21st SAMDR - Training Races 1 & 2

[willie reynolds]

“FIRST INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE”.
ON
THE 21st SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE
(THE BIGGEST & GREATEST PIGEON RACE IN THE WORLD!)
(THE RACE WITH THE PROVEN TRACK RECORD)
(THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN THE PIGEON WORLD)
DUE TO BE HELD AT
HERON BANKS GOLF & RIVER ESTATE,
SOUTH AFRICA
ON
SATURDAY 4th FEBRUARY 2017.

ANOTHER RACE SEASON STARTS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN SUNSHINE.

Well once again The South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race is entering yet another new era in its twenty-one year history. After spending its first sixteen years in Sun City, then moving to Linbro Park for the next few four years a decision had to be made to move the lofts because of the massive industrial units that were being built right up to the side of the lofts. This in itself made it very difficult to fly the pigeons around the race lofts, so after the last race in February 2016 it was finally decided to look for a new long term venue and hence the move to the fantastic Heron Banks Golf & River Estate, Sasolburg, Free State, South Africa. (www.heronbanks.co.za)

Once again it has been a remarkable year for this prestigious international pigeon race and once again we had over 6,000 pigeons entered from 35 different countries and these are as follows:- Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States Of America. Numerous fanciers from other countries that are restricted from entering because of restrictions issued by their governments or by the South African authorities are also involved in syndicates, teams or partnerships, which once again makes this 21st SAMDPR a truly international pigeon race.

The First Official Loft List of the pigeons that were still in the loft was published on Sunday 16th October 2016 and this showed that a grand total of 5,502 pigeons were still in the race loft.

With quarantine finally over and all the pigeons received, the next task was to break all the pigeons to the new loft at Heron Banks Golf & River Estate and then get them used to flying around their new home. After a few weeks of the pigeons being allowed out to see outside the loft, they finally took to the skies and covered the surrounding countryside. As each day passed the pigeons were forced to keep in the sky for longer periods and only when Willi, Corrie and Andre thought they were ready to start their road work did the short training tosses start. These short training tosses started on Tuesday 1st November 2016 and as each day passed the pigeons gained more experience, then the daily distance was slightly increased so that they would be ready to compete in the 1st Training Race, which eventually took place on Saturday 19th November 2016 from 62km (39 miles).

The Race Organisers (Air Sport Internationale) and all the official Loft Staff in South Africa wish all fanciers/entrants and competitors all over the world the best of luck during the forthcoming 2016/17 race series.

RESULTS FOR TRAINING RACES 1 & 2.

Once again we are off and running in South Africa and this is my first official International Press Release to be published after my earlier Initial International Press Releases on the new venue and the one on the new loft. It has been another tough campaign so far with many obstacles to overcome for the Race Organisers, firstly having to move and to build a brand new 300 foot state of the art pigeon loft, plus outbreaks of Avian Influenza in different countries but finally all the pigeons came out of quarantine and training around the race new loft got underway a few weeks later than expected but it should be mentioned now that the initial training and race programme was delayed slightly because of bad weather, heavy rain and tremendous thunderstorms and the early Training Races and Hot Spot Car Races have now all been altered slightly to give the pigeons in the race loft a fair chance to catch up. The team of pigeons will not be rushed and the experienced loft staff are very confident that within a few weeks these athletes of the skies will be back on track and ready for the task in front of them.

Hopefully, pigeon fanciers/entrants and competitors from all over the world will appreciate the massive amount of work that is put in by Michael Holt (Race Director & Systems Administrator), Pieter Saayman (Assistant Systems Administrator), Stephan Steenkamp (Administration), Marion Branford (Administration) and Peter Furstenberg from Shine Interactive and all his staff who have all helped once again to redesign this state of the art web site www.samdpr.com Another exciting racing season is now in front of us with a fantastic new updated web site, making it far easier for all fanciers/people concerned to look, find and study all the information available for all entrants/competitors and pigeon fanciers around the world.

It should also be mentioned that Willi van Beers from Germany has been appointed again for the third year running to act as Race Manager and he will work closely with the Loft Managers & Trainers Corrie Naude, Andre van Wyk and all the rest of the loft staff. Sara Blackshaw (Managing Director of Air Sport Internationale), Joan-e Holt (Public Relations) and Deirdre Kallmeyer from African Olive Travel Concepts (The Official Travel Company for the SAMDPR) have also all been extremely busy getting everything ready at the brand new venue to host The 21st SAMDPR and I can now tell you that the fantastic EMERALD RESORT, CASINO & HOTEL, Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, South Africa (www.emeraldcasino.co.za) has finally been selected to host the events during the race weekend in early February 2017. I have personally visited EMERALD RESORT and can confirm that it will be a superb venue for the next race and hopefully many more to come. It has everything that pigeon fanciers and their guests/friends and family require so that their stay will be remembered for a long time. So once again, exciting times are in front of this prestigious international pigeon race as it once again moves forward into the future.

