7th International Press Release - Race 03/02/18

[willie reynolds]

“SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE”.
ON
THE 22nd 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 3rd FEBRUARY 2018.

ANOTHER RACE SEASON STARTS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN SUNSHINE.

RESULTS FOR TRAINING RACES 8 & 9.

TRAINING RACE 8 took place on Sunday 28th January 2018 from 63km
(39 miles) and a total of 2,606 pigeons were basketed from 35 different countries
and this total included 2,304 International pigeons including 148 from the United
Kingdom and 31 from Ireland, plus 302 pigeons from South Africa. There were no
pigeons in the Hold Back section. The convoy were liberated at 06.15 in fine and cool conditions, with a head wind, 16c (60f) and a good steady race was anticipated.

LIVESTREAM was up and running for TRAINING RACE 8 and as usual I logged on bright and early to watch the pigeons return to the race loft and all of a sudden bang on time a gang of about 50 pigeons approached the loft at 07.00 swung round the loft and then started to trap and as usual it was the first through the traps was the winner. Within a few minutes literally hundreds had homed and all looked good for excellent returns.

CONGRATULATIONS for winning 1st OPEN goes to TEAM LA PALOMA from GERMANY with pigeon named ESSEN 528 bred by JOERG SCHMITZ, which was officially clocked at 07.00.50.65 to record a winning velocity of 1493ypm, 1374.222 m/m (22.9037 m/s) (51mph). Taking 2nd Team Affeln - Amecke from Germany, 3rd Hardy Krueger from Germany, 4th Martin Hetzel from Germany, 5th A Defaulter Pigeon, 6th Team Heinz Fenten from Germany, 7th Dominique Velghe from Belgium, 8th Fev Flyers from United Kingdom, 9th Slawomir Lisiewicz from Poland, 10th Hamad Alhudayan from Kuwait, 11th Ervin Laro from Italy, 12th Paul Smith – Regency Lofts from United Kingdom, 13th Hermann Wienekamp from Germany, 14th Odenwaldflieger from Germany, 15th Mig 28 from United States of America, 16th Sattam Aldefery from Kuwait, 17th Internet-Taubenschlag from Germany, 18th V & W Vahle from Canada, 19th Robin White from Australia and 20th Team Waldeck from Germany. The top twenty in this result were separated by just 39.00 seconds and had 8 different countries represented in the top 20 and there were 9 different countries in the top 50, only 57.39 seconds away from the actual race winner. A great race for Germany with the first five pigeons in the result. This race resulted with 2,531 pigeons being officially clocked by 10.30, then 2,541 pigeons by 17.28 leaving 65 pigeons to return to the race loft. The Monday Loft List showed 2,574 pigeons in the race loft.

GLOBAL NOMINATIONS for TRAINING RACE 8 amounted to US$2,321.35c (approx. £1,786) and had a total of 138 pigeons entered which included 5 from the United Kingdom and none from Ireland and there were 403 Nominations. There were no United Kingdom winners. WELL DONE TO ALL THE WINNERS.

CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 8th OPEN went to FEV FLYERS, with their pigeon named IT’S A CRACKER which was officially clocked at 07.01.03.20, just 12.55 seconds after the actual race winner. Taking 2nd UK, 12th Open Paul Smith – Regency Lofts with pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 3rd UK, 28th Open Mr & Mrs B. Clayburn with pigeon bred by this partnership from Ackworth, 4th UK, 31st Open Zandys Dream Team with pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 5th UK, 35th Open The Chambers All Stars and with pigeon bred by the Chambers Family from Cannock, 6th UK, 36th Open Alistair Hogg with pigeon bred by Alistair Hogg from Winchburg, this being the same pigeon that won the New Motor Car in HSCR2, 7th UK, 48th Open Nigel Templar with pigeon bred by Nigel Templar from Bristol, 8th UK, 53rd Open Clarke & Kittow with pigeon bred by P&D Clarke from Sevenash, 9th UK, 76th Open Paul Smith Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet with pigeon bred by the late Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 10th UK, 90th Open another for Paul Smith Syndicate with pigeon bred by the late Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 11th UK, 96th Open Millys Loft with pigeon bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe, 12th UK, 130th Open Made In Brum with pigeon bred by Wilkes & Partner from Solihull, 13th UK, 167th Open Freelands Fighters with pigeon bred by Mr & Mrs B. Lewis from Kempsey, 14th UK, 168th Open another for Zandys Dream Team with a second pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 15th UK, 219th Open Trainspotters with pigeon bred by K. Wagstaff from the North East, 16th UK, 224th Open L+D. Wellburn with pigeon bred by this partnership from Acklam, 17th UK, 237th Open Millys Loft with a second pigeon bred by Michael from Crewe, 18th UK, 248th Open UK Elite Syndicate with pigeon bred by Lee Fribbins from Frating, 19th UK, 278th Open Guys Lofts with a pigeon bred by Mr & Mrs T. Guy from Wolverhampton and then 20th UK, 282nd Open another for Made In Brum with a second pigeon bred by Wilkes & Partner from Solihull. A total of 50 pigeons being officially clocked by 07.05, then 100 by 07.09 and 143 by 09.51, leaving 5 still to return to the race loft. The Monday morning Loft List showed 147 UK pigeons in the race loft.

UNITED KINGDOM COUNTRY/REGIONAL NOMINATIONS for TRAINING RACE 8 had no pigeons entered.
CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st IRELAND, 79th OPEN went to PETER LUCAS with pigeon named GERRYMANDER and bred by PETER LUCAS which was officially clocked at 07.02.00.29, just 1 minute 09.64 seconds after the actual race winner. Taking 2nd Ireland, 122nd Open Jos Reilly – Team Ireland with pigeon bred by Jos Reilly, 3rd Ireland, 131st Open H+C Thorpe - McMorrow with pigeon bred by Sheldon Leonard, 4th Ireland, 245th Open Maurice O’Donnell with pigeon bred by him, 5th Ireland, 263rd Open another for Jos Reilly – Team Ireland with a second pigeon bred by Jos Reilly and then 6th Ireland, 428th Open another for H+C Thorpe - McMorrow with pigeon bred by Herbie Thorpe. A total of 10 pigeons being officially clocked by 07.05 then 20 by 07.08 and 29 by 07.22, leaving just 2 to return. The Monday morning Loft List still showed 29 pigeons in the race loft.

IRISH COUNTRY/REGIONAL NOMINATIONS in TRAINING RACE 8 had no pigeons entered.

More short training will take place prior to the Final Race giving these pigeons even more confidence and experience to cope with what was in front of them over the next few days.

THE OVERALL AVERAGES are now up and running and after fourteen official races stands as follows:- 1st OPEN goes to ALHAMLI TEAM from UNITED ARAB EMIRATES with pigeon named JAMEELA bred by ALHAMLI TEAM, with a combined flying time of 26.16.03.65 unchanged position from the last race. 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 16th OPEN goes to NIGEL TEMPLAR with pigeon named NATIONAL STAR bred by NIGEL TEMPLAR from BRISTOL with a combined flying time of 26.51.56.81 up 1 places from the last race. 1st IRELAND, 8th OPEN goes to H+C THORPE - McMORROW with their pigeon named DAVEY bred by HERBIE THORPE with a combined flying time of 26.44.16.43 up 2 places from the last race. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THESE FANCIERS.
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TRAINING RACE 9 was now held on Tuesday 30th January 2018 from 63km (39 miles) and for this race a total of 2,581 pigeons from 35 different countries were basketed and this included 2,283 International pigeons and this figure also included 148 from the United Kingdom and 29 from Ireland, plus 298 from South Africa. There were no pigeons left in the Hold Back section. The convoy were liberated at 06.55 with a light head wind and in fine and cool conditions and a temperature of 17c (62f) and a fairly steady race was anticipated.

