“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT - 11-09-25

“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.

Three Borders Federation (Honiton Race).

The Three Borders Federation were at Honiton for the fifth young bird race and I must say, can’t believe there is only two more races left in the 2025 season, after this race! The time has flown by so quick this season! We lost one of our ‘legends’ of the Surrey pigeon racing fraternity, when the great Frank Carson passed away nearly a year ago. Frank’s wife, Sue and his son, John are still racing the Mr. & Mrs. Carson pigeons and won the Federation earlier in the season from Okehampton , with their good blue hem, ‘Pocket Rocket’. The Carson family have kindle donated £250 and a new trophy, to be called the  ‘Frank Carson Memorial Trophy’ and this wonderful prize will be won by the Federation winner of the fifth young bird race. This is a tribute to the great Frank Carson and will be repeated every season! Thanks to Sue and John on behalf of the Three Borders Federation, it is a wonderful thing to do! Thank you! The convoy of 519 birds had a good morning toss at Honiton, with Dom McCoy liberating with sun on the baskets at 09.00hrs into a light East wind situation. This was the first head wind of the season for the babies, but with good conditions on rout home returns were very good. The members enjoyed a good steady race and the Esher RPC members Imran Malik and Atif Khan won the Federation for the second week on the trot, recorded 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, 16^th, 17^th, 19^th, 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd, 24^th, 25^th Federation. Brilliant pigeon racing by the ‘Ace Lofts’.

The first ten in the Honiton Federation result were: 1) Malik & Khan 1299: 2) Malik & Khan 1297: 3) Malik & Khan 1296: 4) Malik & Khan 1296: 5) Malik & Khan 1296: 6) Malik & Khan 1294: 7) Malik & Khan 1293: 8) Malik & Khan 1292: 9) Terry Goodsell 1292: 10) Terry Goodsell 1292. This was race number seventeen of the season and at this point the Mitcham & Merton are leaders for the ‘Federation Points Trophy’ with 67 points and the Ashridge club are R/U on 63 points. Thanks to ‘Hire and Higher Bouncy Castles Sweets and Treats’ who are now sponsoring the Three Borders Federation.

The Imran Malik and Atif Khan partnership call their loft, ‘Ace Lofts’ and this is the lad’s fourth Federation winner of the season, previously winning from Honiton and Blandford with their old birds, and then Wincanton with a youngster. Imran and Atif’s latest Federation winner is their young Blue WF hen, ‘Frankie’ and she is bred from the very best at ‘Ace lofts’. Her sire is ‘National Ace’, the partners 1^st open NFC Coutances National winner (4,161 birds) in 2019, which also won 2^nd Honiton (2,408 birds) being beaten by his nest mate. ‘National Ace’ is also a champion breeder and is the sire of several pigeons to score high in the National results. The dam of ‘Frankie’ is ‘Ruby’ a newly introduced hen to Imran and Atif’s ‘Ace Lofts’  from Rudd Baker of Holland and is from his two top breeders ‘Artus’ when paired to Golden Phoenix’, who is sister to 1^st NPO Pont St Maxence (6,103 birds), 1^st  Prov. Pont  St, Maxence (11,844 birds), 2^nd NPO Roye (6,987 birds), 2^nd NPO Salbris (5,780 birds) ect. I spoke to Iman Malik after the Honiton race and he told me, ‘we were over the moon to win this race and be the first winners of the ‘Frank Carson Memorial Trophy’. It meant a lot to us as Frank Carson was a real good friend of ours and the Carson family made this a memorial tribute race in memory of their late husband and father, Frank Carson. We have named our winning hen, ‘Frankie’ after Frank and dedicated this result to him’.

I have known the late Frank Carson and his wife, Sue, since the late 1970’s and have never met two nicer people. Frank is a legend in the Surrey pigeon racing fraternity and has won it all at the top level over his many years in the sport. Frank had suffered some bad heath last year and his son, John had helped his mum and dad race their pigeons, resulting in them having a wonderful 2024 season, which included them winning the Three Borders Federation three times. The star pigeon of the Carson loft in recent seasons has been the yearling blue pied cock, ‘Mr. Stoner’, and he recorded 1^st open London & South East Classic Club Guernsey (800 birds), and 1^st club, 1^st Three Borders Federation, 1^st SMT Combine Yelverton (1596 birds), being raced on the widowhood system. A nice little extra to ‘Mr. Stoner’s’ success story is the fact that his nest brother, ‘Alan’, was with him on the very same velocity from Yelverton (179 miles) and is joint 1^st open SMT Combine! This wonderful cock had won other premier positions in the 2013 season including 13^th Federation Honiton (1172 birds), being beaten by a loft mate. The widowhood blue cock, ‘Alan’, has a brilliant racing record in his own right, winning: 1^st Federation, 1^st SMT Combine Yelverton (1596 birds), 1^st Federation Exeter (938 birds), 2^nd Federation Honiton (1149 birds), beaten by a loft mate, 3^rd Federation Newton Abbot (985 birds), beaten by loft mate, 8^th Federation Wincanton (1149 birds), 14^th Federation Yeovil (1106 birds) plus several other premier positions including 1^st club Taunton. This fantastic nest pair of cocks were bred by Frank’s good friend, John Stoner of Mitcham. The list of ‘world class’ racing pigeons that the late, great Frank Carson bred and raced over his many year in the sport is endless.