This spectacular international pigeon race is now in its twenty first year and started off with under 1,000 pigeons in its first year way back in 1997, since then entries have increased and in the 7th Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race in 2003 it attracted an entry of 2,473 pigeons, then the 8th SCMDPR in 2004 attracted 3,703 pigeons, however, the 9th SCMDPR in 2005 attracted a staggering 5,096 pigeons. In a space of two years the entries actually doubled. After the record breaking entry of 5,096 pigeons that were entered into the 9th SCMDPR in 2005, which was made up of 3,711 International pigeons and 1,385 South African entries and were entered from 30 different countries. Then in the 10th SCMDPR held in 2006 we had a total of 4,649 pigeons entered, which was made up of 3,504 International and 1,145 South African entries that were entered by 28 different countries. This was then followed by 4,936 pigeons being entered into the 11th SCMDPR in 2007, which consisted of 3,462 International and 1,474 South African entries. When you consider all the problems and restrictions that have been implemented because of outbreaks of Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease around the world over the last few years, plus many other one loft races trying to compete with the SCMDPR, it really is truly amazing that entries have managed to stay so high, especially when you consider that Mainland China entered 413 pigeons into the 2006 SCMDPR and have not been allowed to compete since. By losing these entries and those from other countries with restrictions has certainly stopped the organisers from smashing records on an annual basis. However, even after all the problems around the world that had affected the entries into the 12th SCMDPR to be held in 2008, the organising committee were still proud to announce that they had managed to get a grand total of 4,902 pigeons, which consists of 3,641 International and 1,261 South African pigeons entered into the race which was held in the fabulous Sun City, South Africa on Saturday 2nd February 2008. The 2009 race attracted 29 different countries and a record breaking entry of 5,576 pigeons and was held on January 31st and this total was made up of 4,496 International and 1,080 South African pigeons, with a total of 3,082 entries actually being sent to the Final Race after nearly 7,000 km (4,350 miles) of training. The entry for the 2010 SCMDPR once again exceeded the 5,000 mark for the third time and a grand total of 5,610 pigeons were officially entered by 30 participating countries and that number is made up of 4,693 International pigeons and 917 pigeons from South Africa who are of course the host country. Once again the International entry had been smashed by a staggering 187 pigeons. When one considers that most of the world was in a massive recession it once again just goes to prove to pigeon fanciers all over the world that this is the race they would all like to win. Once again the entry for the 15th anniversary race was a staggering 6,611 pigeons entered from 36 different countries, which is a massive overall increase of 1,001 pigeons and quite a few new countries getting involved for the first time. The total number of entries is made up of 5,639 International entries and 972 from South Africa, which of course is the host country. Once again the International entries are up by a staggering 946 pigeons, which is fantastic when you think that the world is still coming out of a recession. The 16th SCMDPR once again attracted entries from 36 different countries and a staggering world record entry of 7,949 pigeons, which was made up by 6,831 International and 1,118 South African pigeons. The 17th SAMDPR was held in the new venue, which was the fabulous Emperors Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa on 2nd February 2013 and close on 8,000 pigeons were originally entered from 36 different countries. The 18th SAMDPR was also held at the new venue and attracted an entry of around 7,000 pigeons from 40 different countries. Once again the international entry totalled over 6,500 pigeons. Entry figures for THE 19th SAMDPR was a total of 38 different countries participating and they entered around 6,000 pigeons. As you see by these figures listed above the race has massive support from many different countries and that is because of the professional way this international pigeon race is run and because fanciers want to be part of and try to win “THE BIGGEST AND GREATEST PIGEON RACE IN THE WORLD TODAY” and “THE ONE WITH THE PROVEN TRACK RECORD” and “THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN THE PIGEON WORLD”. The race entry for THE 20th SAMDPR had 36 different countries participating and over 5,000 pigeons were sent out to compete in this great pigeon race.

THE 21st SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE, will now take place in the fantastic EMERALD RESORT, CASINO & HOTEL on Saturday 4th February 2017 has once again attracted yet another fantastic race entry from 35 different countries and the first Initial Loft Listing on the SAMDPR website issued on Sunday 16th October 2016 showed that a total of 5,502 pigeons were still in the new race loft at the outstanding HERON BANKS GOLF & RIVER ESTATE, Sasolburg, Free State, South Africa which is on the opposite side of the Vaal River to the stunning EMERALD RESORT, CASINO & HOTEL which is situated in Vanderbijlpark, Gautang, South Africa.
The remaining 5,502 pigeons still in the lofts and the following countries are still currently represented:-
AUSTRALIA (114), AUSTRIA (51), BAHRAIN (5), BELGIUM (299), BULGARIA (9), CANADA (86), CHINA (14), CROATIA (14), CZECH REPUBLIC (98), DENMARK (33), FRANCE (3), GERMANY (1,282), IRAQ (9), IRELAND (82), ITALY (26), KUWAIT (286), MEXICO (3), NETHERLANDS (352), NORWAY (25), POLAND (104), PORTUGAL (3), PUERTO RICO (2), QATAR (21), ROMANIA (96), SAUDI ARABIA (56), SLOVAKIA (37), SLOVENIA (11), SOUTH AFRICA (270), SPAIN (2), SWEDEN (6), SWITZERLAND (22), UKRAINE (3), UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (12), UNITED KINGDOM (428) and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1,314).

The total number of pigeons listed above represents 5,179 pigeons, which means that there are a total of 323 pigeons (108 teams) that have still not been officially paid for. Quite a lot of these payments are still being processed and as soon as these are received by the Race Organisers these paid pigeons will be added to the Loft Listings. These total figures above equate to 5,232 International and unfortunately only 270 South African pigeons. This international pigeon race has proved once again that it really is the OLYMPICS GAMES in the pigeon world and has continually improved on a yearly basis.
Of course, one of the main reasons for the success of this great race is the extremely professional way it has been run from the start and that they have always paid out all of their projected prize money every year since the race first started way back in 1997 and that is why it is now known the world over “AS THE BIGGEST AND GREATEST PIGEON RACE IN THE WORLD” and has been now been tagged as “THE RACE WITH THE PROVEN TRACK RECORD” and “THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN THE PIGEON WORLD”.

I think it should be mentioned that we are without my great friend Zandy Meyer (Race Director) at the helm anymore, who unfortunately passed away on 30th June 2013, however the “ADMINISTRATION & LOFT TEAM” below have worked extremely hard to firstly get all the pigeons settled to the new loft and then gave each pigeon an electronic ring and logged them all on to the secure database system, so that all the fanciers/entrants and competitors around the world can following the progress of their pigeons right through the 2016/17 race series. This in itself is a massive task and as usual once again they have come up trumps. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK GUYS AND GALS. If you wish to look at some superb photographs of new pigeon loft and surroundings and the pigeons in the lofts or flying around the lofts, then please log on to the SAMDPR dedicated website www.samdpr.com