LIVESTREAM was up and running for TRAINING RACE 9 and once again I was up bright and early to watch the pigeons return to the race loft. It was a beautiful morning in South Africa and an ideal racing day and at 07.01 a bit later than anticipated a gang of about 30 pigeons approached the race loft, swung round a couple of times and then they hit the trapping area and within ten minutes lierally hundreds of pigeons had been officially recorded.

CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st OPEN goes to HUSSEIN ALOWDA from KUWAIT with pigeon named EDEUNG bred by HUSSEIN ALOWDA, which was officially clocked at 07.01.58.75 to record a winning velocity of 1461 ypm, 1341.018 m/m (22.3503 m/s) (50mph). Taking 2nd Team Bertlich from Germany, 3rd Martin Hetzel from Germany, 4th Alkhaleej Stable from Kuwait, 5th Nigel Templar from United Kingdom, 6th H+C Thorpe - McMorrow from Ireland, 7th Holts Loft from United States of America, 8th Jim Ward – Bill Hylek from United States of America,
9th Team Pahnke - Gockel from Germany, 10th Hok M Reijnen from Netherlands, 11th Faisal Abdullah Almater from Saudi Arabia, 12th Jean & Craig from South Africa, 13th Juergen Thielen – Team Ruhr from Germany, 14th Finghall Lofts Stud from United Kingdom, 15th Zandys Dream Team from United Kingdom, 16th Alistair Hogg from United Kingdom, 17th A Defaulter Pigeon, 18th Franz Kleinhans from Germany, 19th The Chambers All Stars from United Kingdom and 20th Paul Smith Syndicate from United Kingdom. The top twenty were separated by 10.25 seconds and had 8 different countries represented in this result with 11 different countries represented in the top 50 and these were just 16.95 seconds apart. A further update showed 500 pigeons were officially clocked up by 07.03, then 1,000 pigeons by 07.05, then 1,500 pigeons by 07.07 and then 2,000 by 07.10 and 2,500 by 10.13 with 2,521 pigeons clocked by 15.42, this contained 145 United Kingdom pigeons and 29 Irish pigeons, leaving 60 pigeons still to return to base camp.

The Thursday Basket List or The Final Race showed that there were a total of 2,627 pigeons still in the race loft, plus 4 pigeons that were not sent to this race because of their injuries. This figure included 152 pigeons from the United Kingdomand 30 pigeons from Ireland.

GLOBAL NOMINATIONS for TRAINING RACE 9 amounted to US$3,162 (approx. £2,433) and had a total of 125 pigeons entered which included 8 from the United Kingdom and 1 from Ireland and there were 364 Nominations. There were no United Kingdom & Irish winners. WELL DONE TO ALL THE WINNERS.

CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 5th OPEN went to NIGEL TEMPLAR with pigeon named NATIONAL EXPRESS which was bred by NIGEL TEMPLAR from BRISTOL, which was officially clocked at 07.02.04.65 just 05.90 seconds after the actual race winner. Taking 2nd UK, 14th Open Finghall Lofts Stud with a pigeon bred by Keith Thompson from Doncaster, 3rd UK, 15th Open Zandys Dream Team with pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet,
4th UK, 16th Open Alistair Hogg with pigeon bred by Alistair Hogg from Winchburgh, this pigeon won the New Motor Car in HSCR2, 5th UK, 19th Open The Chambers All Stars with a pigeon bred by the Chambers Family from Cannock, 6th UK, 20th Open Paul Smith Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet and with pigeon bred the late Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 7th UK, 22nd Open another for Nigel Templar with a second pigeon bred by Nigel Templar from Bristol, 8th UK, 25th Open Mr & Mrs B. Clayburn with pigeon bred by this partnership from Ackworth, 9th UK, 27th Open another for the Paul Smith Syndicate with a second pigeon bred by the late Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 10th UK, 32nd Open Mick Morrissey with pigeon bred by Mick Morrissey from Halewood, 11th UK, 36th Open UK Elite Syndicate with pigeon bred by Lee Fribbins from Frating, 12th UK, 42nd Open another for Zandys Dream Team with second pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 13th UK, 74th Open another for UK Elite Syndicate with a pigeon bred by Ronnie Reason from Colchester, 14th UK, 97th Open Clarke & Kittow with a pigeon bred by P&D Clarke from Sevenash, 15th UK, 189th Open Paul Smith – Regency Lofts with a pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 16th UK, 193rd Open another for Zandys Dream Team with a third pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 17th UK, 199th Open Trainspotters with pigeon bred by K. Wagstaff from the North East, 18th UK, 219th Open another for Paul Smith Syndicate with a third pigeon bred by the late Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 19th UK, 233rd Open Hilamb Syndicate with pigeon bred by Ron Hillcoat from Sowerby Bridge and 20th UK, 238th Open Team Lincs with pigeon bred by Paul & Tracey Stacey from Sleaford. A total of 50 pigeons were officially clocked by 07.04, 100 by 07.07, then 145 by 09.44, leaving 3 still to return to the race loft.

