“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT”
Three Border Federation (Champions of the 2017 season).
The competition in the Three Borders Federation has been strong and hard in the 2017 season, and once again the mighty Esher & Dist. RPC have come out on top, winning the ‘Federation Points’ Trophy’, with 176 points. The club has won the championship nine times in the last thirteen years and this time was very tight run race, with the runners up being the Spelthorne club, on 171 points. It is common knowledge that the Esher is a very strong club, sending up to 300 birds a week and in most races, short or long, members have to more or less win the Federation to win the club. Needless to say the Esher member’s presence is very strong in the Federation results and they have won 176 racing positions, including seven 1st Federation winners in the 2017 season. A fantastic club performance! The Esher club must rate as one of the premier clubs in the south of England and is dripping with top quality fanciers who are hell bent on winning the Three Borders Federation every weekend. Congratulations to the Esher lads! The Spelthorne South Road is very much a growing club, but with all top quality flying members, based at Spelthorne Sports and Social Club, Staines Road West, Sunbury on Thames, just one mile off Junction 1 of the M3 Motorway. A growing club it might be, but is of the highest quality, having won 107 Federation positions, including seven 1st Federation winners in the 2017 season and three 1st SMT Combine winners in recent seasons. The Federation ‘Individual Points Trophy’ was won by a country mile by Malik & Khan of the Esher club, on 92 points and they won 77 Federation positions, and topped the Federation five times in the 2017 season. They also won the ‘Ken Besant Memorial Trophy’ for best pigeon of the year, won by GB 17 N 50001, the winner of 1st Federation (twice) and 3rd Federation (twice) in the 2017 racing season. Well done to the Imran and the lads, a fantastic performance! Bobby and Danny Carter also of the Esher club and Renato Obertelli of the South Downs club were joint runner up for the ‘Individual Points Trophy’, with 37 points and both these lofts won 1st Federation in the 2017 season. Thanks to all the workers for their outstanding contribution in the 2017 racing season, including the Federation secretary, Bryan Poulton, and the convoyer, Dom McCoy.
The Three Borders Federation winners in the 2017 season were: 1) Paul Johnson & Partners (Spelthorne) 1st Federation Blandford (1,211 birds): 2) Bob & Danny Carter (Esher) 1st Federation Blandford (1,557 birds): 3) Malik & Khan (Esher) 1st Federation Honiton (1,488 birds): 4) A. Stoner & son (Mitcham & Morden) 1st Federation Newton Abbot (1,203 birds): 5) Rob Winton (Guildford) 1st Federation Falaise (390 birds): 6) R. Tingley & son (Mitcham & Morden) 1st Federation Kingsdown (1,230 birds): 7) R. Obertelli (South Downs) 1st Federation Falaise (598 birds): 8) Terry Smart (Spelthorne) 1st Federation Exeter (1,018 birds): 9) R. Obertelli (South Downs) 1st Federation Fougeres (555 birds): 10) D. Seedwell (Spelthorne) 1st Federation Kingsdown (649 birds): 11) Derek Reid (Spelthorne) 1st Federation Messac (317 birds): 12) Richard Kent (Spelthorne) 1st Federation Yeovil (740 birds): 13) C. Puddlecombe (Guildford) 1st Federation Honiton (773 birds): 14) Paul Johnson & Partners (Spelthorne) 1st Federation Messac (435 birds): 15) Richard Kent (Spelthorne) 1st Federation Blandford (769 birds): 16) Malik & Khan (Esher) 1st Federation Yeovil (1,023 birds): 17) Malik & Khan (Esher) 1st Federation Blandford (955 birds): 18) Terry Goodsell (Ashridge) 1st Federation Yeovil (918 birds): 19) Malik & Khan (Esher) 1st Federation Blandford (1,148 birds): 20) Malik & Khan (Esher) 1st Federation Kingsdown (1,108 birds): 21) Bob & Danny Carter (Esher) 1st Federation Exeter (628 birds): 22) B. Yovchev (Mitcham & Morden) 1st Federation Newton Abbot (648 birds).
Three Borders Federation 2017 trophy winners were: ‘Pigeon Fancier Trophy 1’ Robbie Winton: ‘Harry Fielding Memorial Trophy’ Renato Obertelli: ‘Harley Challenge Trophy’ Renato Obertelli: ‘Blackwell Rose Bowl’ Derek Reid: ‘Cooper Challenge OB Trophy’ Paul Johnson & Partner: ‘Longest Old Bird Race Trophy’ (shared) Derek Reid / Paul Johnson & Partner: ‘Gazette Perpetual Trophy’ Derek Reid: ‘Cooper Challenge YB Trophy’ B. Yovchev: ‘Heritage Trophy’ B. Yovchev: ‘Fred Mott Memorial Cup’ Derek Reid: ‘Ken Besant Memorial Trophy’ (Best Pigeon of the Year) Malik & Khan: ‘A. Knight Trophy’ Derek Reid: ‘Pigeon Fancier Trophy 2’ Richard Kent: ‘Sandhurst Trophy’ Derek Reid: ‘Falkland Trophy’ Richard Kent: ‘F. J. Elliott Trophy’ Richard Kent: ‘Federation Rose Bowl 1’ Derek Reid: ‘Federation Rose Bowl 2’ (Individual Points) Malik & Khan: ‘Federation Points Shield’ (Club Points) Esher & District RPC.
