Skibbereen OB Classic - 19/05/12

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willie reynolds
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Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:44 pm

Skibbereen OB Classic - 19/05/12

Post by willie reynolds »

Milligan & Dtr take top two in Fed from Classic

The East Down Combine pigeons were in Skibbereen on Saturday 19th May for their Old Bird Classic race. The other two racing organisations in Northern Ireland decided not to hamper their pigeons until Saturday evening for a Sunday race. However the Combine weather committee having looked at various forecasts on Thursday saw a possibility of a race on the Saturday and so they decided to go n the Friday as usual. Saturday morning at the home end was bright and sunny and reports were that it was clearing towards the south. The race controller having checked the weather at various locations on the pigeons line of flight home decided to liberate the birds at 10.30in a light north northeasterly wind. We expected a tough race to follow due to the head wind but even the early pigeons were later than the predicted times of arrival. As a result there were many empty perches at the end of the day. The next day saw much brighter weather throughout Ireland and many more birds arrived home. I think a lack of sunshine below Dublin coupled with the northeasterly wind provided too difficult of a task for the pigeons on this occasion.

The winners of the South Down Federation were Tyrella’s Sean & Jennifer Milligan who had two very good pigeons to take 1st and 2nd Fed, 5 and 6th section and 10th and 11th Open. This was another terrific result for the Pointview Lofts who have been having a super season. They have had a few Fed positions this year in wind conditions that didn’t really suit their loft location. The two pigeons timed here are of similar lines to the two that were 2nd and 4th Fed, 4th and 7th section and 7th and 10th Open from 2nd Mount Charles a few weeks previous.

The winning pigeon is a two-year-old cock whose sire is a Busschaert from Alfie Williamson’s Down Lofts while the dam contains Busschaert from Trevor Shalvis Kent, ‘Scarecrow’ from Donnelly Bros Newry and Deweerdt from Geoff and Catherine Cooper of Peasedown St John, near Bath. This blend of pigeon are certainly gelling well together and Sean and Jennifer see them as their ‘Pointview All Blacks’.

The second pigeon is a yearling cock and again contains all the same bloodlines with ‘Scarecrow’, Deweerdt and Busschaert lines all prevalent again.

Annsborough’s D Croskery & Son are 3rd Fed, 14th section and 22nd Open this week. Dominic and Dolen are previous winners of the Joe Ringland Classic and put up another good performance here. The pigeon timed is a latebred hen that was only trained as far as Kilcoo last year, which is only about 3 to 4 miles. The dam is the ‘01’ hen, a prolific stock hen that is responsible for many winners, including 2nd North section Skibbereen Young Bird National. ‘01’ is a direct daughter of the ‘Bolden’ cock from John Jobey. The sire of the bird timed here is the Kees Bosua cock from John Gerard.

Mickey Croskery Annsborough has two birds in the result at 4th and 10th Fed with the first of these taking 10th section, 25th Open. Mickey’s first bird is a two-year-old hen from the old De Klak lines when paired to a bird from Eddie Coulter, Lisburn. These birds have provided a host of winners for Mickey and for D Croskery & Son.

Mickey’s second pigeon is another two-year-old hen that is a daughter of ‘Joe 90’ winner of a Talbenny Open in the East Down Combine in 2010. He was also 2nd Open from Bude in 2008 but was unraced in 2009. In 2010 he was 1st Fed from Mount Charles, when it was 3rd section and 3rd Open. He was also 7th Fed, 18th section, 31st Open from the Joe Ringland Skibbereen Classic.
Michael Jennings Annsborough, seldom out of the result this year is 4th and 5th Fed this week, with the first of these taking 10th section, 25th Open and the second one taking 33rd Open. The pigeon at 5th Fed is yearling cock out of D Croskery & Son’s pied cock when paired to a De Klak that Michael bought of John Jobey three. The pigeons Michael bough in at that time have proved to be very successful having bred many prizewinners.

Michael’s second pigeon is a yearling hen out of a cock that he bought at the Croskerys’ Sale in the Grosvenor club two years ago. The dam is another from the six that in bought of John Jobey three years ago.

Dundrum’s J Maguire & Ptrs were 7th Fed to crown a good day for Josie as she was decked in Chelsea blue all day. The pigeon timed here is a yearling Verheye hen from former clubmate Brendan Chambers. Both parents flew France for Brendan twice.

James Cleland Annsborough was 8th Fed this week with a yearling Freddy Vandenheede hen from the Martin Flynn, Drumaness stock. This pigeon is the same way bred as the pigeon that was 2nd Fed, 5th section, 12th Open from 1st Mount Charles this year.
The result is completed by Annsborough’s W Hardy & Son at 9th Fed. Paddy is usually better known for his prowess from French racing but this was a difficult race so suited his birds. The pigeon timed is a two-year-old pied hen bred by clubmates G & P Brown and is a Peter Martin Busschaert. This pigeon hadn’t been raced until this year and this was only her third race.

Full Result: 1, 2, S Milligan & Dtr Tyrella 995, 989; 3, D Croskery & Son Annsborough 969; 4, M Croskery Annsborough 963; 5, 6, M Jennings Annsborough 963, 933; 7, J Maguire & Ptrs Dundrum 931; 8, J Cleland Annsborough 924; 9. W Hardy & Son Annsborough 913; 10 M Croskery 904; M Croskery 897 Nom £36

• Pool race this week from 1st Talbenny
• Quarter-Final Draw for Loft KO to be flown from 1st Talbenny: 1, McLoughlin Bros v J McNally & Son; 2, K Rooney & Son v M Jennings; 3, B Jennings v J Newell; 4, J Cleland v N Maguire:

Brendan McLoughlin. PO.
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