UNITED KINGDOM COUNTRY/REGIONAL NOMINATIONS for TRAINING RACE 9 had just 6 pigeons entered and 12 Nominations and US$20.40c (approx. £15.70p) to be won and the winner were as follows:- 438th Open Beneke Lofts with pigeon named Naobi bred by Pieter Oberholster from Keysoe, which won US$11.90c (£69.15p) for its efforts. The US$5 Nominations were refunded. WELL DONE TO THIS WINNER.

CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st IRELAND, 6th OPEN went to H+C THORPE - McMORROW with pigeon named NIAMH and bred by HERBIE THORPE, which was officially clocked at 07.02.04.84, just 06.09 seconds behind the actual race winner. Taking 2nd Ireland, 29th Open went to Peter Lucas with his pigeon bred by him, 3rd Ireland, 40th Open H+C Thorpe – McMorrow with a pigeon bred by Sheldon Leonard, 4th Ireland, 107th Open Jos Reilly – Team Ireland with pigeon bred by Jos Reilly, 5th Ireland, 126th Open Taximush with pigeon bred by Garret Hensey and 6th Ireland, 178th Open another for Jos Reilly – Team Ireland with a second pigeon bred by Jos Reilly. A total of 10 Irish pigeons were officially clocked by 07.03 and then 20 by 07.07. A further update showed 29 by 09.05, leaving none to return to the race loft.
IRISH COUNTRY/REGIONAL NOMINATIONS for TRAINING RACE 9 had no pigeons entered.

THE OVERALL AVERAGES are also up and running and after fifteen official races stands as follows:- 1st OPEN goes to ALHAMLI TEAM from UNITED ARAB EMIRATES with their pigeon named JAMEELA bred by ALHAMLI TEAM, with a combined flying time of 27.06.16.20 holding same position as the last race. 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 16th OPEN goes to the NIGEL TEMPLAR with his pigeon named NATIONAL STAR bred by NIGEL TEMPLAR from BRISTOL with a combined flying time of 27.41.53.06 holding same place from the last race. 1st IRELAND, 10th OPEN goes to H+C THORPE - McMORROW with pigeon named DAVEY bred by HERBIE THORPE with a combined flying time of 27.35.44.63 down 2 places from the last race. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THESE FANCIERS.