Three Borders Federation 2017 average winners were: Old Bird Average: Derek Reid, r/u R. J. Foster: Old Bird Inland Average: Richard Kent, r/u Bob & Danny Carter: Old Bird Continental Average: Derek Reid, r/u D. Bryan Poulton: Young Bird Average: Richard Kent, r/u E. & J. K. Benjamin: Combined Average: Derek Reid, r/u R. J. Foster: Combined Inland Average: Richard Kent, r/u Derek Reid: Best Average 2 Longest Old Bird Races: Derek Reid, r/u Bryan Poulton: Best Average Longest Old Bird & Young Bird: Derek Reid, r/u Bryan Poulton.
Buggy Brothers of Kingston.
As I previously stated the Esher club must rate as one of the premier clubs in the south of England, who are hell bent on winning the Three Borders Federation every weekend. To win this wonderful club is a major achievement and two young lads Tyrone Buggy, then aged 14 and his 9 year old brother, Fabian did just that when they recorded 1st club, 7th Three Borders Federation (558 birds) Alencon (205 miles). Member of the Esher club must have spent tens of thousands of pounds on pigeons, lofts and timing equipment, but Buggy Brothers beat them all, racing five hens to an old bike shed sited at the back of their flats in Kingston. It’s a bit of a fairy tale, as the lads don’t own a cock pigeon and clocked on a T3 clock I gifted them. The brother’s dad, Barry, told me their winning pigeon was a yearling blue pied hen named, ‘Nijela’ and she flew around for two minutes on her return from Alencon, as a Sparrowhawk was circling in the sky above the bike shed. This game little hen had every young bird race in 2012 and that season she had every race, including Guernsey the week before her Alencon win. The five hens were paired up to Tyrone and Fabian, and were on the open hole all day, every day. The birds were all bred through the Martin Penfold of Kingston pigeons and were hopper fed ‘Irish’ mixture and peanuts. Tyrone tells me his pride and joy, ‘Nijela’, is a great granddaughter of his great black cock, ‘Ninja’. Later in the season Tyrone and Fabian won 1st and 2nd in the Esher Mid-Week Club from Salisbury, 19th open L&SECC Guernsey (young birds) and 51st, 53rd open L&SECC Guernsey (old hens). Fantastic performances by two young lads racing to a bike shed!
A few years ago Tyrone had a small loft on the allotments in New Malden and I had a very enjoyable hour visit to the loft when he won a Hamworthy race in the ‘Lion Brewery’ Mid-week Club at the beginning of July 2008. He won the race with his sole old bird, the black cock, ‘Ninja’, and he had raced the whole 2008 programme un-paired. The ‘Lion Brewery’ is a very hard club to win; having a big top quality membership and young Tyrone, then ten years old beat 145 birds to secure his first win. ‘Ninja’ was a gift ten day old youngster from Martin Penfold of Kingston and Tyrone’s mother, Sue; hand reared him to weaning age. Tyrone won £22 pools with his winner, but donated the money back in to the club funds. When I saw the Hamworthy result it was nice to see young Tyrone’s name at the top and all those premier fanciers below him. A great performance! Soon after I had a phone call from Barry Buggy to inform me that Tyrone’s best pigeon, the black cock ‘Ninja’, had disappeared from their allotment loft and is presumed killed by a Sparrowhawk. Black feathers were found around the loft site and it looks like he has been taken by the hawk. As Barry says, ‘thirty pigeons fly out all day on the open hole and it’s ‘sods law’ that the best pigeon is taken by a predator.
Since then the lad has done brilliantly with his little team of babies, winning 1st, 2nd Hamworthy in the ‘Lion Brewery’, 72nd open L&SECC Guernsey (1) and 39th open L&SECC Guernsey (2). His small team were raced on the natural system and trained most days from all point south on Danny Allison’s trainer wagon. Tyrone’s best young bird in that season was the black cock ‘Jekyll’, a direct son of ‘Ninja’ and he recorded 1st ‘Lion Brewery’ Hamworthy and 72nd open L&SECC Guernsey. Tyrone showed a few pigeons in the Esher open shows and won several cards, including 3rd Fancy Colours (44 birds) with ‘Jekyll’. Great pigeon fancying from young Tyrone! Our Tyrone is also a keen Angler and in the 2008/9 fishing season caught his first Pike. He is quite a lad, is our Tyrone, he has been taking flying lessons for a number of years and makes regular supervised flights out of Chobham air field. Next time he is up, I’ve told him to give his uncle Keith a phone call, so I can give him a wave as he goes over Claygate!
I had a great time on my loft visit, as I’ve known Tyrone’s parents for many years and his mum had the Bar BQ going alongside the pigeon lofts. His mother is Sue Barnet, daughter of the late Kingston pigeon ace, Roy Barnet, and she has been in pigeons all her life. Tyrone’s dad is Barry Buggy and everyone knows Barry! He has been in the sport since 1984 and he tells me he has won many good prizes through the years, but thinks his best performance was in 1987 when he won the Hersham Weymouth open race, with 343 birds competing. Barry is one of the workers in sport and in the 2013 season convoyed the Esher Mid-Week Club birds to Salisbury every Wednesday free of charge. Barry and I go back to the late 1960’s when he used to come to watch my band, The Impalas, play at the ‘Search Light’ youth club in New Malden and the ‘Swan’ PH in Mill Street, Kingston. Great days! Buggy Brothers two pigeon fanciers of the future! They remain racing their pigeon and obtained some new Jan Aarden stock from Louella stud in the 2017 season. I’ve enjoyed penning this week’s article; they are two great kids.
That’s my lot for this week! Well done to the Esher club members and to Malik & Khan of Esher on their wonderful success in the 2017 season! I can be contacted with ant pigeon ‘banter’ on telephone number: 01372 463480 or email:
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)
