“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT” - 03-01-26

“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT”

Three Border Federation (Champions of the 2025 season).

The competition in the Three Borders Federation has been strong and hard in the 2025 season, and once again the Mitcham & Merton club have come out on top, winning the ‘Federation Points’ Trophy’, with 76 point and the Ashridge RPC being R/U on 72 points.. It is common knowledge that the Mitcham & Merton are a very strong club, sending up to 200 birds a week and in most races, short or long, members have to more or less win the Federation to win these clubs. Needless to say this club’s member’s presence is very strong in the Federation results and they have won many racing positions, including nine 1^st Federation winners in the 2025 season. A fantastic performance! The Federation ‘Individual Points Trophy’ was won by Stuart Emans of the Mitcham & Merton club for the second season on the trot, on 103 points and he won 103 Federation positions, topping the Federation six times and won several other trophies in the 2025 season. The runner up for the trophy on 92 points was Terry Goodsell of the Ashridge club and he topped the Federation result sheet from Bodmin and Honiton. Congratulation to Stuart on his brilliant performances!

The 2025 racing season has finish and I must say, I couldn’t believe how quick that time had gone! The time had flown past! It had been a brilliant season, with Saturday team producing some great sport for the Three Borders Federation membership. And of course, as per normal it’s a big ‘thank you’ to our wonderful secretary, Stuart Emans for all his good work. The last race was flown from Okehampton in late August and turned out to be probably one of the easiest races of the season, certainly the easiest young bird race of the season. Because of a very bad weather forecast for the proposed day of this the longest young bird race, the birds were marked on Saturday for a Sunday race. The young birds had a 170 mile fly from Okehampton and Dom McCoy liberated at 07.30hrs in to a South / South West wind situation. The birds had a quick fly home in the tail wind and at the end of the race member reported excellent returns. I don’t know, but I think it might be a new record achieved in the Three Borders Federation! Our secretary, Stuart Emans who races in the Mitcham & Merton club recorded his sixth Federation winner of the 2025 season from this Okehampton and took the first 24 positions on the result sheet. Absolutely brilliant pigeon racing by our Stuart this season! Another first for me, that I can remember, is Stuart’s first two pigeon were his two natural youngsters, ‘Belgium Jess’ and ‘Henry 658’ and both were on the very same velocity, 1759.061, to be joint Federation winners. His first two pigeons clocked on the same velocity where a blue chequer cock, now named ‘Henry 658’ after Stuart’s nephew and the red chequer hen, now named ‘Belgium Jess’ after his niece. The sire of ‘Henry 658’ is a Gerald Delaney cock purchased as a young bird in 2023 and he was paired to a gifted pigeon from Kevin Pratt of Mitcham. The nest pair from this pairing have both won the Federation this season. The red chequer hen, ‘Belgium Jess’ was a purchase from Lier Market. It is a double congratulation to Stuart, who also won the ‘Individual Points Trophy’ for the second season on the trot. At the end of the 2025 racing season we must mention Stuart’s pride and joy, ‘Harry 048’ who has won several top positions in the Federation, including: 2025: 1^st Federation Okehampton. 1^st Federation Honiton, 2024: 1^st Federation Okehampton, 9^th Federation Wincanton. What a great pigeon! Well done mate and thanks for all your good work!

After the last race of the 2025 season, I had a chat with Stuart and asked him for a summery and this is what he had to say, ‘as the Three Borders Federation Secretary moving forward is my aim to try and grow the Federation. With growing costs in all aspects of life, racing our pigeons is becoming harder and harder especially as membership is dwindling. With this in mind it would be great if we could get together with other Federations and at first start to have some Amalgamation races. Then in the future with the aim to transport the birds together on one transporter so we can achieve racing our birds at a longer distance and this would make racing a lot more cost effective. I know there are hurdles to jump but we need to all look to the future to secure racing for all. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the club secretary’s for their incredible hard work and support in my first year as secretary of the Federation. I would also like to thank all the Federation members for their continued support racing with the Three Borders Federation. And a very big thanks to our conveyer, Dom McCoy for all of his hard work, and putting the welfare of our race birds first’.