THE KNOCKOUT COMPETITION offers a US$25,000 (£19,231) First Prize and only fully paid up pigeon before basketing of Hot Spot Car Race 1 are eligible to compete for this great cash prize. This fantastic competition offers the following conditions and one lucky winner will walk away with “THE POT OF GOLD” after the Final Race. These rules are as follows:- This competition will take place over the last four Hot Spot Car Races and the Final Race, if however any Hot Spot Car Race are cancelled the race committee can use a Training Race to replace any Hot Spot Car Race. As usual this competition is very well supported and this year was no exception as there was a total of 2,734 pigeons entered, which was made up of 2,506 International pigeons, which included 197 from the United Kingdom and 33 from Ireland, plus 228 pigeons from South Africa. KNOCKOUT ROUND 1 took place on HOT SPOT CAR RACE 2 on Saturday 30th December 2017 and 1,778 (65%) of the entered pigeons moved forward to the next round. After this round 1 there was still 126 United Kingdom and 23 Irish pigeons left for the next round. KNOCKOUT ROUND 2 took place on HOT SPOT CAR RACE 3 on Saturday 6th January 2018 and 978 (55%) of the entered pigeons will move forward to the next round. After this round 2 there was still 61 United Kingdom pigeons and 12 Irish pigeons left to move forward for the next round. KNOCKOUT ROUND 3 will take place on the re-arranged HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4 on Saturday 15th January 2018 and 343 (35%) of the entered pigeons will move forward to the next round. After this round 3 there was still 24 United Kingdom pigeons and 5 Irish pigeons to move forward in to the next round. KNOCKOUT ROUND 4 will take place on the re-arranged HOT SPOT CAR RACE 5 on Wednesday 24th January 2018 and 69 (20%) of the entered pigeons will move forward to the next round. After this round 4 there was still 3 United Kingdom pigeons and just 1 Irish pigeon to move forward into the Final Race. Then KNOCKOUT ROUND 5 will take place on THE FINAL RACE on SATURDAY 3rd FEBRUARY 2018 and just 69 top class pigeons will be competing and the first pigeon clocked of these remaining 69 KNOCKOUT PIGEONS will walk away this coveted First Prize of US$25,000 (£19,231). THIS REALLY IS A GREAT INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION THAT CREATES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF INTEREST AND EXCITEMENT THROUGHOUT THE RACE SERIES. GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE PIGEONS IN THE NEXT ROUND.

As mentioned in my first International Press Release as the pigeons were delayed with quarantine regulations and did not start to fly around the race lofts until about early October, it was decided not to rush the pigeons through the initial flying round the loft and the early short training and because of this would result in the pigeons starting their initial training a bit later than usual but the loft staff were confident that these athletes of the skies would soon learn the routine. Numerous short training tosses were given to give the pigeons confidence and the following race programme was agreed:- Pre-Training Race 1 was held on Wednesday 6th December 2017 from 25km (16 miles) followed by Pre-Training Race 2 on Saturday 9th December 2017 from 25km (16 miles). Training Race 1 took place on Wednesday 13th December 2017 from 62km (39 miles), then Training Race 2 took place on Saturday 16th December 2017 from 62km (39 miles) followed by Training Race 3 held on Wednesday 20th December 2017 from 114km (71 miles) with HOT SPOT CAR RACE 1 which took place on Saturday 23rd December 2017 from 114km (71 miles), Training Race 4 took place on Wednesday 27th December 2017 from 114km (71 miles), HOT SPOT CAR RACE 2 took place on Saturday 30th December 2017 from 160km (100 miles), Training Race 5 took place on Wednesday 3rd January 2018 from (114km) (71 miles), HOT SPOT CAR RACE 3 took place on Saturday 6th January 2018 from 210km (130 miles), Training Race 6 took place on Wednesday 10th January 2018 from 114km (71 miles), Additional Training Race 01 took place on Saturday 13th January 2018 from 69km (39 miles), re-arranged HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4 will be on Monday 15th January 2018 from 215km (134 miles), re-arranged Training Race 7 will be on Thursday 18th January 2018 from 114km (71 miles), re-arranged HOT SPOT CAR RACE 5 will be on Wednesday 24th January 2018 from 268km (167 miles), re-arranged Training Race 8 will be on Sunday 28th January 2018 from 63km (39 miles) and then Training Race 9 will be on Tuesday 30th January 2018 from 63km (39 miles). There will still be plenty of time for the pigeons to learn the ropes before THE FINAL RACE takes place from 521km (324 miles) on Saturday 3rd February 2018.

