SUN CITY MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE
Paul Smith
REPORT ON TRAINING RACE 4c & TRAINING RACE 5
UNITED KINGDOM TEAM wins 3rd, 26th, 35th, 77th, 88th, 90th, 128th, 144th, 151st, 167th, 179th & 208th Open and the IRISH TEAM wins 95th, 152nd, 159th, 206th, 279th & 284th Open in TRAINING RACE 4C.
UNITED KINGDOM TEAM had an outstanding result and wins 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 14th, 53rd, 62nd, 64th, 71st, 77th, 82nd, 93rd, 95th & 102nd Open and the IRISH TEAM wins 31st, 353rd, 435th, 489th, 498th & 533rd Open in TRAINING RACE 5.
After the excellent returns in last Saturday’s 2nd Hot Spot Race from 161km (100 miles) in very testing conditions and another couple of daily training tosses under their wings, it was decided for the third week running to add and extra Training Race 4C to the race programme to try to give the pigeons some extra experience. So on Wednesday 28th November a total of 3,449 pigeons were liberated at 09-15 from 81km (approx. 50 miles) and this total included 223 United Kingdom and 67 Irish pigeons.
The convoy was liberated at 09-15 in overcast and cool conditions, 22c (72f) with little to no wind and the Race Director, Loft Manager and Convoyer thought the winning pigeons would take around 60 minutes to cover the journey. As with most of these shorter races, the pigeons arrive in big gangs and this race was no different to those in the past.
CONGRATUATIONS in this race for winning 1st OPEN goes to PINGUIN SYNDICATE from BELGIUM with their pigeon named RIA II, which was officially clocked at 10-13-59.95 to record a velocity of 1492ypm (approx. 51mph). The top 10 positions were taken by pigeons from the following countries:- 3 x Belgium, 3 x Germany, 1 x United Kingdom, 2 x South African and 1 x Australian and all of these were clocked within 110 seconds of the race winner. The pigeons literally fell out of the sky and in fact 1,236 were clocked within 10 minutes of the winner, 2,150 within 15 minutes and well over 2,500 clocked 20 minutes after the winner. By 12-25 a grand total of 3,314 had been officially recorded and this included 2,482 International and 832 South African entries, with 213 United Kingdom and 65 Irish pigeons. Another posting on the web site at 16-31 showed that 3,250 had returned and this included 2,507 International and 843 South African, with 217 United Kingdom and 66 Irish pigeons, leaving 99 to make it back to base camp. As usual a few did not want to trap and others returned later on in the day, so all in all another excellent Training Race was experienced.
CONGRATULATIONS in this race for winning 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 3rd OPEN goes THE THREE KINGS with pigeon named MELCHOIR which was bred by JOHN BOYD from Ballymena, this pigeon being only 12.75 seconds away from the race winner. 2nd UK, 26th Open went to the Fowler Family with a pigeon that has been flying well and which was bred by Paul & Anthony Fowler from Leek, 3rd & 4th UK, 35th & 77th Open went to the English Glory Syndicate with two entries bred by Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 5th UK, 88th Open went to the Stretton Family with a pigeon bred by Roy Stretton from Cannock Wood, 6th UK, 90th Open goes to Nev Proctor from Brown Edge, 7th UK, 128th Open to Frozen Porridge with a pigeon bred by John Fellows from Ferryhill, 8th UK, 144th Open for Dennis Foster from Brown Edge, 9th UK, 151st Open for Boxmoor Bandits with a pigeon bred by Burgin & Marshall from Bovingdon, 10th UK, 167th Open for Mr & Mrs. Andy Gregson from Preston, 11th UK, 179th Open for Dave & Paul McCarthy from Wallasey and 12th UK, 208th Open for Kevin Cahill from Wigan. A total of 213 UK pigeons were officially recorded.
CONGRATULATIONS for winning 1st IRELAND, 95th OPEN went to KARL DONNELLY with his pigeon named KARLO, 2nd Ireland, 152nd Open went to Wallace & Billy, 3rd Ireland, 159th Open for Josh & Kevin, 4th Ireland, 206th Open for Ashleys Outlaws, 5th Ireland, 279th Open for Lucas Lofts and 6th Ireland, 284th Open for Gerry McCourt who is the Irish Race Team Shipper. A total of 65 pigeons were officially recorded.
The leader after six official races in the “SUN CITY OVERALL AVERAGES” was still the JIMMY BRAND SYNDICATE from BELGIUM with their great pigeon HOSHI that is leading by 92 seconds, the top ten is made up with pigeons as follows:- 1 x Belgian, 3 x German, 2 x USA, 1 x Netherlands, 1 x Austria and I from the United Kingdom. He best UK is currently holding onto to 9th for Premier Stud with pigeon named Optomist, 18th Brian Long with Gipping Mistress, 54th Van Vaiseys Syndicate with Mighty, 77th Europa Auctions UK with Europa Classy and 100th Bernard Smyth with Boots. There are no Irish pigeons listed in the top 100 after this race but the best one belongs to Cooley Brothers with pigeon named Daddy Cool.
