TONY HARTE
A look at the nature of racing in Malta
Life is very down to earth in Malta/Gozo and Trotting horses, pigeon racing, bird keeping, etc are very popular.
First of all I must apologise for the delay in sending in the latest results. I have had some problems with my computer, it is quite old but I have had it upgraded several times, with increasing the memory capacity, renewing certain parts, etc plus having a computer virus, none of which helps. I think that it would be great if I could increase my memory capacity as well.
Living in Gozo, where life has existed since 3600-3000 years BC, with the Ggantija Temples in my village of Xaghra being one of oldest freestanding buildings in the world and older than the pyramids, listening to tales from the local farmers etc it amazes me as to how the phase of the moon can influence nature. Some horse owners tell me that when a mare is to give foal, it is usually on the night of a full moon. Farmers have been advised, in the knowledge of experience, over the years that the vegetable seed should be sown on the night of a full moon.
Plant your seeds on the night of a full moon, for a good crop, plus plenty of pigeon manure! This was the result for me!
My wife, who hails from the Philippines and who was brought up on the mountains on a hill farm, also confirms that her parents strictly followed the planting of seeds on the night of a full moon. Living in Cardiff, I was fully aware of the influence of the moon phases with the tide, as Cardiff/Bristol Channel has the second highest rise and fall of tide in the world. So likewise I have paired up my breeders on the night of the full moon and although I cannot say with any conviction that this will result in better youngsters, for me it is worth trying. Fanciers say that one year you get a good crop of young birds, then the next year, using the same stock, they don’t breed the same quality. Does the date of pairing make any difference? Who knows?
The “Horse whisperer of Gozo”, Victor Muscat, advises that mares mostly foal on the night of a full moon.
In Malta they have their annual show mid-season and it was held in February this year. Compared to the Blackpool show or Doncaster, there is no comparison and there seemed to be fewer stands this year, which is disappointing as I am so used to stocking up on items and looking out for new products. I also prefer and enjoy it when you can indulge in a drink, chat with fellow fanciers etc all in the same room and this is something that is missing in Malta. I must admit that I am not interested in showing pigeons, so that side of things does not interest me at all, but for those who do, then best of luck and I wish you every success. Racing gives me the thrill and the basket is the best judge, providing there is no foul play, of course. Since living in Malta, I find it very strange that fanciers are allowed to basket their own pigeons, as this gives any unscrupulous fancier the best opportunity to cheat. As far as I am aware, this is the only country that I know of that allows this. I am aware that in the past it has been alleged that some fanciers had their pigeons’ vent bones broken by the person basketing them. This may be so, but I would personally bet that there would be more fanciers likely to cheat than those likely to break the pigeons’ vent bones of a competitor. Anyway each club should/could have a basketing committee, trusted/respected members, who could be relied upon to basket the pigeons fairly. I note that in Taiwan, the pigeon to be basketed is placed in a small transparent box, by the owner, then the basketing official passes the box over the top of the ETS system to register the pigeon, then the box is opened and the pigeon walks out and goes directly into the basket. This system could be introduced at a relatively low cost. Another thing which shocks me is that in Malta, there are no rules regarding using performance enhancing drugs and with the stories coming out of Belgium, Holland, etc this is something I think that all countries should aim to prevent. On a more positive note, I think that the system in Malta, for notifying fanciers of the liberation time, is great. For a fee of some 5 Euros, you can receive an SMS message telling you the time of release and this I find most helpful, as there is no continually phoning the liberation line, saying the birds have been held over for another hour, so phone back again later, paying through the nose at a premium phone charge rate. I think that by comparing different systems, rules, etc applied in different countries, then we and the sport, can all benefit.
Judges and officials at the Malta Show 2014
The winning pigeon of best in show, Malta 2014 bred and owned by Philip Carbonaro.
