Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past & present

Richard & Ken O’Connor of Croydon

In a recent phone conversation with Ken O’Connor he told me that a new star racer has risen in the 2010 season in the form of a blue chequer hen named, ‘Bat Women’, and she has won seven firsts in the club and three times 1st Federation. This brilliant Busschaert hen races being mated to another hen and was bred from Ken’s own ‘Batman’ lines and the dam was an Adcock pigeon from Alan Goodyear. ‘Bat Woman’ won the Surrey Federation twice in 2010 and that was after being Sparrow Hawked early in the year. A fantastic pigeon! Richard’s work now takes him abroad for most of the year, commuting a lot the USA, and Ken tells me he has a new loft manager in the form of young Jake Doherty, who is as keen as ‘mustard’.

The 2009 season saw them record their eighth 1st open Combine winner! The win was with the SMT Combine from Tours and although they are renowned for their fantastic team widowhood cocks the 2009 winner was a blue hen. She is a Staf Van Reet, being a grand daughter of their champion widowhood cock ‘Robin’ and he in turn was bred down from the legendary Tony Mardon stock cock, Champion ‘Toey’. Richard and Ken keep a section in their loft for spare hens, which has produced some brilliant winners in past seasons for the brothers, and this game hen raced to that section, being paired to another hen and sent to Tours sitting eggs. The O’Connor brothers previously won the Combine in the 2008 season when they recorded 1st, 2nd, 3rd open SMT Combine Poitier. Ken says the two Combine wins were on the same weekend at the same distance and was hoping for the ‘hat trick’ in 2010! In spite of family bereavement and work pressures the brothers managed to do some pigeon racing in the 2007 season, and recorded nine firsts, plus twice 1st Federation. They record over the last few seasons must described as fantastic, winning over eighty times 1st Federation, eight times 1st open Combine, 1st open L&SECC Bergerac, 2nd open L&SECC Bordeaux, 2nd open L&SECC Bergerac and 2nd open L&SECC Tours. The Croydon loft has won many premier trophies and averages, plus runner up Vanrobaey’s Champion Loft of Great Britain, nine RPRA London Region Gold Awards and hundreds of club and open race first prizes.

The main families are Van Reets, Van Loon and Busschaert. The Busschaerts originate from their good friend, Phil Ball and the first pair came from his champion, ‘King Pin’, winner of 21 x 1sts. This pair bred their good blue chequer cock, winner of 15 x 1sts and 3 x 1sts federation. The great old cock is still in the 10ft today, although is not filling his eggs and was one of the birds that the brothers turned over to widowhood when they finished with the natural system. The Van Reets come from one of the premier Surrey lofts, Paul Arnold of North Cheam and the Van Loons were introduced six years ago from Dennis Shepperd of Kingston.

Richard and Ken’s best race in the London & South East Classic was from Bergerac (450 miles) a few seasons ago when 1,045 birds were liberated at 06.00hrs. The brothers clocked 21 birds on the day to record, 1st, 2nd, 10th, 23rd, 27th and 36th open, lifting £1,876. At the time Richard told me that they were going to have a good crack at the main National and Classic races and on their real first go at the NCF Nantes event, they won 2nd sect E. 64th open. Richard and Ken’s first two birds on the clock when they won the L&SECC from Bergerac were two natural hens and both came through the loft doors together. First on the clock, was their good red chequer Busschaert hen, ‘Classic Lady’, and in 2002 she won 18th open NFC Guernsey old hens race. This game hen was super in the hand, being medium in size, apple bodied, with wonderful feathering and her sire is the outstanding widowhood cock, ‘Lively’, and winner of 1st Federation three times. This really is a brilliant line of winning Busschaerts, as sire of ‘Lively’ was ‘Rambo’ winner of 15 times 1st and three times 1st Federation. The dam of ‘Classic Lady’ is a full sister to the O’Connor’s best ever pigeon,  the dark Busschaert widowhood cock, Champion ‘Batman’, winner of 57 prizes including 17 times 1st club, 5 times 1st Federation and 4th open Combine. ‘Classic Lady’ was only paired up a few day days before the Bergerac Classic and raced to her new mate and nest box.