***SPECIAL NOTIFICATION*** It is great to see the race organisers are giving these pigeons the extra training races and experience after a shaky start because of the adverse weather that certain parts of South Africa has experienced this year, especially during the early training of these youngsters. One thing is for sure and that is that the race organisers will do everything in their power to make sure these pigeons have a fair chance and that they have gained enough experience before sending them to the “Final Race” on Saturday 2nd February 2008 from a race distance of 552km (approx. 342 miles). The 2nd Hot Spot Race was supposed to be from 125 miles but was reduced to 100 miles because of a poor weather forecast, however the pigeons excelled and now that really only means that after all the bad weather they have had so far, they are only 25 miles behind their training programme target at this date an I am sure that once the weather improves this extra distance will soon be caught up.
The basketing list was placed on the web site on Friday 30th November and this showed 3,457 pigeons, including 2,588 International and 869 South Africa entries, with 224 from the United Kingdom and 68 from Ireland included in this total.
Training Race 5 took place on Saturday 1st December from 113km (approx. 70 miles) and the convoy were liberated early so that most would be home before THE NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE day three started on the Gary Player Championship Golf Course, which runs alongside the lofts at Sun City. The convoy were liberated at 06-30, overcast and cool in a light head wind with the temperature 22c (72f) and the Race Director, Loft Manager and Convoyer thought the winners would take about 85 minutes to cover the journey and as usual they were not far off with their estimation.
Once again for the second time in this race series the UNION JACK was flying at the top of the result and this seemed a day that must of suited our pigeons because it resulted in probably the best result for the UNITED KINGDOM TEAM since the race started 11 years ago, with 15 pigeons in the top 102. CONGRATULATIONS today for winning 1st OPEN goes to the VAN VAISEYS SYNDICATE with a pigeon named BRAMBLE and bred by STEVEN VAISEY from Portsmouth which was clocked at 07-53-07.29 to record a velocity of 1484ypm (approx, 50mph). The top 10 were clocked within 29 seconds of the winner and contained 4 x UNITED KINGDOM, 2 x NETHERLANDS, 3 x GERMAN and 1 x AUSTRIAN pigeons, with the top 50 all being clocked with 101 seconds of the actual race winner. The first result issued on the web site very early on Saturday morning showed a total of 2,771 pigeons had been clocked by 08-39, then numerous more updates continued throughout the day, with the final one showing 3,339 pigeons had been officially recorded on the day and this included 217 UK and 66 Irish pigeons, this left a total of 118 to make it back to base. As usual numerous pigeons turned up on Sunday and at least two updates were listed on the web site, with the final one showing 3,376 being clocked by 16-45 and this figure contained 219 UNITED KINGDOM and 66 IRISH pigeons. It really is great to see that those in charge of updating the web site to let fanciers/competitors know what pigeons have made it back home are releasing the information at fairly regular intervals right over the weekend. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK GUYS AS THIS IS WHAT FANCIERS/COMPETITORS WANT TO SEE.
CONGRATULATIONS for taking 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 1st OPEN goes to the VAN VAISEY SYNDICATE with their pigeon named BRAMBLE and this was bred by STEVEN VAISEY from PORTSMOUTH, 2nd UK, 3rd Open went to Chris Gordon from Old Snydale with the pigeon that had previously won 1st UK, 3rd UK, 5th Open to Nev Proctor from Brown Edge, 4th UK, 7th Open to the Horseshoe Syndicate with a pigeon bred by Steve Radcliffe from Skelmersdale that had won 1st UK last week, 5th UK, 14th Open was Mr & Mrs. Brian Clayburn from Ackworth, 6th UK, 53rd Open for Her Majesty The Queen with the same pigeon that previously won 1st UK, 12th Open in the 1st Hot Spot Race & $1,000, Carlo Napolitano, the Royal Loft Manager is delighted the way his team is performing so far, 7th UK, 62nd Open for Frozen Porridge with a pigeon bred by Jack Fellows from Ferry Hill, 8th UK, 64th Open for Kirkland & Adams and bred by Mr & Mrs. Geoff Kirkland from Longsdon, 9th UK, 71st Open for the English Glory Syndicate with a pigeon bred by Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 10th UK, 77th Open went to the Stretton Family with a pigeon bred by Roy Stretton from Cannock Wood, 11th UK, 82nd Open from Bernard Smyth from Belfast, 12th UK, 93rd Open another pigeon for Nev Proctor from Brown Edge, 13th UK, 95th Open went to Myrtle Lofts and bred by Mark & Dickie Evans from Snaith, 14th UK, 97th Open for Mr & Mrs Andy Gregson from Preston and 15th UK, 102nd Open for Premier Stud with a pigeon owned by Graham Sparkes from Patrington. ALL IN ALL A FANTASTIC OVERALL RESULT FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM TEAM.
