Fermoy - 12/05/12

[willie reynolds]

More Combine success for G & P Brown

The East Down Combine pigeons were in Fermoy, Co Cork on Saturday 12th May for the fifth race of the season. Race Controller Patrick McComb opted for an early liberation and the birds were in the air at 8.15am in a light southwesterly wind, which was recorded at 11 knots at Dublin airport.

Despite the favourable wind the race was a bit erratic with gaps between birds arriving home. The early pigeons were all to the Annsborough club who had seven birds placed in the top ten of the open result out of an entry of 6,074.
Pride of place once again goes to the irrepressible G & P Brown who once again notched up another first and second Open. Last year Geraldine and Patrick were first and second Open two weeks in a row from Skibbereen and then from Fermoy. This is superb racing from the dedicated partnership who rank among the leading fanciers in the Combine.

This week’s Open winner is another from the lofts of Kevin and Kristopher Rooney. It is a yearling Busschaert and is from the same lines as the bird that was 1st Fed, 3rd section, 9th Open from 1st Mount Charles. The sire is Lindelauf and these birds have featured regularly for both the Rooneys and the Browns. The dam is Busschaert from the birds Kevin and Kristopher got from D Shields, Son & Dtr from the North East of England.

Geraldine & Patrick’s second pigeon is a Van Dyck bred by the Rooneys and is another yearling cock. This one was 3rd Fed, 11th section, 27th Open 1st Mount Charles having been 3rd club Tullamore the previous week.
Annsborough’s Paddy McCartan had a great race here with three birds in the Fed result and all three placing in the top 20 of the Open result. Paddy is still one of the newest members in the Fed with less than five years racing behind him but he has learned a lot in a very short space of time and I know he had two excellent tutors in Albert and Stanley McKinstry from Dromara.

The McKinstrys are the source of Paddy’s three pigeons in this week’s result. The pigeon at 3rd Open is a two-year-old hen bred in the McKinstry’s stock loft. This one was injured in Fermoy last year and was stopped after that. However she recovered well and Paddy got her back on the road this year again.

Paddy’s second pigeon, taking 9th Fed, 12th section, 18th Open is a yearling Soontjens hen also from the McKinstry lines. The pigeon at 10th Fed, 13th section, 19th Open is another Soontjens. This one is a two-year-old hen from birds obtained from the McKinstrys in 2008 and 2009.

Michael Jennings Annsborough has been having a great season featuring regularly in the competitive Annsborough club result. This week Michael is 4th Fed, 4th section and 4th Open. The pigeon timed is a Willy Jacobs cock from Mr & Mrs Gerald Delaney’s Oroory Hill Stud. The dam of this cock was 1st club, 1st Fed from Mullingar last year. Michael’s cocks were having their first race of the season from Fermoy.

Annsborough’s James Cleland is another having a great season. He follows up his 1st section, 2nd Open result from last week by taking 5th Fed, 5th section, 6th Open here. This another bird from his highly successful Pros Roosen x Gust Jansen lines, with these birds originating from the stock lofts ofd Martin Flynn, Drumaness. This bird is a two-year-old hen and she has been a good racing hen with a few good results to her name.

Mickey Croskery Annsborough takes the next two positions at 7th and 8th Fed, 7th and 9th section and 8th and 11th Open as he continues with a steady start to the season. Mickey’s first bird is a yearling hen from the old De Klak Janssen family. These birds have been responsible for numerous winners for both Mickey and D Croskery & Son.
Mickey’s second pigeon is out of his Bude Open winner when paired to a son of ‘02’, one of D Croskery & Son’s best racers. This one is a two-year-old hen and is aptly named ‘The Devil’.

The result is completed by Dundrum’s A Murray & Son who were 3rd Fed, 5th section, 8th Open the previous week from 2nd Mount Charles. This week Archie and Paddy are 8th Fed, 9th section, 11th Open. The pigeon timed is a natural hen sitting eggs and is the last daughter of their old Soontjens cock that had won up to Penzance, with many high Open positions. The dam is a daughter of their old direct Correns cock who is sire of over 20 x 1st prize winners when he was mated to the hen that was 2nd Section 10th Open young bird Marybank in 2004.

Full Result: 1, 2, G & P Brown Annsborough 1584.2, 1584.1; 3, P McCartan Annsborough 1579.7; 4, M Jennings Annsborough 1579.6; 5, J Cleland Annsborough 1574.1; 6, 7, M Croskery Annsborough 1574.1, 1571; 8, A Murray & Son Dundrum 1568; 9, 10, P McCartan 1559.7. 1559.7:

• DTW resumes this week from Fermoy
• Pools this week from Fermoy
• Draw for 3rd Round of Loft Knock Out to be flown from Fermoy: 1, McLoughlin Bros v P McCartan; 2, Gallagher Bros v J McNally & Son; 3, K Rooney & Son v D Hillen; 4, M Jennings v S Halpin & Sons; 5, B Higgins v B Jennings; 6, J Newell v S & A Foster; 7, J Cleland v D McNabb & Ptrs; 8, N Maguire v A Murray & Son

Brendan McLoughlin PO.