Keith Mott
Writes about winning fanciers past and present
Three Borders Federation News
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 of Kingston 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 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 has enjoyed a good season racing in the Three Borders Federation with their young birds, winning:16th, 17th, 20th, 21st, 25th Federation Wincanton (1958 birds), 4th, 5th, 18th Federation Yeovil (1928 birds), 21st, 22nd, 25th Federation West Bay (2183 birds), 22nd, 23rd Federation Kingsdown (1972 birds),10th, 14th, 15th, 23rd Federation Exeter (1389 birds), 2nd, 14th Federation Yelverton (1409 birds) and won the Federation Young Bird Average.
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 three 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 know 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!
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.
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 any thing about the eyesign theory. He likes to show his birds and has won countless open show over the years.
Congratulation to Danny on his great 2009 young bird season and winning the Three Borders Federation Young Bird Average. I was talking to my good mate, Keith Arnold of Leamington Spa, on the phone this morning and he told me he had just received his new RPRA rings and has decided to double ring his youngsters this year. I asked why is he doing that. His reply was, the new rings have two fins on them to take the ETS chips and if he double rung them, his birds would have four fins and it would make them like a F1 racing car, with good down force and aerodynamic, and it would make them go faster! Just a little reminder that the new London & South East Classic Club telephone number is 01494 786026 and our new secretary, Terri Hoskin, can be reached on that line. That’s it for this week! I can be contacted with any pigeon comments on telephone number: 01372 463480. See yer!
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.