Frank was born in Battersea, South London, and his grandfather was a fancier flying as J. Carson & son in the Chelsea & South Lambeth club. Frank spent a lot of time with his grandfather and as a result became interested in racing pigeons. When his grandfather died in 1978 he moved in with his grandmother and took the pigeons over. In the early days Frank got a great deal of help from J. Langbridge who at the time flew in the Carshalton club. Frank's interest prior to pigeon racing was football for a local club as a boy, and just prior to taking over his grandfather's birds he successfully showed boxer dogs. Frank Carson was a born pigeon racer and has always been successful! Frank told me many years ago, ‘Susan is a major worker with our pigeons and must take a share of the credit for our success over the years’. He was ‘simply the best’! With the passing Frank Carson, the sport of pigeon racing has lost one of its greatest champions!

The late Arthur Coxon of Surbiton.

We lost the great Arthur Coxon of Surbiton in 2005 and when I write that the sport of pigeon racing has lost one its nicest characters, with the passing of this great champion, it is an understatement on my part. I’ve known Art ever since I started in the sport nearly 50 years ago and before that, he knew my father when they were school boys and played football together. He was a first class fencer by trade and had to retire from the sport, as in recent years he couldn’t manage his pigeons. Arthur Coxon was the premier pigeon racer in the Surbiton area for all of the 1970’s and many seasons before. He came in to the fancy in 1951 and won scores of first prizes at all distances, but was outstandingly consistent in the long distances races. He won his first race from Weymouth in1952 and won his first major long distance award from Bordeaux in 1952, taking 2^nd club and the Continental Average Cup. Art won the Young Bird Average six years on the trot from 1956 and had his best year in 1962, winning eight firsts, three of which were from France. The pride of the Coxon loft was his famous 1970 black cock, ‘Cyrano Di Bergerac, who had to his credit, 1972: 2^nd club, 5^th Surrey Federation, 11^th SMT Combine Bergerac, 1973: 1^st club, 15^th Surrey Federation, 25^th SMT Combine Bergerac, 1975: 1^st club, 14^th Surrey Federation, 30^th SMT Combine Bergerac (451 miles), and in 1976 this great pigeon peaked to early and won 1^st club Exeter the week before Bergerac. A fantastic pigeon! In 1972, ‘Cyrano’ was beat from Bergerac by his loft mate, ‘Stevie Boy’, who recorded 1^st club, 1^st Surrey Federation, 2^nd SMT Combine, with a punchy velocity of 926 ypm. ‘Stevie Boy smashed himself up on some wires in late 1975 and was put in to the stock loft. The 1967 dark chequer cock, ‘Simon’, flew the channel 23 times for the Coxon loft and won 12 diplomas, including 1^st club Bergerac and 1^st club Nantes. Another ace racer at the Surbiton loft was, ‘Elliot’, who won 1^st club Niort (twice), 2^nd club Rennes and 4^th club Bergerac. A wonderful loft of pigeons!

Art was always ever ready to help anyone and was always keen to give a gift pigeon to a novice. Many pigeons bred at the Coxon loft done well for other fanciers. A dark chequer, half-brother to ‘Simon’, won three firsts for the outstanding Trussler Brothers partnership of Molesey, including 69^th open NFC Nantes, 1^st club Niort (352 miles) and bred winners. I remember talking to the late Dick Trussler in the 1970’s and he really rated Arthur’s dark family, which were based from a 1957 dark chequer hen. We used to call Arthur Coxon, ‘Mr. Bergerac’, and no wonder; he was the number one fancier at that 450 miles distance in the Surrey area for many years. His achievements over the years are far too many to list in this article!

Arthur wasn’t much of a strain man and said his birds were many strains, with his original birds being obtained from many premier south of England flyers. He was a firm but not ruthless basket fancier, when proving the quality of a bird, this being the only pedigree that he was interested in, the basket and not paper. The birds were mated up the first weekend in March, with birds wanted for the longer races held until the end of March. Arthur’s 25 pairs of racing and stock birds were housed in his two self-built garden lofts, consisting of a 12ft x 6ft old bird loft and an 8ft structure for the young bird team. He flew the natural system and fed on a good sound mixture of 50% beans, 30% maize, and 20% wheat, when racing and fed mostly barley when resting in the winter months. Art was a self-employed fencer and liked to take his birds to work every day for training, but when this wasn’t possible he gave them a 25 mile toss twice a week. He liked his young birds to fly the full programme and then slow them up as yearlings. An interesting point is that he never raced latebreds until they were two years old, and he maintained by using this method, he produced some good pigeons. His advice to novices was always the same, get some stock from a consistent loft and be patient.

Arthur’s ‘golden’ memory was, when in 1972 he and two club mates returned to his loft after clock checking to verify ‘Stevie Boy’, when he had won 2^nd open Combine Bergerac. They were standing by Art’s back door to his house, in the dark, talking, when one of them thought he saw a pigeon pitch on the loft in the darkness. Art went to the loft to investigate and there was ‘Cyrano’ hanging on the front wire of the loft! He clocked him, having had a reset and he was 2^nd club, 5^th Surrey Federation, 11^th SMT Combine, and the rest is pigeon history. Arthur had so much respect for that great old black cock, ‘Cyrano De Bergerac’ and he said he had so much guts, and was a once in a life time pigeon. Arthur Coxon’s black family were all small to medium in size and very nice in the hand. They were handsome looking pigeons, with wonderful feathering. He kept the two families of birds, the darks and the blacks, and both were outstanding from 80 miles through to Bergerac, 450 miles. Although Arthur had brilliant pigeons in his loft, he was always willing to introduce a good bird and give it a try. There you have it, the late, great, Arthur Coxon of Surbiton.

That’s it for this week! Well done to Imran Malik and Atif Khan for their fourth Federation winner of the season! If you win and want a write up in this space, contact me on telephone number: 01372 463480 or email me on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)