The Organising Committee, which now consists of Michael Holt (Race Director), Willi van Beers (Race Manager), Joan-e Holt (Public Relations), Marion Branford (Administration), Michael Holt (Systems Administrator), Pieter Saayman (Assistant Systems Administrator), Stephan Steenkamp (Administration), Andre van Wyk & Corrie Naude (Head Trainers & Loft Managers), plus about ten other loft staff, plus Paul Smith (United Kingdom Shipper/Co-ordinator & International Race Co-ordinator), Dr. Marthinus Hartman (Chief Veterinary Officer from the University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort Veterinary Services), plus of course all the Country Shippers/Co-ordinators were once again looking to try to increase the race entry for the twenty first race. Once again they knew that this would be a massive task but they felt that even with all the other new one-loft races that were now up and running all over the world, beating the entry of last year ago could be achieved, providing we did not lose to many countries that had entered in past races. *****SPECIAL THANKS must of course also go to Sara Blackshaw who is the Managing Director of Air Sport Internationale, who are The Presenters Of This Great Race for their continued support, Sara has worked extremely hard to keep the race going after the untimely death of Zandy Meyer (Race Director), plus of course we must also mention the fantastic HERON BANKS GOLF & RIVER ESTATE for allowing us to build our new loft on their outstanding complex, plus of course the stunning EMERALD RESORT, CASINO & HOTEL for allowing us to use their fabulous facilities at this truly fabulous venue for this very prestigious international pigeon race weekend.
Of course, as mentioned earlier, we all knew that this would be a hard task and the first thing that was to be done was for the current website to be upgraded once again so that even more information was available to the entrants/competitors and pigeon fanciers. After months and months off hard work by Peter Furstenberg of Shine Interactive and his staff, plus Michael Holt and Pieter Saayman, Systems Administrators for Air Sport Internationale this has now been achieved as anybody logging onto the brand new state of the art revamped website www.samdpr.com will be able to see even more information is available. The “HITS” on this website had increased from 3 million for the 2003 race to 5 million for the 2004 race and over 8 million for the 2005 race and over 14 million for the 2006 race series. Records seem to be broken each year and the 2006/7 race series attracted over 16 million “HITS” during the race series and during the 2007/8 race series the web site attracted over 20 million “HITS”. Once again another record was broken for the “HITS” during the 2008/9 race series with well over 25 million. Just to show fanciers/competitors and entrants how successful this new web site has been, during the 2009/10 race series the web site had a remarkable 48 million “HITS” over the 12 month period. These figures increased dramatically because of a brand new Information Portal and Twitter facilities that were added as extras during the 14th SCMDPR. During the full 2010/11 race series the “HITS” figures increased once again to a staggering 50 million. Once again during the 2011/12 racing series the “HITS” increased, with figures in the region of 60 million. During the 2012/13 race series the amount of “HITS” rose to around 70 million. Also during the 2013/14 race season the amount of “HITS” exceeded those of the previous year by a considerably number. This just goes to show the amount of interest that is shown in this great international pigeon race from pigeon fanciers literally all over the world. Information is on line for all to see, so why not join in the fun throughout the next few months and add this web site to your favourites list. If it is information you require, then this race certainly gives it to you or anybody that cares to log onto their fantastic state of the art website. Official figure for “HITS” during the 2014/15 race series are not yet to hand but should easily exceed the 70 million “HITS” of the previous year. Once again “HITS” for the 2016/2017 race series exceeded our wildest expectations, once again exceeding the previous year.

Numerous “Loft Reports”, “Updates”, “Photographs” and “Videos” have been placed on the informative SAMDPR website for all to see and these are all available now on the dedicated website www.samdpr.com
CONGRATULATIONS once again go to all the Country Race Shippers/Co-ordinators for again getting so many pigeons entered for this fantastic International Pigeon Race, you are truly worth your weight in gold to the Race Organisers as without all your hard work and effort the race would never get off the ground. It is always interesting to study the entry figures after the last race, those countries that do well usually increase in their entries and others that have not faired so well reduce in numbers but as usual there are others countries that continue to increase whatever happens. However, the UNITED KINGDOM TEAM after their outstanding success in winning 1st and 2nd OPEN in the 13th SCMDPR 2009 when we actually sent a record 602 pigeons. In fact the following year 14th SCMDPR we only entered 399 pigeons and one can only think that this massive reduction in entries was due mainly to the world credit crunch and recession that seemed to have hit this country ever since the last race. However, I was very positive that the UK entries would return once we finally started to come out of this current economic climate. It was great to see that the UK entries increased by 210 pigeons to a total of 609 pigeons for the 15th SCMDPR, which once again just shows how many fanciers would like to win this prestigious international pigeon race. Once again the United Kingdom Team increased its entries into the 16th SCMDPR with a record entry of 657 pigeons which is the highest amount we have ever sent out for this great race. The entry for the United Kingdom Team for the 17th SAMDPR was yet another record entry and this year we managed to get over 700 pigeons for the first time ever, breaking our past record entry by over 60 pigeons. For the 18th SAMDPR the United Kingdom Race Team consisted of about 590 pigeons. The race entry for the United Kingdom Race Team for the 19th SAMDPR was just under 500 pigeons. The race entry for the United Kingdom Race Team for the 20th SAMDPR was just over 400 pigeons and the race entry for the 21st SAMDPR once again exceeded 450 pigeons. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL AND THANKS AGAIN TO YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT, I CAN ASSURE YOU IT REALLY IS GREATLY APPRECIATED BY THE RACE ORGANISERS.

Once again the marketing for this top class pigeon race never really stops and as one race finishes the next one starts but that is really what makes this superb event such an exciting international race. Of course, if a certain country does not do well in the past race or races, it actually becomes much tougher for the Country Race Shippers/Co-ordinators to get fanciers to enter because fanciers feel they have no chance to win any of the major prizes. So it has always been the policy of this race to create more and more competitions that offer extra cash rewards or specials prizes and once again this year is no exception, with five brand new cars being up for grabs which is one in each of the HOT SPOT CAR RACES, plus numerous other new competitions where fanciers could win something in the five newly named HOT SPOT CAR RACES in the run-up to THE FINAL RACE.

Although the race is now named THE SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE, the total to be paid out in cash and prizes in the 2016/17 race series exceeds US$2.2 Million American Dollars or approximately £1.76 Million Pounds Sterling. No other one-loft race in the world today can boast of such massive pay outs and this race is now in its twenty first year and has for the last twenty years paid out all of its projected prize money, that is why its reputation of this great race has increased, plus it has already paid out in the last twenty races, prize money in excess of US$36 Million American Dollars (£25 Million Pounds Sterling), which is a remarkable achievement in itself in one loft racing and one that the race organisers are very proud of. It should also be mentioned that the Prize Money and Awards in THE 21st SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE will be the same as paid out for THE 20th SAMDPR. The FINAL RACE PRIZE MONEY in the 21st SAMDPR now exceeds US$1 Million American Dollars or around £800,000 Million Pounds Sterling.
PROPOSED RACE PROGRAMME:- The Training Races, Mid-Week Races and Saturday Races during 2016/17 race series are now listed as follows:- Training Race 1 from 62km (39 miles) on Saturday 19th November 2016, Training Race 2 from 62km (39 miles) on Wednesday 23rd November 2016, Training Race 3 from 80km (50 miles) on Saturday 26th November 2016, Training Race 4 from 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday 30th November 2016, Training Race 5 from 100km (62 miles) on Saturday 3rd December 2016, Training Race 6 from 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday 7th December 2016, HOT SPOT CAR RACE 1 from 150km (93 miles) on Saturday 10th December 2016, Training Race 7 from 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday 14th December 2016, HOT SPOT CAR RACE 2 from 200km (124 miles) on Saturday 17th December 2016, Training Race 8 from 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday 21st December 2016, Training Race 9 from 80km (50 miles) on Saturday 24th December 2016, HOT SPOT CAR RACE 3 from 250km (155 miles) on Wednesday 28th December 2016, Training Race 10 from 80km (50 miles) on Saturday 31st December 2016, Training Race 11 from 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday 4th January 2017, HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4 from 300km (187 miles) on Saturday 7th January 2017, Training Race 12 from 62km (39 miles) on Wednesday 11th January 2017, Training Race 13 from 100km (62 miles) on Saturday 14th January 2017, Training Race 14 from 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday 18th January 2017, HOT SPOT CAR RACE 5 from 350km (218 miles) on Saturday 21st January 2017, Training Race 15 from 62km (39 miles) on Wednesday 25th January 2017, Training Race 16 from 80km (50 miles) on Saturday 28th January 2017, then THE FINAL RACE from 550km (342 miles) on Saturday 4th February 2017.

