68th open BICC Alencon (6,600 birds), 315th open NFC Carentan (9,416 birds), 17th UBI Combine Falaise (2,403 birds), 16th UBI Combine Poitiers (893 birds), 67th open BICC Le Mans (1,936 birds), 132nd open BICC Guernsey (1,014 birds), 37th open BICC Fougeres (230 birds), 88th open NFC Falaise OH (917 birds). Two fantastic yearling hens!

I must mention that Terry donated his good Federation winning hen, ‘Fairway Donation’, to the 2015 BHW Blackpool ‘Show of the Year’ Charity Auction, which is a wonderful gestor on his part. It is very rare for anyone to donate a premier performance pigeon like that to charity and her dam also won the Federation twice. ‘Fairway Donation’ raised £310 for charity at the Blackpool Show in January! Terry only usually keeps 14 pairs of pigeons, no stock birds or prisoners if possible, and races on the natural system. He has several lofts, with various trapping systems and uses sifted ballast on the floors, which is raked clean each week. He feeds on the floor amongst the sand and says he has found this satisfactory for the last 40 years. He maintains he feeds beans, peas and tares because the birds fly well on it and you don’t change a winning system. The birds are paired up on 14th February and rear one batch of youngsters and these are weaned off while the old birds are competing in their first Federation races. The pigeons are mostly raced on eggs only, thus ensuring all birds can be sent through the old bird programme, as no more youngsters are required. Terry is a retired fencer by trade and used to quite often takes his birds to work with him, if he is down the road a bit, for training. Terry trains in any weather including rain and maintains, he had to work in the rain so why shouldn’t the pigeons work in the rain! The cocks go almost every week and the hens are only left at home if they are due to lay. The loft is usually almost empty on Saturday morning and is cleaned out whilst the birds are away. The Haley young birds are trained well and race the programme, through to 200 miles.

Terry recently retired from work and on becoming an old age pensioner  the ‘Watford Wizard’ has taken his pigeon racing to an even higher level of success. In the 2013 season Terry won fourteen first prizes, three times 1st Federation, 1st open Combine and lifted the ‘Brooker Gold Cup’ in the London & South East Classic Club for the second year on the trot. I think it is common knowledge that Terry races North and South Road and will send the same pigeons on both roads and win with them. Mid-season in 2013 I did a paragraph in the fancy press on this brilliant performance of winning two Federation on the same weekend, but straight after that his young bird performances climbed to ever great heights! Betty and I bred, and gifted a blue Gaby Vandenabeele cock to Terry in 2013, and he finished the season by winning the Combine for the Haley loft. The blue cock now named ‘The Watford Wizard’  has won as a young bird in the 2013 season: 14th Spelthorne open Yeovil (650 birds), flew the L&SECC Guernsey Young Bird Classic (a really bad race), was then clocked from the NFC Carentan (France) Young Bird National to record 415th open (3,330 birds) and seven days later was turned 205 miles North Road to Aycliffe to win 1st club (by 20 minutes), 1st Thames Valley Federation, 1st open North Thames NR Combine.  Another example of Terry racing a pigeon South Road, clocking it from France, then turning 205 mile north the following weekend for its first race ever on the North Road and winning the Combine! ‘The Watford Wizard’ was a darkness youngster, raced to the perch, and was bred from our Vandenabeele stock birds, ‘Myrtle Olympic’ and ‘Myrtle Exile’.

That’s it for this week. I hope my readers have enjoyed our little update on Mick and Terry’s latest racing performances. 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)