GWENT GREATER DISTANCE CLUB
Report by Gareth Watkins
GUERNSEY Y.B. RACE
The final race of this innovative club took place on Saturday 25th August from the Channel Island race point of Guernsey. The race was organised by the Welsh SRNFC and birds convoyed by the Central Southern Classic FC. Most of the GGDC members entered and all were keenly awaiting news of the liberation on the Saturday morning. Once some early morning mist cleared the birds were away at 10.15 am to face the 150 + mile trip home to their south Wales lofts. Dauntingly, the first 90 miles of the babies’ journey was over the English Channel, which can be a treacherous stretch of water, but luckily on this occasion, the weather favoured the birds and they simply romped home.
First to clock at 13.43 pm was club chairman, and winner of two of the club’s old bird races, none other than Ray Strawbridge. This however was not to win the race as at 13.47 pm Steve Jude and Dai Rawlings clocked a “snorter” to not only win 1st GGDC but also 1st Section and 1st Open National. This is Steve Jude’s second National win as he also won 1st WGNFC Lerwick in 1987. The Guernsey winner, a blue pied hen, was in fact bred by Dai Rawlings’ father John and was reared in late April/ early May. She had three races from Wincanton, Salisbury and Lyndhurst before being basketed for Guernsey and, like all the other babies in the team, was kept fit with extensive home exercise and regular training tosses at least three times per week. The youngsters are given a light feed of beans barley and conditioning seed after morning exercise. They are allowed out again at lunchtime and fly for at most half an hour before being fed in with a light feed of super diet. After evening exercise they have a full feed of peas at the beginning of the week and this changes to a mixture comprising two widowhood mixes as race day approaches.
As mentioned earlier, the National winner was bred by John Rawlings. This is in fact the third National winner John has bred, as he bred and raced his own Lerwick National winner and also bred Lyndon Parker’s great Lerwick National winner. This year’s Guernsey National winner is bred in the purple, as her sire was bred by the multi National winning partnership of Scammell & Peploe of Garndiffaith. Her dam also contains Scammell & Peploe bloodlines as her sire was bred by the partners from two of their National winning pigeons. BLOOD WILL TELL. Congratulations Steve and Dai, not forgetting good friend Tommy Whitcomb who helps out with the day to day management whenever he can.
Ray Strawbridge’s timer although first in the clock finishes here at 2nd GGDC and also 2nd Sect 2nd Open National. Ray’s young bird team was reared in April and is raced naturally. In the build up to this race the babies had a rather hectic training programme with five tosses on the north route, two tosses to the west and a Bath and Salisbury toss on the east/south east route. The team was then lifted into it’s first race from Lyndhurst 74 miles, on the Tuesday before Thursday basketing for Guernsey. The first in the clock from Lyndhurst was also the first to be clocked from Guernsey and this proved to be a smokey chequer w/f hen bred direct from Ray’s Dax National winner when paired to a blue pied Jan Aarden hen bought at Louella Lofts Blackpool sale in 2006. This is the second GGDC winner this year to be bred from the Strawbridge Dax National winner.
In third and fourth places were two birds clocked by that man Dennis Ford of Blaenavon. Readers may remember my report on Dennis’s superbly successful 2007 old bird season, well he’s at it again here with 3rd & 4th GGDC and also 3rd & 4th Open National. The first in the clock is a chequer hen bred from Dennis’s Lessay National winner when paired to a hen that has been 2nd Open National on two occasions, both times beaten by loft mates. You can’t get much better breeding than that. As with all the Ford young birds she was flown on the darkness system and was hatched in March. Dennis’s second timer is another chequer hen again raced on darkness and sent sitting eggs. She is a full sister to Dennis’s 1st National Picauville, thus confirming the Ford policy of pairing winner to winner to breed more winners.
Well that’s the final race completed in this the inaugural season of this forward thinking club. I have spoken to a number of fanciers who have expressed an interest in joining us for the 2008 season. My message to you is “Come and fly with the best and compete against the best” you are all welcome. Here’s hoping we will have a complete season of channel racing in 2008. Good luck to all in the remaining federation and National races.
7/9/07