The Three Borders Federation winners in the 2025 season were: 1) Ken Wise (Isleworth) 1^st Federation Wincanton: 2) Mr. & Mrs. Steve Gasson (Mitcham & Merton) 1^st Federation Wincanton: 3) Malik & Khan (Esher) 1^st Federation Honiton: 4) Stuart Emans (Mitcham & Merton) 1^st Federation Okehampton: 5) Malik & Khan (Esher ) 1^st Federation Blandford: 6) Terry Goodsell  (Ashridge) 1^st Federation Bodmin: 7) Stuart Emans (Mitcham & Merton) 1^st Federation Wincanton: 8) Stuart Emans  (Mitcham & Merton) 1^st Federation Honiton: 9) Frank & Sue Carson (Ashridge) 1^st Federation Okehampton: 10) Peter Clements (Isleworth) 1^st Federation Blandford: 11) Stuart Emans (Mitcham & Merton) 1^st Federation Honiton: 12) Tom McCoy & Son (Richmond) 1^st Federation Penzance: 13) Nick Dudley (Mitcham & Merton) 1^st Federation Blandford: 14) Nick Dudley (Mitcham & Merton) 1^st Federation Wincanton: 15) Stuart Emans (Mitcham & Merton) 1^st Federation Blandford: 16) Malik & Khan (Esher ) 1^st Federation Wincanton: 17) Malik & Khan (Esher) 1^st Federation Honiton: 18) Terry Goodsell (Ashridge) 1^st Federation Honiton: 19) Stuart Emans ( Mitch & Merton) 1^st Federation Okehampton.

Every week in the early part of the 2025 season the Ashridge ‘master’, Terry Goodsell had been in the first few in the Federation result, just ‘knocking on the door’ to winning the Federation. The Three Borders Federation were at Bodmin (210 miles) for the sixth old bird race of the 2025 season and finally Terry hit the top spot, recording 1^st, 2^nd, 8^th, 10^th, 15^th, 19^th, 24^th, 25^th Federation. Terry won the Federation with his good celibate blue cock, ‘White – Bucks’, which was bred by Steve and Leslie White, who live believe it or not, in Bodmin. This game cock is part of a batch of six youngsters Terry obtained from the White partnership and he told me, five of those birds have now scored in good races for him. Terry told me, he thinks this is his 28^th Federation winner in the last ten years! It was good early morning liberation for the Three Borders Federation young birds at Honiton for the sixth young bird race and Terry Goodsell won the race, recording his second Federation winner of the season and chalked up 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th Federation. Terry Goodsell’s Honiton Federation winner was his ‘Mystique’ blue chequer cock, ‘The 688 Cock’ and he was raced sitting a pair of one week old eggs. He was bred from one of Terry top stock hens which was bred by John Carian of Manchester from his wonderful racing hen, ‘My Mystique’, the winner of several RPRA Awards. On the day of the Honiton race, the first eight pigeons flew around the loft twice before hitting the ETS board and three of them were bred out of the ‘Mystique’ stock hen, with ‘The 688 Cock’s’ sister recording 3^rd Federation. Terry won several premier trophies in the Federation and was runner up for the ‘Individual Points Trophy. Brilliant pigeon racing! He is the secretary and one of the founders of what I call the mighty Ashridge Pigeon Club; however Terry says, this job is made easier by having good members who share the load when asked. Not everyone knows that Terry has been a very good gardener for most of his life and works on several show gardens. He loves gardening and says, ‘pigeon racing is my hobby, gardening is my passion! I’ve known Terry Goodsell of Morden since the mid 1970’s when he was put up brilliant performances in the Surrey Federation and SMT Combine with his widowhood cocks, and I featured him in the fancy press many times. He was a brilliant fancier then and he is still a brilliant fancier today, winning countless 1^st Federations through the years! He now races his pigeons to his loft in Morden and he has enjoyed many wonderful racing seasons in the Three Borders Federation, and has won 29 1^st Federations in the last ten seasons, and has been the Federation champion by winning the ‘Individual Points Trophy’ three times in recent years.