These dates are not be set in stone and if the proposed date for any of these races is not suitable for liberation, then these will take place on the next best day in that week. Daily training will also take place during the week providing the weather is suitable. No training will take place on Sundays unless of course a holdover takes place on the Saturday race. The Overall Averages and the allocated US$17,500 (£14,000) Prize Money will only count in races of 50km (31 miles) and over.
All the United Kingdom Team fanciers/entrants and syndicate shareholders will be kept up to date with weekly “NEWSLETTERS” plus any of them can log on to the state of the art The South African Million Dollar Race web site:-

www.samdpr.com and get all the information they might require over the next few months. All official past competitors and entrants will still be able to use their old username and password and new competitors/entrants that have entered this race for the first time should now have received their own confidential username and password and then they will be able to log into their own account and see everything on their own computer screen. If you have not received yours yet, please contact your Official Shipper. You can change your pigeon’s name if you do not like the one allocated to it providing of course the name you chose has not been used already by somebody else and you can even put all your pedigrees on live if you wish to, which certainly helps with the final selling price at the auction after the race. Remember the 2008 SCMDPR ACE PIGEON named BIRDY sold for a staggering world record £53,730 and the breeder receives 50% of this figure after expenses. This really is a state of the art race that continues to improve its overall image on an annual basis and give fanciers and entrants all the information they need to know about all the pigeons in the lofts.
It should also be mentioned that the all the new entrants/competitors have now been sent their “OFFICIAL INTAKE” status report on all the pigeons they originally entered, which was followed by a full Loft Listing on the official SAMDPR Web Site which was published on Sunday 16th October 2016, which showed everybody what fully paid pigeons are still left in the lofts at that current time. Fanciers that have entered this race before will be able to use the password they used last time to access their personal account. New entrants/competitors will have to log onto www.samdpr.com and create their own new password so that they can access their personal account.

It should be noted the Organising Committee and Loft Managers have decided this year not to try to rush the youngsters up to the 80km (50 miles) mark. Please watch the Race Programme listed on the dedicated website: www.samdpr.com for more information on the distances for some of these earlier races as some of these might have to be changed because of circumstances. Of course as mentioned earlier only races of 50km (31 miles) actually counts in the SAMDPR Ace Pigeon Overall Averages and only fully paid up pigeons can win any of these cash prizes allocated to this competition.

A second Loft Listing appeared on the SAMDPR website on Wednesday 16th November 2016 and this showed that there was still 4,368 pigeons in the race loft, on the Wednesday and Thursday training tosses a few more pigeons went missing and a few as usual turned up the next day. It was decided not to put these pigeons back in the basket for TR1 but to rest them and try to put them back in to training ASAP. More pigeons will back on a daily basis, so if you have pigeons missing, then please keep your eye on the Basket Lists over the next few races, as many of these will work back home.
TRAINING RACE 1 took place on Saturday 19th November 2016 from 62km (39 miles) and a total of 3,759 pigeons were basketed from 35 different countries and this total included 3,507 International and 252 South African pigeons and this total also included 311 from the United Kingdom and 58 from Ireland. A total of 387 pigeons were not basketed, these included 12 from the United Kingdom and 2 from Ireland, these were all left in the lofts because they had made mistakes earlier in the week. Total still in the loft was 4,146 pigeons. The convoy were liberated at 06-30 in overcast and cool conditions, with a light head wind, 14c (56f) and a good race was anticipated. The temperature was expected to rise to during the day with afternoon thunderstorms.

CONGRATULATIONS for winning 1st OPEN goes to BOB STUKEL from the AUSTRALIA with pigeon named BLUE GIRL bred by BOB STUKEL, which was officially clocked at 07.24.35.84 to record a velocity of 1249ypm (18.9264 m/s) (43mph), 2nd Landon McLaughlin from United States Of America, 3rd Andreas Schlueter from Germany, 4th Storm Syndicate from South Africa, 5th Beeson - Par from United States Of America, 6th S & R Kearsey from Australia, 7th Abington JL-McLaughlin from United States Of America, 8th Jim Ward - Bill Hylek from United States Of America, 9th Ganus Family Loft from United States Of America, 10th Holts Loft from United States Of America, 11th Gaddin Bros + Charl Stander from South Africa, 12th Didden-Ledder from Germany, 13th Koopman Racing Team from Netherlands, 14th DMM from Germany, 15th Sofia One Loft from Bulgaria, 16th N & F Norman - B Van Den Berghe from Belgium, 17th Kader, Nadia, Ahmed, Bouwer & Moerat from South Africa, 18th Team Germany - R+MA Rolff from Germany, 19th Ali Ahmed Al Kooheji from Bahrain and 20th Saho Al Saho from Kuwait. The top twenty in this result were separated by just 25.41 seconds and had 9 different countries represented in the top 20 and 12 different countries in the top 50, only 38.11 seconds away from the actual race winner. This race resulted in a fantastic start to the 2016/17 race series with 3,546 pigeons being officially recorded by 11.00, leaving just 213 to make it back to the lofts. A further update showed that a total of 3,578 pigeons clocked by 17.14, leaving just 181 pigeon to return to the race lofts. I am sure a few more will work back during Sunday. A Loft Listing appeared on the SAMDPR website on Sunday evening and this showed that 4,114 pigeons were now in the race loft and this total included 316 from the UK and 55 from Ireland. So all in all a great start with very few losses.

CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 26th OPEN went to the CARLOS DREAM SYNDICATE, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET and with pigeon named CARLOS MAGIC which was bred by JOS REILLY from DUBLIN, which was officially clocked at 07.25.03.20, just 27.36 seconds after the actual race winner. 2nd UK, 30th Open Paul Bamford from Pembroke Dock with pigeon bred by him, 3rd UK, 41st Open Millys Loft with pigeon bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe, 4th UK, 45th Open Lloyd & Kelly from Didcot, 5th UK, 55th Open The Royal Lofts (Her Majesty The Queen) with pigeon bred by Peter Farrow (Loft Manager), 6th UK, 69th Open Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell, 7th UK, 72nd Open K Consultancy with pigeon bred by S Smit & C Barnes, 8th UK, 73rd Open UK Elite Syndicate with pigeon bred by Clive Baldwin from Edgware, 9th UK, 85th Open Guys Lofts Elite with pigeon bred by Graham Guy from Wolverhampton, 10th UK, 88th Open another for Millys Loft and again bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe, 11th UK, 90th Open Team Lincs with pigeon bred by Paul & Tracey Stacey from Sleaford, 12th UK, 169th Open Les Green GB from Irlam with pigeon bred by him, 13th UK, 175th Open Gran Canaria One Loft with pigeon bred by Mark Williams from Dyserth Lofts, North Wales, 14th UK, 216th Open another for Millys Loft again bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe, 15th UK, 223rd Open another for UK Elite Syndicate with pigeon bred by Lee Fribbins from Fratting, 16th UK, 226th Open Zandys Dream Team with pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 17th UK, 228th Open another for Les Green GB from Irlam with a second pigeon bred by him, 18th UK, 238th Open Robbo with pigeon bred by Norman Robinson from Bridlington, 19th UK, 241st Open another from Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell and then 20th UK, 256th Open a third pigeon for Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell. A great start to the campaign with 293 pigeons being officially clocked by 10.55. A further update showed 296 UK pigeons made it back to the lofts by nightfall, leaving just 15 to make it back to base camp. Sunday night Loft Listing showed 316 UK pigeons.

CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st IRELAND, 166th OPEN went to H+C THORPE + McMORROW with their pigeon named CABELIN, bred by PROUDS TOWN LOFT which was officially clocked at 07.25.59.79, just 1 minute 23.95 seconds after the actual race winner. 2nd Ireland, 318th Open Philip + Mark Smith, 3rd Ireland, 332nd Open Donnelly & Kirkwood, 4th Ireland, 446th Open Maurice O’Donnell, 5th Ireland, 451st Open another for Donnelly & Kirkwood and then 6th Ireland, 465th Open Moran & Bowden. A great start with 52 pigeons being officially clocked by 10.14. No more Irish pigeons were clocked during the day, leaving just 6 pigeons to make it back to the loft. Sunday night Loft Listing showed 55 Irish pigeons.
More short training will take place on Monday and Tuesday giving these pigeons even more confidence and experience to cope with what was in front of them over the next two months.
TRAINING RACE 2 was held on Wednesday 23rd November 2016 from 62km (39 miles) and for this race a total of 3,825 pigeons from 35 different countries were basketed and this included 3,578 International and 247 South Africa pigeons and this figure also included 305 from the United Kingdom and 53 from Ireland. A total of 256 pigeons were not basketed, these included 10 from the United Kingdom and none from Ireland, these were all left in the loft because they had made mistakes in earlier training. Total still in loft was 4,081 pigeons. The convoy were liberated at 07.15 with a light head wind and in fine and cool conditions with early morning rain and a temperature of 21c (70f). A fairly steady race was anticipated. As the day progressed the temperature would rise to around 30c (88f) during the day.
CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st OPEN goes to VAN KERCKHOVE - VERCAUTEREN from BELGIUM with pigeon named BLUE DAISY bred by IGNACE VERCAUTEREN, which was officially clocked 08.10.36.14 to record a velocity of 1226ypm (18.5844 m/s) (42mph), 2nd Carlos Dream Syndicate from United Kingdom, 3rd Gordon Meng from United States Of America, 4th Nulle Racing Team from Netherlands, 5th Rui Emidio + Roger Germano from Portugal, 6th Kader, Nadia, Ahmed, Bouwer & Moerat from South Africa, 7th Klaus Stieneker from Germany, 8th N & F Norman - B Van Den Berghe from Belgium, this same pigeon won 16th Open in TR1, 9th Team Maisenteam from Germany, 10th Saad Alqanem from Kuwait, 11th Koopman Racing Team from Netherlands, 12th Leo Xue - Van Tenterghem from Belgium, 13th Irish Syndicate from United States Of America, 14th Piet Manders from Belgium, 15th Ahmad Alkhatlaan from Kuwait, 16th another for Klaus Stieneker from Germany, 17th Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from United Kingdom, 18th Sofia One Loft from Bulgaria, the same pigeon won 15th Open in TR1, 19th SG Roehl S+H from Germany and 20th another for Kader, Nadia, Ahmed, Bouwer & Moerat from South Africa. The top twenty were separated by just 23.29 seconds and had 9 different countries represented in this result and what made this race result even better was the first seven pigeons were all from different countries with 13 different countries represented in the top 50 and these were 1 minute 22.50 seconds apart. A total of 3,277 pigeons were officially clocked up to 08.54, then 3,457 up to 10.16. A further update showed 3,489 pigeons were officially recorded by 16.09. This figure meant that just 336 pigeons had failed to make it back to the lofts and I am fairly sure that a few more will work back early on Thursday morning. With the 256 pigeons that were not sent that were still in the lofts the total left was 3,745 pigeons. Sure a few more will work back in the next few days and by ready for training over the next few tosses.

GLOBAL NOMINATIONS for this race amounted to US$3,703,45c (£3,086) and had a total 916 Nominations and 359 pigeons competing which included 7 from the United Kingdom and none from Ireland, unfortunately there were no UK winners.
CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 2nd OPEN went to CARLOS DREAM SYNDICATE, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with their pigeon named CARLOS HOPE which was bred by JOS REILLY from DUBLIN, which was officially clocked at 08.10.38.69 just 2.55 seconds away from the actual race winner, this syndicate also won 1st UK, 26th OPEN in TR1. 2nd UK, 17th Open Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell, 3rd UK, 34th Open UK Elite Syndicate with pigeon bred by Lee Fribbins from Fratting, Essex, 4th UK, 47th Open another for Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell, 5th UK, 80th Open another for UK Elite Syndicate with pigeon bred by Clive Baldwin from Edgware, 6th UK, 82nd Open The Royal Lofts (Her Majesty The Queen) with pigeon bred by Peter Farrow (Loft Manager), this pigeon also won 5th UK, 55th Open in TR1, 7th UK, 95th Open Hilamb Syndicate entered by Ken Ambler from Keighley and Ron Hillcoat from Sheffield with pigeon bred by Ron Hillcoat, 8th UK, 109th Open Estuary Syndicate with pigeon bred by this syndicate, 9th UK, 124th Open Best & Son with pigeon bred by this partnership, 10th UK, 132nd Open Murray & Mills from Leeds, 11th UK, 148th Open Manchester Maestros with pigeon bred by John Crehan from Manchester, 12th UK, 164th Open Paul Smith Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet and with pigeon bred by Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 13th UK, 174th Open another for Manchester Maestros with second pigeon bred by John Crehan from Manchester, 14th UK, 183rd Open another for Murray & Mills from Leeds, 15th UK, 189th Open Zandys Dream Team with pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 16th UK, 249th Open a third pigeon for Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell, 17th UK, 256th Open Mr & Mrs. Andy Gregson from Preston, 18th UK, 260th Open another for Zandys Dream Team with pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 19th UK, 262nd Open Jutla Brothers from Upton Park and 20th UK, 274th Open a third pigeon for Zandys Dream Team with another pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet. A total of 275 pigeons from the United Kingdom were officially recorded up to 09.48. A later update Loft List issued showed 277 UK pigeon had returned to the lofts, leaving 28 still to return to the lofts. I am sure a few more will work back in the next few days.

CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st IRELAND, 62nd OPEN went to G&J DOUGLAS with pigeon named LURGAN BELLE bred by this partnership, which was officially clocked at 08.12.17.40, just 1 minute 41.26 seconds behind the actual race winner, 2nd Ireland, 544th Open went to Safat Duran, 3rd Ireland, 557th Open Donnelly & Kirkwood, 4th Ireland, 642nd Open H+C Thorpe - McMorrow, 5th Ireland, 692nd Open Joe Kennedy & Son and 6th Ireland, 806th Open Padraig & Caoimhe. A total of 46 Irish pigeons were officially clocked by 09.50, with no more pigeons recorded on the day leaving just 7 to make it back to the lofts.
More short training tosses on Thursday and Friday would take place providing the weather was OK.

***SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT*** I am sorry that I can’t add all the information about who bred all the pigeons or where they live as I can only publish details which I am in possession of. If there are no details besides your winning pigeon/s then please contact me on reglofts@aol.com with your details and I will include these in my later International Press Reports. I personally do my best to give all the fanciers, entrants and breeders all the credit they and their pigeons deserve when they manage to get in the results so your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

For the first few races numerous pigeons will not trap, so do not worry if yours is clocked late. The main thing to consider over the first few shorter races is that all the pigeons will not trap quickly but if they have made it back to the race loft on Heron Banks Golf & River Estate they are there to fight another day. With each race the pigeons will learn a bit more, giving them more experience to tackle all the tasks that they are going to have in front of them during the testing 2016/17 training and race series.
As mentioned earlier only races of 50km (approx. 31 miles) will count towards The 21st South African Million Dollar Overall ACE PIGEON Averages, which has a total of three superb cash prizes of US$10,000 (approx. £8,000), US$5,000 (approx. £4,000) and US$2,500 (approx. £2,000) for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in this category after the Final Race has been completed.

NOMINATION RACES will be held and officially start on TRAINING RACE 2, plus the HOT SPOT CAR RACES 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and of course the FINAL RACE. See SAMDPR Web Site for full details. All these races will have US$1, US$2, US£5, US$10, US$20, US$50 & US$100 REGIONAL and US$1, US$2, US$5, US$10, US$20, US$50 & US$100 GLOBAL NOMINATIONS which can be placed on THE SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR Web Site. If you wish to enter any of these NOMINATIONS, you will have to have credit in your ASI Master Account. If you do not have credit then please forward funds to your Race Shipper so that this can be transferred to your Master Account in time to get your NOMINATIONS placed. Please do not leave it to the last minute to transfer funds as the transfer may not go through in time and this could result in your pigeon or pigeons not winning what they should be rewarded with. It should be mentioned that REGIONAL & GLOBAL NOMINATIONS during the 2015/16 race series actually paid out a total of US$546,280 (£437,000).

GOOD LUCK TO ALL CONCERNED AND REGULAR “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASES”, “NEWSLETTERS” AND “UPDATES” WILL BE SENT OUT TO ALL COMPETITORS/ENTRANTS AND SYNDICATE SHAREHOLDERS ON A WEEKLY BASIS BY EMAIL OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. ALSO WEEKLY “PRESS RELEASES” WILL BE SENT OUT TO BOTH OUR TWO PIGEON PUBLICATIONS NAMELY THE “BRITISH HOMING WORLD” AND “”THE RACING PIGEON” PLUS IT WILL ALSO BE ON MY REGENCY LOFTS WEB SITE www.regencylofts.com FOR ALL TO VIEW.

This is the “TWENTY FIRST YEAR” since this great International One Loft Race started and every year since day one the Organising Committee have created new competitions and I assume that this year will be no exception, more on this subject will be published as details come through from the race organisers.
“TRIP OF A LIFETIME” Deirdre Kallmeyer who owns and runs African Olive Travel Concepts in South Africa (www.aotc.co.za) is now acting as the official travel company for the SAMDPR and all booking must be done through her and her company. So if you want to be part of the vibe and thrill of The South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race, then why not join us at out new home at Heron Banks Golf & River Estate and the Emerald Resort, Casino & Hotel and experience the race weekend schedule and events. African Olive Travel Concepts have put together accommodation packages catering for all tastes and budgets and a variety of pre and post touring options to explore the region. The venue and location will be the Emerald Resort, Casino & Hotel which is situated on the lush banks of the Vaal River in Gautang, South Africa a mere hour’s drive from O.R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. The extensive property, along 7km’s of river frontage, is the ideal location for a fun-filled family getaway. The Resort offers an array of accommodation options, restaurants, entertainment like the all-year-round Water Park - Aquadrome, to Animal World Zoo and game drive, ten pin bowling, outdoor activities such as walking, fishing, water skiing as well as the famous Emerald African Spa. Just across the Vaal River you can enjoy a round of golf on the outstanding Heron Banks Golf & River Estate, which is where the pigeon loft is situated. There are 3 accommodation options available at the Emerald Resort, Casino & Hotel catering for and style and budget. Option 1, you could book to stay in the 4 star Emerald Hotel where you will instantly notice the luxurious North-East African inspired décor. A sanctuary set far from the bustling bog city, the 4 star hotel’s 75 twin/double rooms and two superb suites offer you spacious comfort and all of the amenities you could need. All rooms have Air-conditioning, Digital Safe, Telephone, Hairdryer, TV selected channels, internet access and tea and coffee making facilities. Option 2, hidden away in a natural setting, the secure, luxurious Bush Lodges offer guests two-bedroom units styled to resemble the safari lodges of the Serengeti, adventure awaits just outside of these semi self-catering lodges, built for ultimate comfort and in luxurious style. Option 3, step into adventure and book one of the comfortable, self-catering River Resort Chalets that provides two, four and six sleeper units, ideal for a weekend getaway or longer stays. These are situated just a quick walk from the banks of the Vaal River, the chalets offer guests easy access to a range of adventures including boating facilities for the water sport enthusiasts.
For anybody intending to travel out for the race weekend or longer, please log onto www.samdpr.com and hit the Accommodation button at the bottom of the home page, there you find a “SPECIAL 3 & 4 NIGHTS PACKAGE”, which includes all the official functions and dates. Both these packages represent great value for money. Road Transfers to and from Emerald Resort can also be arranged by African Olive Travel Concepts. If you or any friends wish to do pre or post travel bookings, Deirdre will be only too pleased to give you prices, just tell her what and where you would like to go.

