By Adie McCormick
http://www.pigeonnetwork.com
Ashford Miller Gold Cup success for Fettis & Lynass
The Ulster Federation Open race from Ashford in 1970 was a hard one to say the least, ensuring that the Miller Gold Cup would be won by a bird trying every yard of the way. Robert Ferris and his next door neighbour and racing partner Tony Lynass, sent two birds and as the race was just on 370-mls they confidently expected to get a bird on the day, so did everyone else in the Federation, but little did they know when they first settled themselves down to watching the sky that afternoon just how few birds would home on the day. The birds were liberated at 7am and expectations were that the leaders would do it in around 10 to 11 hours arriving back at their respective homes around tea-time.
Bob Fettis of Castlereagh holding their 1st Open Ulster Federation Ashford winner, one of only two birds clocked on the day.
As tea-time arrived many fanciers opted to skip dinner on the assumption that the birds weren’t far away for the ones that opted to eat dinner, it was rather hurried and un-memorable as their minds were on something far more important that dinner many eating and watching at the same time. Tea-time came and went for many including Bob Fettis who watched the clock move agonisingly close to 7.30pm. Bob was a local police man and was bound for duty at 7.30pm and with no arrivals in site and reluctantly he made his way out the garden path to leave Tony carrying on to watch the ever increasing darkening sky, Tony like many of us waiting on arrivals especially late at night when the skies are silent jump when seeing a feather regardless of what type of bird it is. For Bob that night was to drag in so to speak with his mind often turning to his and Tony’s chances of race success, but as the night went into darkness and no word, bob’s thought moved to just getting one home. He returned home in the early hours of Sunday the 28th of June to find unusually the lights on just not at his own house but neighbour and racing partner Tony’s house also. Leaving the car with asperity, he almost collided with Tony and when that worthy greeted him with the words “How would you like to win the Miller Gold Cup” he answered when the time honoured phrase, “Who Wouldn’t” then Tony went on to explain in uncontrollable joy that their yearling Cheq Gits/Galabank Cock had been timed at 8.45pm the previous evening and the only other bird reported was almost 2 hours later at 10.45pm.
In addition to winning the Gold Cup, the partners won the Dickson Cup and the “News of the World” Cup plus £91 in prizes and pools. Bred from a cock hatched from a pair of eggs gifted to Bob & Tony by the 1976 Kings Cup winner, Bob Dunlop, the bird is of Clyton & Turner Gits on his Sires side and the Dam is an Ashe hen presented to Bob by Major McIntyre, this hens contains the best of Galabank and Gits Blood. The cock was sent driving his really chasing his hen for three days, he had been lightly raced as a Y/bird having only 3 races from Arklow, Wexford and Enniscorthy. His sister on the other hand went through the card clocking up well over 1,200 miles that season, going as far as Weymouth in 1970. The Ashford winner is a big fronted bird, strongly built and cast like a real distance pigeon, his tail angles towards the ground when in the hand. The day after the race he clapped around the loft as if he had never been away, telling that his supreme fitness had not weakened by a fly six minutes short of 14 hours.
The open loft system like so many in the 1970’s was practised with the Fettis & Lynass partnership with forced exercise a complete no no, as time had taught them when forced out they will only do a couple of circuits of the skies and land on the roof but left to their own devices they will come out and in all day and will surely clock up many miles. The boys opt to get at least one 20 miles toss per weeks towards the later part of the week which allows for that extra bit of edge on the pigeons condition. They are fed on a very sound complete mixture with small seeds used as a tit bit, but as Bob quoted not so much as he feels that actually can have a damaging effect as he feels it puts them to much over the top as condition goes. All the pigeons within their lofts were extremely tame and always returned to their box after being handled upon release. There were never any perches installed so the birds had a choice of their own box or the floor. As for the loft size wise it measured 12ft by 6ft which was very well ventilated and was kept spotless at all times. The Miller Gold Cup success was the highlight of what was an ordinary season for the boys in the lead up to the 1970 Ashford event, but to win the Miller gold Cup is every fanciers ambition, which many fanciers I am sure would swap a lot of Red Cards for that ultimate prize in Irish Pigeon Racing.