Andre Scerri manning his stall at the Malta Show
To help bring you up to date with the results in Malta, here we go: Belvedere 6,155km/ 90miles, 8279 Fed pigeons, with the wind in Gozo’s favour, 1st Fed, John Vella & Sons, Nadur PC Gozo, 2nd & 3rd, Eugene Farrugia, Nadur PC, 4th Raymond Grima, Rabat RPC, Gozo, 5th Frankie Cauchi, Rabat RPC, 6th Eucharist Grech, Nadur PC, 7th Noel Calleja, Nadur PC, 8th Josmar Cauchi, Rabat RPC, 9th Carmel Camilleri, Nadur PC and 10th Fed John Portelli, Rabat RPC. In my club the Rabat RPC, Gozo, 5th club was Noel Grima, 6th club, Jeffrey Muscat, 7th club John Mercieca and 8th club, Joseph Bajada. In our club of 60 members there are trophies awarded for the first 8 places and points for 20% of the number of pigeons in the race. So there were 440 pigeons entered and points for the first 88 pigeons. These points will then be accumulated to calculate the best fancier short distance, best fancier long distance and best fancier overall. The next race was Messina 3, with 6873 pigeons in the Federation with Oliver & Ronald Scibberras, Sliema Racing PC, in 1st and club mate A. Aquilina in second. 3rd was Emmanuel Schembri & Terry Allen, Birkirkara Homing Union, 4th were Genjo & Diandra Micallef, Northern Homing District Union, 5th Nicholas & Sunny Sciberras, Hamrun Union, 6th David Mercieca, Marsa Racing PC, 7th Borg & De Leonardo, NDHU, 8th Anthony & Carmel Grech, B`Kara HU, 9th Wendy Azzopardi & Nazju Borg, Marsa RPC and John Borg, B`Kara HU was in 10th. In the Rabat RPC, 363 club pigeons were competing with Frankie Cauchi taking the red card. In second was Alfred Hili, third Tony Grech, 4th Paul Aquilina, 5th Gregory Lofts, 6th Noel Grima, 7th Coronato Mercieca and 8th Josmar Cauchi. The next race was Belvedere 7, 155Km, 8005 Fed pigeons and 433 pigeons entered in the club, all members Fed & Club, limited to only a maximum of 10 pigeons per member. First Federation/National was John Vella & Sons, Nadur PC, in 1st club & 2nd National was yours truly, Tony Harte, with a Bert Hession, Staf Van Reet,(the parents of which were gifted to me by Mario Farrugia, Mosta club), in third National was the same Mario Farrugia, Central Racing Pigeon Club, Mosta, having pipped him for second place by 22 seconds ! I felt I had to apologise for beating him with his own pigeon but we both were overjoyed with our success. In 2nd Rabat RPC and 4th National was the JJC partnership,(Joe Axiaq, Josette & Carmelo), 5thNational was Francis Portelli, Nadur PC, 6th were Charles & Mattias Debono, Central RPC, 3rd club & 7th national Raymond Grima, 8th National Sammy Cauchi, Nadur PC, 4th club & 9th National Manuel Grech, 10th national Robert galea, B`Kara HU. 5th club was Paul Aquilina, 6th club Salvu Cauchi, 7th club JJC, winning another trophy and in 8th was Tony Grech. The next race was ST Eufemia 2, 390KM/260 miles, 4695 national pigeons with Frank Sciberras, NDHU in first, Ramon Bencini, NDHU in second, Carmel Azzopardi, B`Kara in third, Gorg Fenech, Msida PC in fourth, George Sciberras, B`Kara HU in fifth, Andrew Pace & Jap Van Alphen, Hamrun in sixth, Joe Rapinett, Hamrun in seventh, Xuereb, Agostani & Gatt, Naxxar in eigth, Vincent & William Grech, B`Kara HU in ninth and Annelise Said, Central RPC in tenth. In my club, Rabat RPC it was none other than yours truly, Tony Harte in top spot, with a pigeon gifted by club member Joe Vella, a pigeon I christened Rambo, as he was the only pigeon that used to be able to escape from the sputnick and also because he came back ripped open from one race, but has still managed to bring home the bacon. 