It was a very special congratulation that went out back in April to Nick Dudley of Carshalton who recorded 1^st club, 6^th Federation from Wincanton and for breaking his ‘novice status’. It was well done Nick from me and all his club mates at the Mitcham & Merton club! Nick’s first race winner ever was a blue cock, now nicknamed 'Errol’s Lad' and was bred for him by the Mitcham club partnership of Mr & Mrs Skeet & Keen. After a two week break the Three Borders Federation were at Blandford for their first young bird race of the season, which turned out to be a wet and hot day in mid-July. It was great news to hear that Nick Dudley of the Mitcham & Merton club had won the Federation from Blandford, as he has enjoyed a great old bird season and only broke his ‘novice status’, by winning his first pigeon race ever at the beginning of this season. Nick is still building up an old bird team and only raced a few races, but recorded: 6^th, 23^rd Federation Wincanton, 3^rd Federation Bodmin, 15^th Federation Wincanton and now 1^st, 12^th Federation from Blandford with his young birds. Nick’s third 2025 race winner in the Mitch and Merton club was from Blandford, with his young grizzle hen, ‘Arctic’ and she was bred by George Gucci of Bexley Heath from his ‘Pit Bull’ bloodlines. After a good first race from Blandford the Three Borders Federation were at Wincanton for their second young bird race of the season, which saw the birdage double. The Federation convoyer, Dom McCoy and his helpers liberated the babies with sun shine on the basket and the members enjoyed another good race with excellent returns. Nick Dudley won the Federation for the second week on the trot, with the same pigeon! His champion young grizzle hen, ‘Arctic’ won the Federation, making it, her first two races of her racing career and winning the 1^st Federations twice! Brilliant pigeon racing!

We lost one of our ‘legends’ of the Surrey pigeon racing fraternity, when the great Frank Carson passed away at the end of the racing season 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 2025 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 the fifth young bird race from Honiton and 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, lifting the new ‘Frank Carson Memorial Trophy’. Brilliant pigeon racing by Imran and Atif of the ‘Ace Lofts’.  Mick Honeyball of the Richmond club is the new president of the Three Borders Federation. He is a smashing man and our association goes back to the 1970’s when my brother, Phil and I raced in the very strong Richmond club with him. He has been a great worker for the Federation for many years and is the sponsor of the Federation’s annual diploma book. Thanks for that Mick! As I previously mentioned he became the Federation president in 2024 and is the secretary of his local club, having been the chairman for several years. Thanks also to ‘Hire and Higher Bouncy Castles Sweets and Treats’ who are now sponsoring the Three Borders Federation.

Three Borders Federation 2025 trophy winners were: ‘Longest OB Race Trophy’ Tom McCoy & son: ‘Gazette Perpetual Trophy’ Terry Goodsell: ‘Hartley Challenge Trophy Stuart Emans: ‘Heritage Trophy’ Stuart Emans: ‘The Fred Mott Memorial Cup’ Stuart Emans : ‘Frank Carson Memorial Trophy Malik & Khan: ‘Ken Besant Memorial Trophy’ (Pigeon of the Year) Terry Goodsell: ‘Sandhurst Trophy’ Terry Goodsell: ‘Falklands Trophy’ Stuart Emans: ‘Federation Rose Bowl’ Stuart Emans: ‘Federation Rose Bowl 2’ (Individual Points) Stuart Emans: ‘Federation Points Shield’ (Club Points) Mitcham & Merton FC.

Three Borders Federation 2025 averages winners were: Old Bird Average: Terry Goodsell, r/u Stuart Emans: Young Bird Average: Stuart Emans, r/u Terry Goodsell: Combine OB & YB Average: Stuart Emans, r/u Terry Goodsell: Best Average Two Longest OB Races: Terry Goodsell, r/u Stuart Emans: Best Average Longest OB & YB Races: Stuart Emans, r/u Terry Goodsell: Best Two Bird Average Longest YB Race: Stuart Emans, r/u E. & K. Benjamin.

That’s my lot for this week! Well done to the Mitcham & Merton club members and to Stuart Emans of the Mitcham & Merton club on their wonderful success in the 2025 season! If you win and want a write up in this space, contact me on telephone number: 07535 484584 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)