All bookings must be done through the sole agent Deirdre Kallmeyer at African Olive Travel Concepts (www.aotc.co.za) or email deirdre@africanoliveconcepts.co.za
***SPECIAL NOTICE*** One point that should be pointed out to all competitors and entrants is that only your NUMBER 1 pigeons is “ACTIVATED” (FULLY PAID UP ENTRY) with the other TWO (2) pigeons in each of your “TEAM OF 3” being your RESERVES or BACK-UP PIGEONS. Another point worth mentioning is if you happened to lose your NUMBER 1 PIGEON, your NUMBER 2 PIGEON would replace it FREE OF CHARGE and likewise if you then lost your NUMBER 2 PIGEON, your NUMBER 3 PIGEON would then replace that one FREE OF CHARGE. If you were unlucky enough to lose all your entries of 3 pigeons in any of your “TEAMS” and they had won no “Special Prize Money” in the new HOT SPOT CAR RACES 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 then you are entitled to a FREE ENTRY into the 22nd SAMDPR and all you have to pay is the official shipping/export costs to your Country Shipper. This offer can only be actioned once, for example if you lost your team in your first year, you would get a Free Entry the following year but then if you lost all your pigeons in that year, the offer does not count.

This of course represents great value for your money. All pigeons go to every training toss and Saturday and Wednesday races providing they are fit enough but can only compete for any of the allocated PRIZE MONEY or SPECIAL AWARDS in the 5 x HOT SPOT CAR RACES if they are “ACTIVATED” and that means that these must be paid for prior to the HOT SPOT CAR RACE 1, which is due to take place on SATURDAY 10th DECEMBER 2016 from 150km (approx. 93 miles). The cost to “ACTIVATE” these “RESERVES or BACK-UP PIGEONS” is US$1,100 (approx. £880)(THIS OF COURSE MAY CHANGE SLIGHTLY DEPENDING ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE AT THE TIME OF ACTIVATION) but that will then entitle all these fully paid up pigeons to compete and be eligible to fly for all the extra cash prizes and special awards that amounts to close to US$300,000 (approx. £240,000). The one thing to remember is that once your reserve pigeon or pigeons are fully paid for, if then they get lost and have won no prize money or special awards in the Special Money Races, then you will get US$1,000 paid back into your ASI Account, which can then be used to purchase another pigeon at a later date and be entered into the Final Race under your name or syndicate or even under another name of your choice. So as you can see it is “BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY” and pay for them early, after all you have nothing to lose.
HOW MANY OTHER PIGEON RACES IN THE WORLD OFFER THIS SORT OF OPTION TO COMPETITORS AND ENTRANTS?

***WHAT CAN BE WON DURING THIS 2016/17 RACE SERIES*** Prizes and awards now add up to a staggering US$2.2 Million American Dollars £1.76 Million Pounds Sterling) and these include 5 x Brand New Motor Cars, 1 for each of the 5 x Car Races, 95 x US$1,100 (£880) Hot Spot Cash Prizes (it should be noted that the Motor Car Winner does not receive a US$1,100 Cash Prize), split into 19 x US$1,100 (£880) Cash Prizes for each of the 5 x Car Race Hot Spots, a US$5,000 (£4,000) Car Race Hot Spot Ace Pigeon Award for the best pigeon in these 5 races, A Two Bird Average Competition and a US$2,000 (£1,600) Cash Prize in each of the 5 x Car Race Hot Spots, A Three Bird Average Competition and a US$3,000 (£2,400) Cash Prize in each of the 5 x Car Race Hot Spots, The South African Million Dollar Ace Pigeon Award carries US$17,500 in Prize Money, split into three cash prizes with 1st US$10,000 (£8,000), 2nd US$5,000 (£4,000) and 3rd US$2,500 (£2,000) Cash Prizes for the 3 pigeons with the best overall average in all the Official Training Races over 50km (31 miles) and 5 x Car Race Hot Spots and the Final Race. There will also be a Knockout Winner Competition and US$25,000 (£20,000) Prize Money, which starts on the Car Race Hot Spot 2 and the winner is the first one to be clocked in the “FINAL RACE” (over the past few years there has been around 40/60 pigeons still left in this competition). There will also be 3 x Country Cash Prizes of US$125 (£100), US$75 (£60) and US$50 (£40) in each of the first 4 x Car Race Hot Spots (1 to 4). In the 5th Car Race Hot Spot US$70 (£56) from every entry will be added to the starting Prize Money of US$250 (£200) for the Country Challenge. All the Prize Money will be paid out to the first three Country Challenge entered pigeons in a ratio of 50%, 30% & 20%. The SAMDPR website will have an up to the date listing of which pigeons are entered and how much Prize Money will be flown for, plus and an ACE Pigeon Country Challenge which will be won after the FINAL RACE. There is an Entry Fee of US$120 (£96) per pigeon to enter these two Country Challenge Competitions and has to be paid for before the basketing for the 5th Car Race Hot Spot. The COUNTRY CHALLENGE ACE PIGEON, all countries participating will be given a US$200 (£160) starting Prize Money and US$40 (£32) from each Country Challenge entry fee goes to the “WINNER TAKES ALL” cash prize, which will be awarded to the first Country Challenge pigeon in the Grand Averages per each competing country after the SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON FINAL RACE. The pigeon that wins this award will be named the COUNTRY CHALLENGE ACE PIGEON. It should also be mentioned that during the 2015/16 race series the COUNTRY CHALLENGE paid out US$52,270 (£42,000) in PRIZE MONEY.

Then in the “FINAL RACE” on the 4th February 2017 there are also 10 magnificent platinum pendants to be won worth well over US$1,000 (£800) each and now over US$1 Million American Dollars in Prize Money and 300 cash prizes being on offer.
THE ZANDY MEYER MEMORIAL RACE & US$1,000 (approx. £800) NOMINATION will also take place on the “FINAL RACE” and the winning will be A BRAND NEW MERCEDES BENZ SLK 555 MOTOR CAR, worth a staggering US$85,000 (approx. £68,000). (ONLY “ACTIVATED” PIGEONS ARE ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE FOR ANY OF THESE SPECIAL CASH PRIZES OR AWARDS). This new competition was very well supported in its first year and had over 160 entries and was so successful that it also paid out a staggering 2nd prize of US$54,000 cash. Do not miss this fantastic opportunity to win a fabulous new car. The 19th SAMDPR attracted about 140 entries and two staggering prizes were once again won by two worthy winners. The 20th SAMDPR attracted over 100 entries and the US$85,000 (£68,000) was won by Lloyd & Kelly from the UK, who actually won 37th OPEN in the FINAL RACE. It was the first Activated pigeons and walked away with the top award.

