Keith Mott Writes about winning fanciers past and present

Robertson & Vaizey of Portsmouth

I first heard the name of Robertson & Vaizey a few weeks ago when they won their first ever Classic race that they had competed in and it was funny that it was my first race as convoyer for the Central Southern Classic Flying Club! I completed my first convoying stint for the CSCFC in mid-May and I must say it was one of the most enjoyable trips I’ve had to France with the birds. One of the main reasons that got me out of retirement and start convoying again this season, was the prospect of visiting some new liberation sites and our first destination was Messac, which is on the west side of France, midway between Rennes and Nantes. I was very impressed with liberation site at Messac and I think it is fair to say it is one of the best sites I’ve visited in France.

With the North West element in the wind the first three in the open result were clocked in the Portsmouth area and I would like to congratulate Steve Vaizey and Barry Robertson who won the race handsomely! The partners clocked their Vandenbeele blue cock to record a velocity of 1298 ypm and won the Classic by a clear 11ypm. Brilliant pigeon racing! The day after the race Steve said, ‘I’m still recovering from winning the Messac Classic and the feelings great! We are only back garden flyers and last year we won all the Milton HS old bird averages and the combined average, plus the Solent Federation old bird average, three longest race average and combine average with just ten cocks and eleven hens. Our pigeons are flown on the roundabout system, so we can race both cocks and hens. Our Messac Classic winner had every Solent Federation race in his preparation and flew the BBC Vire race the weekend before his win’. I spoke to Steve on the phone to arrange this loft article and he told me we have met many years ago. It turns out he is the son of the late Len Vaizey of Kingston and we met when he was a lad in the early 1970’s.

Barry and Steve keep only a small team of pigeons and race both cocks and hens on the roundabout system, with every thing racing every week through the Federation programme. The racers are normally shown their mate on marking day and are trained up to the first or second race. The birds are not broken down until the longer races come up and as the races get longer the racers get their mates for longer on their return on a Saturday afternoon. Barry told me, ‘We are not in to long distance racing yet, but our birds race well and win at Federation level up to Bergerac, which is 417 miles to our loft in Portsmouth’. The partners race about 40 young birds each season and these are put on the dark system from weaning until mid-June. They are trained well up to 25 miles and allowed to pair up if they want to. Steve says, ‘our youngsters are race through the full programme to test them and what ever is left at the end is worth keeping’.

The twenty pairs of stock birds are kept at Steve’s home and he is the breeding manager, which is based on the eyesign method. He told me, ‘I’m mad on the eyesign theory and all our stock selection and pairings are mainly based on the pigeon’s eyesign. I have learnt that there is more to it than any one knows with the different theories and I’m just beginning to have my own. Our 2010 CSCFC Messac winner, ‘Blazing 22’, was the result of a pure 100% eyesign pairing and it takes two good eyes to produce winners, meaning you might have lots of good eyesign pigeon in the stock loft, but the secret is knowing which eye to mate to what eye to produce the winners’. The partners are friends with Keith Arnold of Leamington Spa and they race his Staf Van Reets with outstanding success, and also Jack and Lee Madgin’s Vandenabeele and Soontjen pigeons. The stock birds are paired up at Christmas time, but because their young bird loft will only cope with about 50 youngsters comfortably, their only take one round off the breeders. Barry tells any body starting up in the sport that a well ventilated loft and well bred stock birds are the most important factor for success.

Although the partners have won the Federation many times, they maintain 2nd open BBC Messac and their CSCFC Messac win this season are their best performances to date. Steve won a training race in the Sun City Million Dollar Race on 1st December 2007 and then lead the UK averages in the final and 12th in the world averages with his good pigeon, ‘Bramble’. Up to recent seasons Barry and Steve have been basically Federation flyer, but have decided to have a go at National and Classic racing. They told me three great local fanciers are ‘Bomber’ Mellis, Jason Ross and Albie Webb, and if you have a pigeon in front these lads you have a good one!

Barry has been in the sport 50 years and as a lad used to catch strays from the local church tower. His first club was the Portsmouth north road and his first top pigeon was in 1979, a red cock from John Parrack’s ‘Polly’. Barry’s success story really started when he introduced the Les Davenport / Cattrysse pigeons in 1980 and the Keith Arnold / Cattrysse in 1999. Steve was born in to pigeons with his father, Len, being a successful fancier in the Molesey and Kingston clubs in the early 1070’s and his first ace bird was a red cock from Trussler Brothers of Molesey, which won the Surrey Federation. Through the years Steve has had various strains but liked the Delbars and Kempeneers in the 1980’s, and had some good results with them. He told me he has had some bad luck with his pigeons and years ago he had a pigeon home to win the Young Bird National from Guernsey, but flew around with a batch of pigeons in the next street for five minuets!

Barry and Steve believe in line breeding and inbreeding, but say at the end of the day, if you have two outstanding families they need to be crossed at some stage. Steve told me, ‘people say the moult is very important and I was always inclined to agree, but our birds had a bad moult in 2009 and we were wondering how they would get on this racing season. We have come out and won the CSCFC from Messac, is it just another theory?’

Well it for another week! Congratulation to Barry and Steve on their brilliant Classic win! I can be contacted with any pigeon comments on telephone number: 01372 463480. See yer!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.