2nd club was Joe Buttieg, 3rd & 8th was Tony Grech, (last years long distance & overall champion), 4th, 5th & 7th, putting in a tremendous performance was Paul Aquilina. It was back to Belvedere, 8 next with 8158 Fed birds, with Raymond & Jeffrey Agius, Sliema Racing PC, 2nd Tony Fava, Sliema Racing PC, 3rd Charlo Gerada, Msida PC, 4th George Attard, Zabbar, 5th Jeffrey Mercieca, Hamrun Pigeon club, 6th Henry Pullicino, Central RPC, 7th Joe Spiteri, Central RPC, 8th & 10th Oliver & Ronald Sciberras, Sliema RPC, and 9th Frank Debattista, Qormi RPC. Rabat RPC sent 417 pigeons and club President John Bajada was first, Tony Grech second, Charlie Vella in third & 5th, Joe Attard, (club cashier) in fourth, Cilia Bros in sixth, Tony Sacco in seventh and Noel Galea in eighth. The next race was Messina 4, 270Km, 6445 Fed birds, with Anthony Catania, Homer PC 1st, Pace Bros 1st club Rabat RPC, 2nd Fed, 3rd Fed was Alex Sciberras, B`Kara, 4th Carmel Azzopardi, B`Kara, 5th Lara/Gorg Delcepo, Msida PC, 6th John Vella & Sons, Nadur PC, 7th Fed & 2nd Rabat RPC was Noel Grima, 8th Fed was Emmanuel Borg, Naxxar, 9th Oscar Mangion, Central RPC and 10th Manuel & Luke Sammut, NDHU. Continuing with the Rabat RPC results Gregory lofts were 3rd club, Tony Grech 4th, John Mercieca 5th, Tony Harte 6th & 7th with the same Staf Van Reet and Rambo, for two more trophies and Joe Spiteri was 8th. Next the last of the 3 races from ST Euphemia, 390Km with 4490 Fed birds competing. Taking 1st National was Henry Pullicino, Central RPC, 2nd & 6th was Paul Cortis, Rabat Homing Union, 3rd was David Caruana, Central Velocity PC, 4th Xuereb, Agostani & Gatt, Naxxar PC, 5th J & E Agius Bros, Central Velocity club, 7th Anthony Abela, Qormi RPC, 8th Francis Abela, Qormi RPC, 9th Jeffrey Muscat Rabat RPC and 10th Noel & Heathcliff attard, B`Kara HU. There were 180 pigeons sent in the rabat RPC, with Jeffrey Muscat, Bar Manager, taking 1st club, 9th Fed. James Cardona was 2nd club, Charlie Vella 3rd club, Demis Bajada, 4th club, Noel Grima 5th club, Paul Aquilina 6th, Joseph Bajada 7th and Angelo Mizzi in 8th. The next race was back to Belvedere, 9 with 8034 National pigeons, with Bertram Debono, Central RPC, last seasons Champion of Malta, leading the way. Michael Abela, Hamrun PC, in 2nd, 3rd was E & L Spiteri, Zabbar, 4th A Aquilina & Sons, Sliema PC, 5th Adrian Fenech, Msida PC, 6th Oliva & Ronald Sciberras, Sliema PC, 7th C & M Abela, Cottonara Zabbar, 8th Xuereb, Agostani & Gatt, Naxxar, 9th Mario & Hanna Fabri, Zabbar and 10th were D & V Pace, Cottonara Zabbar. In The Rabat RPC it was Joseph Bajada in first, Mario Grech in second, Joe Attard third, Josmar Cauchi fourth, Noel Grima fifth, Alfred Hili, sixth and Pace Bros in 7th & 8th.
The tension and excitement builds up as the season draws to a close. The table for the best fancier awards keeps changing and everyone is trying to keep their birds in top form. Unlike the UK and the Continent, there is no distinction between old or young birds and any pigeon, in theory, can expect to race 27 races. Reality is that most fanciers fly natural, but it is hard to try to keep form on a pigeon for 6 months, so fanciers that might be “flying high” at the beginning of the season, often falter as the season progresses. Then towards the end of the season some fanciers put their pigeons on widowhood, resulting in a number of very good performances. In Malta if your pigeon is not in top health then this often results in not turning up late, but not turning up at all. The 60 mile/90 km of sea crossing during the winter months has seen many a previous trophy winner “bite the dust”. It is a great worry for me and I feel as if I might have let the pigeon down, if one of my top performers is lost. As a result I regularly medicate throughout the season, then try to let the pigeons build their natural immunity afterwards, as you never know what the pigeons are likely to pick up in the basket. So all this adds to the excitement and heightens the pleasure if your birds are successful, so the pressure is off until the next race. Not forgetting that you can win a race but if your competitor has several birds placed in the top 20% and you only have the first place, then your competitor will not have a trophy but will have more points. Here in Malta, it is not just about the first bird home, as you’re flying a team and you need the second, third and fourth arrivals to score you points. Enjoy your sport.
Tony Harte
Gozo, Malta
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Elimar - August 2014