PRIZE MONEY ALLOCATED TO THE 21st SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR FINAL RACE, IS NOW AS FOLLOWS:- 1st US$200,000 (approx. £160,000), 2nd US$125,000 (approx. £100,000), 3rd US$75,000 (approx. £60,000), 4th US$50,000 (approx. £40,000), 5th US$35,000 (approx. £28,000), 6th US$20,000 (£16,000), 7th US$17,500 (£14,000), 8th US$15,000 (£12,000), 9th US$12,500 (£10,000), 10th US$8,000 (approx. £10,000), 11th/15th US$7,000 each (approx. £5,600), 16th/20th US$5,000 each (approx. £4,000), 21st/30th US$3,500 each (approx. £2,800), 31st/40th US$3,000 each (approx. £2,400), 41st/50th US$2,500 each (approx. £2,000), 51st/70th US$2,000 each (£1,600), 71st/100th US$1,750 each (£1,400), 101st/150th US$1,500 each (£1,200), 151st/200th US$1,100 each (£880) and then 201st/250th US$1,000 each (£800), 251st/300th US$500 each (£400). (Subject to terms and conditions of entry). The actual cash prizes stated above represent exchange rates at the current time and may of course change at the time of each race depending what the currency exchange rate is on the actual race day. A total of US$1,002,500 Million American Dollars (£802,000 Pounds Sterling) Prize Money will be paid out in this FINAL RACE.

Something else worth mentioning that six brand new motor cars have been won by fanciers representing the United Kingdom Team in the last seven years, Richard Elliott and Chris Gordon both won new motor cars during the 2005/6 race series and Paul & Dave McCarthy won one a new motor car during the 2006/7 series. During the 2011/12 race series fanciers from the UK won a staggering 3 x brand new motor cars and these were won by Nev & Angi Evans & Steve Cuthbert, Robert & Peter Montila and then Phil Bond. This in itself was an outstanding team performance. No other country has ever won three cars on the trot. The Irish fancier named John Nash also won a brand new motor car in the 2008/9 race series. I am hopeful that somebody from the United Kingdom or Ireland will also win one or maybe more brand new motor cars during the 2016/17 race series. GOOD LUCK TO ALL COMPETITORS.

I would also just like to notify fanciers that my weekly “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE”, “NEWSLETTERS” and “UPDATES” can now also be seen on the following pigeon web sites:- www.regencylofts.com www.iprr.co.uk www.elimarpigeons.com www.pigeonportal.com www.pigeonglobe.co.uk www.cyberpigeon.co.uk www.pigeonbasics.com www.starpigeons.com www.pigeonpixels.co.uk www.theloftreport.com www.oneloftracing.com plus of course they will also be published in the “”BRITISH HOMING WORLD” and “THE RACING PIGEON” weeklies and other world pigeon publications for all to see, read and enjoy.
The race date for THE 22nd SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE has already been agreed and confirmed by the race organisers as SATURDAY 3th FEBRUARY 2018.

If you are interested in participating or acting a Country Race Team Shipper/Co-ordinator, then please contact me as soon as possible on 01279-812005 or my mobile 07860-568216 or SMS or email on reglogfts@aol.com and I will give you all the information you require. My two proposed shipping dates for THE 22nd SAMDPR will take about the middle of MAY 2017 and then the second one should be around the middle of JUNE 2017. Of course these two dates will be confirmed nearer the time. I strongly recommend that you try to ship your race entries on the 1st shipping date as this then gives these pigeons much more time to settle into the race lofts.

If you have any questions about any aspect of THE SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE, then please contact me as soon as possible on 01279-812005 or my mobile 07860-568216 or by SMS or email at reglofts@aol.com and I will do my best to answer any of your questions or queries about this great race.
These “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASES” do take a lot of my time to prepare and I try to get as much into them as possible as I know fanciers and entrants like to know what is happening, unfortunately some time, some information will not be to hand when the print deadline is reached so can’t be included in that report. I can only apologise if I leave something out but I can assure everybody that I do my best to get as much information as possible to put into each of these international reports.
IF ANY PIGEON FANCIER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OR IN FACT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE MY WEEKLY “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASES”, “NEWSLETTERS” AND “UPDATES” BY EMAIL, THEN ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS EMAIL ME THEIR ACTUAL EMAIL ADDRESS I WILL PUT THEM ON MY EMAIL DATABASE AND I WILL THEN FORWARD THEM ALL THE INFORMATION BY EMAIL ON A REGULAR BASIS.
BEST OF LUCK TO ALL PIGEON FANCIERS/SYNDICATES & ENTRANTS WORLDWIDE DURING THE 2016/17 RACE SERIES.


THIS PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS THE COMPLETED BRAND NEW STATE OF THE ART 300 FOOT RACING LOFT WHICH IS SITUATED ON THE OUTSTANDING HERON BANKS GOLF & RIVER ESTATE, VAAL RIVER, SOUTH AFRICA. IT HAS THE TRAPPING/CLOCKING SECTION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LOFT, WHICH IS BELOW THE ADMINISTRATION CENTRE AND HAS 22 EQUAL SIZED SECTIONS EACH SIDE THAT ARE ALL ACCESSED FROM A FULL LENGTH CORRIDOR THAT RUNS ALONG THE BACK OF THIS FABULOUS LOFT. ALL THE SECTIONS HAVE GRILLED FLOORING AND THE LOFT HAS A PERCH CAPACITY FOR WELL OVER 9,500 PIGEONS.

Just recently Air Sport Internationale were approached to support the Macmillan Cancer Care “Go Sober October” event in the United Kingdom and they very graciously agreed to try to help. They very kindly donated a “FREE ENTRY VOUCHER” into The 22nd SAMDPR which would be auctioned off with many other kind donations on Monday 31st October 2016, most of which were supplied by top pigeon fanciers around the United Kingdom. Mike Cooney from Manchester entered himself for this national no drinking alcohol for a month competition in which there was nearly 68,000 entries. Mike managed to raise a staggering £20,013 during this campaign and actually won 1st place for his dedication and efforts. His fundraising effort was a direct result from collecting and auctioning some really top class pigeons and other fantastic items, which resulted in a feather in his cap for sure and also for the sport of pigeon racing. This was a sizeable donation for a well deserving cause and a huge boost for the esteem of the fancy as a whole. WELL DONE TO MIKE AND ALL THAT DONATED OR SPONSORED SOMETHING AND TO THOSE PEOPLE THAT PURCHASED ITEMS DURING THIS OUTSTANDING AUCTION.