Tullamore - 16/04/11

[willie reynolds]

Another Open win for Bobby McConnell

The East Down Combine pigeons were in Tullamore in Co Offaly for their second race of the season. Once again the weather was very kind and the early morning mist moved away before and the birds were released at 1.15pm in a light westerly wind which was to turn northwesterly on the route home.

I think the past two weeks show the influence of the wind on the Open positions. Last week with a south southeasterly wind there were no South Down Fed birds in the Open result while this week in a westerly wind we had 28 birds in the top 40 of the Open result.
We must congratulate the race controller on another excellent race. From what I can gather there were very good returns right across the Combine.

The winner of the South Down Fed and 1st Open East Down Combine this week is Annalong’s Bobby McConnell who had a terrific race here with five birds in the Open result with three of these in the top ten. Bobby has been one of the most consistent racers around for many years, and has had some great results at Combine and National level. When Bobby won the East Down Combine race from Navan last year it was a great surprise to everyone that it was his first Open win having had numerous positions in the top three.
Having broken his duck hopefully there will be many more to come for this dedicated pigeon fancier.

The winning pigeon here is a yearling that was only having its second race, having been trained only in 2010. It was bred by Bobby’s good friends Arnie and Sylvia Tonks from the West Midlands and contains their top Marc De Cock bloodlines. Marc De Cock is a millionaire business man/fancier from Belgium, a top division flier with his own stud. The Tonks have been leading Midland National fliers for many years and have been particularly successful in the past three seasons.

Bobby’s second pigeon taking, 3rd Fed, 4th section and 4th Open is a two-year-old cock, that has been a consistent sprint racer. The sire was a Richard Quinn pigeon whose brother was 16th Open EDC Skibbereen, while on the dam side the grand sire was 9th Open EDC Sennen Cove and the grand dam was 3rd open EDC Sennen Cove and 7th Open EDC Skibbereen.
Bobby’s third pigeon is 4th Fed, 5th section, 5th Open. This is a very promising sprinter that was 1St Open Navan in 2010 and contains the best bloodlines of Tasker and Sheader.

Annalong’s Pat Trimble in his first old bird season since starting back is 2nd Fed, 3rd section, 3rd Open this week. While Pat’s interests lie primarily with distance racing he will be very pleased with this result. His birds are obviously in good form as he has another in the Open result at 40th Open. The pigeon timed here is a yearling hen having her first race. The sire is a Soontjens from S & K Duke Crossgar while the dam is a Braspenning from Ron McKelvey, Newry.

K Rooney & Son have another great race card with five in the Fed result and seven in the Open result. The first five were timed in a couple of seconds to take 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Fed, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Open. We are all well aware of the records achieved by Kevin and Kristopher in recent years and they will be keen to add to their achievements in 2011.

Their first two pigeons this week are yearling MarijkeVink pigeons, the first a hen and the second a cock. These birds have done really well for Kevin and Kristopher since their introduction and I’m sure we will hear about them again in the coming weeks.
Their third pigeon is a Gust Jansen yearling cock. This bird had a first and a second last year and is a full sister of the pigeon that was 3rd Open in the Talbenny YB Derby in 2009.

Their next bird is a Luc Pocelot yearling bred by Mr & Mrs Gaunt from Derbyshire. This bird also had a first and a second last year and was in the Corrigs club result on Saturday from Roscrea.
The pigeon at ninth Fed for Kevin and Kristopher is a two-year-old hen that is a half sister of the pigeon, which was 1st Open from Bude in 2010. She also has 2 x 3rds and 2 x 8ths to her credit. This bird and the previous one both race into what Kevin refers to as ‘Kristopher’ loft.

The Fed result is completed by Annsborough’s G & P Brown in tenth position. Geraldine and Patrick are 12th section, 12th Open with this bird. The pigeon timed here is ‘Geraldine’s Delight’, the bird that was 1st North section in the Skibbereen Young Bird National last year. The parents were on loan from K Rooney & Son. The sire won an East Down Combine Open from Durrow in 2003 and has bred quite a few winners for Kevin and Kristopher. The breeding is Staf Van Reet from Brownlee, Ward & Nee. The dam is a Janssen from a pair bought at McCormack and Schofield’s clearance sale in Blackpool in 2006.

Full result: 1, B McConnell Annalong 1697; 2, P Trimble Annalong 1675; 3, 4, B McConnell 1668, 1654; 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, K Rooney & Son Annalong 1649, 1648.5, 1648.2, 1647, 1646; 10, G & P Brown Annsborough ABCD £35; M Croskery Annsborough 1608 ABCDNom £30; R McDowell & Son Annsborough ABCD £14

• May Day race will take place on Monday 2 May from Mullingar. Birds will be hampered on Monday morning in Annsborough from 8.30 to 10.00. Cost will be £2.50 for first 5 birds or less and 50p per bird for more than 5. This race is open to Federation members only.
• The loft KO will start this week from 2nd Mount Charles with the final from Bude