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THREE BORDERS FED

by Keith Mott

FALAISE - 2014

The Three Borders Federation held its first continental race of the 2014 season from Falaise in mid-May and the event turned out to be a hard slog home for some of the convoy. The 740 birds were liberated at 13.30hrs in a strong West / South West wind situation, but on the day there were a lot of very heavy rain showers in the south of England and they cut off and held up a lot of the birds. Esher club members, Danny Allison & Amgad Ibrahim, had an excellent race recording 1st & 2nd Federation, with both birds being bred by Trussler Brothers of West Molesey. Danny told me after the Falaise race, that he and Amgad had only formed their pigeon partnership at the beginning of the year and were racing a team of 2013 late breds bred by Brian Trussler, and they were not raced as young birds; although Danny gave hem ten training tosses up to Alton last year. The late breds were well trained this season and flew the first four Federation races celibate before being paired up three weeks before the Falaise race. The Federation winner was a yearling mealy hen, sent sitting about ten day old eggs and Amgad tells me, the blue hen that won 2nd Federation was home 30 seconds before the mealy, but wouldn’t trap.

 

The first ten in the Falaise Federation result were: 1) Allison & Ibrahim 1466: 2) Allison & Ibrahim 1464: 3) D. Milewski 1441: 4) D. Milewski 1441: 5) J. Cogdell & son 1425: 6) Honey & Grandson 1416: 7) T. & G. Dye 1410: 8) D. Reid 1400: 9) D. Milewski 1397: 10) D. Milewski 1396.

 

Amgad Ibrahim lives in Fulham and is noted in the London area as being a very good stock man, and in recent seasons has bred some very good winners for other fanciers. The Three Borders Federation president, Johnny Keywood, had a wonderful 2011 season winning several top positions in the Federation including 3rd Federation from Newton Abbot with his good widowhood blue cock, ‘Ibrahim’s Exile’ and this Gaby Vandenabeele, bred by Amgad, had recorded a string of top performances. Two of John Keywood’s top racers in his also outstanding 2010 season were bred by Amgad Ibrahim, who mostly keeps the M. & D. Evans / Gaby Vandenabeele pigeons and the Keywood success birds were, ‘Amgad’, 3rd open SMT Combine Messac and ‘Ibrahim’s Exile’, which had recorded premier positions over several seasons. Danny Allison and Amgad Ibrahim are both outstanding fanciers in their own right, but now they are in partnership, we can look forward to some really brilliant winners!

 

With us both being Kingston lads, Danny Allison and I must go back well over 30 years to the late 1970’s when we both raced in the Kingston & District HS, which was at that time one of the strongest clubs in the mighty Surrey Federation. Danny was born in to the pigeon racing sport with dad being a fancier and they flew in partnership for many years. They were very successful and when his dad came out of the sport, Danny took over the pigeons at a very young age. He has always raced on the natural system and has won many premier positions in the Federation and Combine through the years; the best being 1st open SMT Combine Bergerac (450 miles). In recent years he has been in partnership with Dennis Sheppard and Martin Penfold, both premier fancier in the Surrey area, but a few years ago he decided to go it alone again and approached Trussler Brothers of West Molesey for some stock birds. Dick and Brian gave him 15 widowhood cocks with their mates and this generous gift by the brother is the base of Danny’s very successful team today. Danny told me that he is very grateful to Trussler Brothers, who have also given him other good stock pigeons and never charged him a penny! He calls them the ‘Godfathers’ of pigeon racing and says they are two brilliant blokes. Danny also told me they have been so generous with gift pigeons and advice, he owes much of his good success to them! I have known Dick and Brian since I started up in the sport, 40 years ago, and they were one of best lofts in the south of England then and they are still one of the best today. They must have lost count of the first Federations they have won through the years and have also won 1st open L&SECC and 1st open SMT Combine. Certainly two of the best fancier ever to race in the Surrey area!

 

At the end of the Three Borders Federation 2010 racing season and I was delighted to write that my ol’ mucker Danny Allison has won the Federation Individual Points Trophy and was the 2010 champion! The Federation is one of the strongest in the UK and our Danny won the championship with 48 points with his South Downs club mates, Colin Crook and Andy Iddenden, being runners up on 41 points. What can I write about Danny Allison that has not been written before about his great performances over his many years in the sport! He is a great lad and a very dedicated and successful pigeon racer. He works so hard with his birds, being a relentless trainer, with early morning tosses down the line to the New Forest area. Worth a special mention is Danny’s good Grizzle cock, ‘40503’, which had recorded in the 2010 old bird season: 3rd Federation Wincanton, 5th Federation West Bay, 1st Federation Exeter, 1st Federation Kingsdown and 8th Federation Kingsdown. A fantastic sprinting widowhood cock!