CONGRATULATIONS for taking 1st IRELAND, 31st OPEN goes to the Irish Race Team Shipper GERRY McCOURT with his pigeon named IRISH LAD, 2nd Ireland, 353rd Open went to Philip & Mark Smith, 3rd Ireland, 435th Open went to Thomas McCourt, 4th Ireland, 489th Open went to N. O’Brien, 5th Ireland, 498th Open for Downshire Lofts and 6th Ireland, 533rd Open to the Lucas Lofts.
The leader of the “SUN CITY OVERALL AVERAGES” after seven races goes to SUDHOFF & VAN BEERS from GERMANY with their pigeon named BIRDY and the top ten in this competition are 4 x German, 1 x Austrian, American, Belgian & Netherlands plus 2 x South African pigeons. The best UNITED KINGDOM pigeon is in 15th spot and owned by PREMIER STUD and GRAHAM SPARKES with pigeon named OPTOMIST, 39th Brian Long with Gipping Mistress, 60th Europa Classy owned by Derek Nicholls, 68th Van Vaiseys Syndicate with Bramble, 79th Bernard Smyth with Boots and 105th Boxmoor Bandits with Boxmoor Bad, plus four more pigeons in the to 200. Our Irish counterparts are holding onto 140th GERRY McCOURT with IRISH LAD, 171st Cooley Brothers with Daddy Cool and 188th Karl Donnelly with Karlo.
Once again the web site was officially updated on Monday 3rd December and this showed a total of 3,392 pigeons in the lofts and this included 2,539 International and 853 South African entries and these figures included 222 from the United Kingdom and 68 from Ireland. This race resulted in only 65 pigeons not making it back to the lofts.
More daily training will take place right through the week providing the weather is good enough to train these athletes of the skies building them up to next Saturday’s 3rd Hot Spot Race which is supposed to be from 250km (approx. 155 miles).
***POLITE REMINDER:- Any competitors/entrants that have not yet “ACTIVATED” their “Reserve Pigeons” can still do so at any time. It should also be noted that only “ACTIVATED PIGEONS” can win any of the PRIZE MONEY and SPECIAL AWARDS including the BRAND NEW CARS which are allocated and are on offer in the forthcoming Hot Spot Races. Do not leave it until the last minute to “ACTIVATE” as it could cost you or your syndicate winning a major prize. Please call me today on 01279-812005 and give me your instructions.
Now we are up and rolling for the 2007/8 race series, weekly race reports and updates will be sent out to all UK competitors and of course published in both our weekly pigeon magazines. They are also available to view on three web sites, namely:- www.iprr.co.uk www.elimarpigeons.com and www.pigeonportal.com
If anybody wants to follow what is happening an a daily basis over the next three months all the have to do is log onto www.scmdpr.com it is without doubt the most up to date and comprehensive one loft web site in the world today and last year had in excess of 16 million “HITS” during the whole race series.
If any United Kingdom competitors/entrants want to pool or nomination any of their pigeons in the forthcoming Hot Spot Races and have no funds in their ASI Bank Account, they need to transfer some money and funds into their account so that they can then pool/nominate any of their pigeons in any of the Hot Spot Races to come. If you are intending to pool/nominate any of your pigeons then please do not leave it until the last minute to transfer these funds, as it takes a few days for these to clear. POOLS/NOMINATIONS can be put on direct through the web site.
“A TRIP OF A LIFETIME” winter holiday can still be booked in the fabulous Sun City Resort, South Africa by contacting Paul Smith immediately on 01279-812005. Why not join our group that are travelling out to watch and be part of The Greatest Pigeon Race In The World Today, whilst at the same time experiencing that fantastic South African hospitality and weather, plus meeting some of the greatest pigeon fanciers in the world. It is a 10 day, 7 nights package and includes your return Virgin Atlantic flights, transfer to and from Sun City, 5 star hotel on a B & B basis and entry and food to all official functions that take place over the race weekend. We depart London Heathrow on Tuesday 29th January, arriving in Johannesburg on Wednesday 30th January and depart Jan Smuts, Johannesburg Airport on Wednesday 6th February and arrive at London Heathrow Airport on Thursday 7th February. A few remaining places are available and will be available on a first come, first served basis. Please call me today for more information and the current price for this fantastic trip.
If there is anything anybody would like to know about this race, then please contact me as soon as possible on 01279-812005 or email me on
GOOD LUCK TO ALL COMPETITORS/ENTRANTS OVER THE NEXT TWO MONTHS.
Paul Smith. United Kingdom Race Team Shipper for The 12th Sun City Million Dollar (The Greatest Pigeon Race In The World Today), which is due to be held in Sun City Resort, South Africa on Saturday 2nd February 2008.
Regency Lofts Limited, “Five Pennies”, High Lane, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. CM24 8LQ. Telephone/Facsimile:- 01279-812005. (Int. Code:- +44-1279-812005).
Mobile:- 07860-568216. Email:-
SCMDPR Web Site:- www.scmdpr.com
3/12/07