Alan Mark of Sanderstead

Alan Mark has enjoyed some good racing in recent seasons, winning many firsts, with the highlights being 1st club, 1st Federation, 3rd Combine Messac in 2010 and winning the Federation Old Bird Average, Combined Average and runner up Inland Average in the 2009 season. Alan’s main loft is 50ft. long, with seven sections, open door and corridor trapping, and houses mostly channel racers and stock birds. A second very smart loft, butts onto the main loft making the set up ‘L’ shaped. This loft is 25ft. long, split into four sections and houses mostly young birds. His small team of widowhood cocks are houses in a 16ft. loft in the corner of his massive garden and he maintains that pigeon lofts should have a good flow of fresh air going through them. Alan told me that he thinks that the reason why some fanciers don’t visit the prize table is that they overfeed and don’t train enough.

The Mark loft is made up of 16 pairs of stock birds, 20 pairs of natural racers, he usually starts the season with nine widowhood cocks and always seems to end the season with them all. He told me, his widowhood loft is the ‘fun’ loft and he has won 1st club Thurso on the day of liberation, and 1st club Bergerac on the same weekend with widowhood cocks. Stock birds and the widowhood cocks are paired up on Blackpool Show weekend in January, the natural pigeons two week later and about 100 young birds are bred each season. Although Alan wins on the channel with the widowers, he maintains they are basically used for inland races in the club. The natural birds are his main candidates for the long distance events. Alan is a retired window cleaner and told me that he prefers old bird racing, as racing youngsters is more of a lottery. He has won more than his fair share of young bird races, including only bird on the day from Alencon and in one season won seven of the eight young bird races in the Surrey Valley H.S. He has a reputation as a long distance fancier, but says he likes to win all races, long and short distance.

Probably one of the most famous pigeons to win the Pau Grand National was Alan Mark’s blue chequer hen, Champion ‘Pauline’, which was finally sold to the Louella Stud in Leicester. This Alf Baker / Jim Reilly hen was clocked on the second day at 13.47hrs and won £2,000, which was a record amount of cash at that time. This great hen’s sister, also a blue chequer, was a very good Channel racer, winning many major prizes including 5th section, 48th open Palamos. Champion ‘Pauline’ won, in her brilliant racing career: 1972: 2nd club, 26thopen London South Road Combine Bergerac (5,299 birds), 1973: 5th club Niort, 1st club, 5th Federation, 24th open London South Road Combine Bergerac (3,000 birds), 1974: 1st section, 1st open Pau Grand National (5,609 birds). A true champion!

The S.M.T. Combine amalgamated with the London & South Coast Combine for the longest old bird race of the 2002 season, from Bergerac (450 miles) and the race turned out to be a very hard event. The 3,070 birds were liberated at 08.25hrs in a north west wind and only three game birds were clocked on the day of liberation in the amalgamation. The overall and SMT Combine winner was Alan Mark, who recorded the only bird on the day in the Combine, in the form of his 2 year old blue widowhood cock, ‘Breakaway’, and I think I’m right in saying that this is the first time this has been achieved since ‘Culmer Lass’, was the only bird on the day of liberation in the SMT Combine from Bergerac, for Eric Cannon, back in the early 1980s. ‘Breakaway’ was the only bird in the big convoy to record over 1000 y.p.m. He had 15 races in the 2002 season, before winning the combine. He was paired up on Boxing Day and after rearing two young birds, was put on the widowhood system. His sire is a direct son of Alan’s Bromley Open San Sebastian winner, when the Sanderstead loft sent two birds to this 560 mile event and got the two birds together to win 1st and 2nd open. A wonderful family of long distance racers!

I hope my readers have enjoyed this little up date these two outstanding Croydon lofts. They are brilliant fancier and some of the sport’s gentlemen. If you need to contact me, please give me a ring on 01372 463480.

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.