 

The Allison loft has won countless Federation positions and trophies through the years, including the Three Borders Federation young bird average in 2009 and again in 2011, but his winners in recent seasons are: 2010: 1st, 3rd Federation Exeter (1,135 birds), 1st, 2nd Federation Kingsdown (1,233 birds): 2012: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 10th, 11th, 13th Federation Wincanton (1,228 birds), 1st Federation Yeovil (2,055 birds): 2014: 1st, 2nd Federation Falaise (740 birds). The Three Borders Federation sent 1,409 birds to the last and longest young bird race of the 2009 season from Yelverton, and with the convoy being liberated at 09.00hrs in a very stiff East / North East wind, made the winners performance even more outstanding. Danny Allison finished a good season by recording 2nd Federation, 2nd open SMT Combine (3189 birds) with his Trussler blue hen, ‘Young Connie’, and she was sent sitting ten day old eggs. Danny has enjoyed a brilliant young bird season and he told me, during the 2009 racing season this game hen was the only bird to be home first twice, that’s how good his babies were coming on race days. The South Downs Premier Flying Club had a young bird race from Exeter (118 birds) and the rule in the club is one prize per loft. Danny won the race doing a velocity of 1630.7 and ‘Young Connie’ came with the winner recoding 1630.6 and didn’t take a prize, but did lift £180 pool money. Danny being a fancier who never rests on his laurels got his great little hen ready for the testing High Littleton Tours National race at the end of the season. There was 1,114 birds competing from Tours and ‘Young Connie’ flew the 281 miles back home to Kingston, too record 77th open. A brilliant young hen! Another of Danny’s best racing young birds in the 2009 season was the Trussler blue chequer cock, ‘The Show Man’, and he was also raced the Federation programme paired up.

 

Danny has a 30ft three section loft, consisting of 12ft for widowhood cocks, 12ft for the young birds, 6ft for stock pigeons and all clocking is on the ETS system. He tells me, the loft is about ten years old and his son bought it for him on his 50th birthday. The old birds racing team is made up with 20 widowhood cocks, which is a new system for Danny, with 2010 being his first year on it, and these are paired up in early January. The cocks are allowed to rear a youngster and then they go on the system when the female and baby are removed at about 16 days old. The widowhood racers are given training much the same as the young birds, by over a shorter span of time, and are not broken down at any time of the week, being fed on a good Widowhood mixture. Danny told me although he enjoys racing his old birds in the Federation; he has most of his success with the young birds and really enjoys racing his babies best. Danny breeds himself about 60 babies to race every season and these are put on the darkness system at weaning and taken off in June, prior to the commencement of training. The young birds are trained really hard getting, weather permitting, a toss seven days a week up to the first race and after that a 40 mile chuck on a Tuesday and Thursday through the season. After their basket training they go straight to Guildford Cathedral (20 miles) for seven training tosses, then a week at Bentley (35 miles), them on to Alton (40 miles), then get as several tosses at Winchester (55 miles) and then they go back to Alton for four up chucks, and Danny says he will give them as many tosses there as he can manage before the first race. The whole team has to race the Federation programme and are fed on a good widowhood mixture. They are allowed to pair up if they want too and are sent to races sitting eggs or feeding small babies for motivation.

 

The Allison loft houses 15 pairs of stock birds all Janssen based and all obtained from Trussler Brothers of West Molesey. The stock loft is paired up in mid-November and Danny says he only breeds off the stock birds, with the widowhood team rearing eggs floated out of the stock section. The 15 pairs in the stock section are still the original widowhood pigeons gifted to Danny by Dick and Brian Trussler and are mated every year the same as they were paired in the Trussler loft. When Danny brings in a new stock bird he likes a nice type and good eye, but maintains he doesn’t know anything about the eyesign theory. He likes to show his birds and has won countless open show over the years.

 

That’s it for this week! Congratulations to Danny and Amgad on their wonderful Federation win from Falaise. I can be contacted with any pigeon ‘banter’ on telephone number: 01372 463480.

 

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)           

 

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