Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past and present

RUSSELL AYRES OF ASH

Russell Ayres enjoyed a good season racing with the London & South East Classic Club in 2008 and ended up winning the ‘John O’Connor Memorial Trophy’ with his best racer, a light blue chequer hen called ‘The 23 Hen’. This wonderful little Janssen hen has had four races with the L&SECC and scored four times, winning 2007: 22nd open L&SECC Guernsey (1) (2nd ‘Gold Ring’ Nomination), 161st open L&SECC Guernsey (2), 2008: 212th open L&SECC Alencon, 23rd open L&SECC Tours. A great performance!

Russell races his old birds on the widowhood system, 12 cocks and 4 hens, and feeds all GEM mixtures, backed up with GEM supplements. He has a young family, with his two sons, Adam aged six, and Aaron aged nearly three, so he only has a limited time with his pigeons and only races up to Tours (275 miles). His good lady, Vicki, is a great help with the pigeon management, as Russell works six days a week as a spray prepper at Vicki’s father’s firm in Byfleet. His loft is 24ft long with four sections, both stall traps for the young birds and open door trapping for the old birds, an offset pan tile apex roof and the young bird and stock bird sections have a wire flight. He breeds 40 youngsters to race on the ‘dark’ system each season and he likes to get them paired up and sitting on eggs for the young bird National and Classic races. The Ayres young bird team are worked hard during the racing season and are given as many 40 mile training tosses as Russell can find time for. He told me he really enjoyed his 8th open Classic which he won recently, but his biggest thrill was when he won 4th section E, 4th open NFC Guernsey (6873 birds) in 2002 when he flew in partnership with John Eastwood. They won it with their good blue hen, ‘The National Hen’ and she was bred by Brian Keegan of  Sandhurst. This great hen is still in the stock loft breeding outstanding racers and her dam won 1st open CSCFC Sennon Cove for the Keegan loft in 2001.

Russell was born in Reading and is from a big pigeon racing family, with both his father and grand father being life time fanciers. His grand father was Ray Ayres of Thorpe and he was an outstanding pigeon racer, winning on the north and south roads, from 80 miles right through to 500 miles. Russell says pigeon racing is in his blood and his earliest memory was, as a two year old sitting in the loft shaking the corn tin! His father, Ray Ayres, was also a great fancier all his life, before sadly passing away in 1999. Ray raced in Wokingham before moving to Ash Vale in 1975 and flew in partnership with the young Russell. Their first stock birds were Ray Ayres’ Bricoux-Sion, Maurice Veheyes and Janssen Brothers, which all raced really well. The Ayres partnership won their fair share of prizes in the club and Federation, but their best position was 6th section E, 27th open NFC Pau in 1985. Russell has always been a 100% pigeon man, but when he was young he played a lot of Football and was a good Angler, with his best fish being a 20lb 3oz Common Carp. After his dad’s death, Russell entered a very successful partnership with John Eastwood in 1999 and after a short break from the sport started on his own at his new address in Ash, in 2006.

When Russell and his fiancée, Vicki, mover into their house in Ash their next door neighbour was the pigeon fancier and on watching his birds exercising over the fence, he was bitten by the pigeon bug again. At that time John Eastwood was reducing his stock loft, so Russell obtain three birds from him and all three originally came from Brian Keegan of Sandhurst. The three stock birds have bred winners and are all down from the same lines, out off ‘Hollywood Rafa’, winner of 3rd open CSCFC. Russell told me that Brian and Sharron Keegan have become very good friends over the years and they have let him have the very best of their Janssen based family. His stock loft is based on ‘The Derby Cock’, the old Gust Hofkens pigeons and the Camphuis lines of ‘Red Caesar’ and ‘Red Dancer’. Russell maintains that ‘The Derby Cock’ is the ‘ace’ breeder and is sire and grand sire too many premier prize winners in the National and Classic.

Russell has nine pairs of stock birds and mates them all up in at the beginning of January. He says every bird in the stock section is Janssen based, in fact every stock bird except one comes through Brian Keegan’s loft and he is always looking to improve his bloodlines. Russell and Brian Keegan visited a great fancier in Belgium named Frans Verheyen and he races the Hofkens strain of pigeons. Frans has been winning 20 plus first prizes ever season for the last 40 years, with the same Hofkens pigeons and has had many Olympiad pigeons. Brian introduced these pigeons into the UK and the five fanciers who have raced these birds have won top National and Classic positions with them. Russell purchased two direct from Frans and both have bred winners.

The breeding section at the Ayres’ loft is not based on the eye sign theory, as Russell is not a believer, but he like his pigeons to have some depth in their eye. He told me an eyesign judge graded two of his Bricoux pigeons back in the late 1980’s and stated the cock would win from up to 500 miles and other, a hen, would be lucky to make it home from 100 miles. In reality the cock was a duffer and the hen went on to win 27th open NFC Pau (550 miles) and bred several winners up to Niort (380 miles). Russell never shows his birds in the winter months and says it is their rest period and should be left in the loft. He maintains the moult period is probably the most important time of the year and if the birds don’t have a good moult the fancier will not get the best from them the following season, breeding or racing. He parts all his birds as soon as the last young bird race is completed and gives them a good quality moult mixture, plenty of rest, with very little exercise around the loft and baths with added salts. He normally produces a couple of pairs of late breds from his best birds for stock purposes, but these are never later than June bred. Russell hates ‘wildman’ pigeons in his loft and says they never last long, because they just up set the other birds. They don’t have to be tame, just under control!

Russell says, his friend Brian Keegan of College Town, Sandhurst is the top fancier in his area and has won it all over many years in the sport including: 1st open NIPA (23,000 birds) and five times 1st open Classic. A great fancier! Russell has no offices in the sport as he can’t attend the local club every weekend, because of his work and most of the time he wants to concentrate on National and Classic racing. He told me he doesn’t understand the anti ETS mob! With his work commitments increasing, he will have to have the trapping system in the near future and thinks it is a great invention and the way forward for the sport. He believes the clocking system is better for the pigeons,  they will not being grabbed by a big pair of sweaty hand after a hard fly home and not have a rubber ring ripped off their leg and then dropped on the loft floor. He maintains the ETS is no quicker clocking than with a T3 clock and stall trap when used properly. Well done to Russell on his outstanding trophy win in the L&SECC last season!

At the time of me submitting this article for publication the Three Borders Federation has flown the first two races of the 2009 season and Russell has got off to a brilliant start winning 1st club, 4th Three Borders Federation (1367 birds) Wincanton and 1st club, 18th Federation (1837 birds) Yeovil. Russell’s great hen, ‘The 23 Hen’ won the Yeovil race and her brother, a red chequer widowhood cock, won the Wincanton race. Well done, mate!

Well that it for another week! I can be contacted for any pigeon comments on telephone number: 01372 463480. See yer!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.