Numerous “Loft Reports”, “Updates”, “Photographs” and “Videos” have been placed on the informative state of the art SAMDPR website for all to see and these are all available now on the dedicated website www.samdpr.com
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 2017/18 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 second year and has for the last twenty-one 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 one 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 22nd SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE will be the same as paid out for THE 21st SAMDPR.
The FINAL RACE PRIZE MONEY in the 22nd SAMDPR now exceeds US$1.02 Million American Dollars or around £785,000 Million Pounds Sterling.

All the United Kingdom Team fanciers/entrants and syndicate shareholders will be kept up to date with regular “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE” and “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. You can’t change your pigeon’s name/s once training has started. 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 OVERALL 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 gives all fanciers and entrants all the information they need to know about all the pigeons in the lofts.
***SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT*** I am sorry that I can’t add all the information about who bred all the pigeons or where they live because I do not have access to all this information so I can only publish details which I am in possession of at the time. 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 2017/18 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. £7,692), US$5,000 (approx. £3,846) and US$2,500 (approx. £1,923) 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 1, 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 COUNTRY/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 any credit in your own personal Air Sport Account then please forward funds to your Country Race Co-ordinator/Shipper so that this can then 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 GLOBAL & COUNTRY/REGIONAL NOMINATIONS during the 2015/16 race series actually paid out a staggering 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.

***WHAT CAN BE WON DURING THIS 2017/18 RACE SERIES*** Prizes and awards now add up to a staggering US$2.2 Million American Dollars £1.70 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 (£846) 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 (£846) Cash Prizes for each of the 5 x Car Race Hot Spots, a US$5,000 (£3,846) 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 (£1,538) Cash Prize in each of the 5 x Car Race Hot Spots & The Final Race, A Three Bird Average Competition and a US$3,000 (£2,308) Cash Prize in each of the 5 x Car Race Hot Spots & The Final Race, 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 (£7,692), 2nd US$5,000 (£3,846) and 3rd US$2,500 (£1,923) 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 (£19,231) 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 (£96), US$75 (£58) and US$50 (£39) in each of the first 4 x Car Race Hot Spots (1 to 4). In the 5th Car Race Hot Spot US$70 (£54) from every entry will be added to the starting Prize Money of US$250 (£192) 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 on the FINAL RACE. There is an Entry Fee of US$120 (£93) per pigeon to enter these Country Challenge Competitions and this has to be paid for before the basketing for the 3rd Hot Spot Car Race. The COUNTRY CHALLENGE ACE PIGEON, all countries participating will be given a US$200 (£154) starting Prize Money and US$40 (£31) from each Country Challenge entry fee goes to the “WINNER TAKES ALL” cash prize, which will be awarded to the first Country Challenge pigeon which is clocked in 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 2016/17 race series the UNITED KINGDOM COUNTRY CHALLENGE paid out £14,777 in PRIZE MONEY. Then in the “FINAL RACE” on the 3rd February 2018 there are also 10 magnificent gold pendants to be won worth well over US$1,000 (£770) each and now over US$1.02 Million American Dollars in Prize Money (£1.70 Million Pounds) and 300 cash prizes being on offer.

THE ZANDY MEYER MEMORIAL RACE & US$1,000 (approx. £770) 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. £65,400). (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. In The 21st SAMDPR Michael Mellor from Crewe was the runner-up for this prestigious award, with over 100 entries, which once again just goes to show that the UK pigeons will hold their own against the best pigeons in the world.

PRIZE MONEY ALLOCATED TO THE 22nd SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR FINAL RACE, WILL NOW BE AS FOLLOWS:- 1st US$200,000 (approx. £154,000), 2nd US$125,000 (approx. £96,000), 3rd US$75,000 (approx. £58,000), 4th US$50,000 (approx. £39,000), 5th US$35,000 (approx. £27,000), 6th US$20,000 (£15,000), 7th US$17,500 (£13,500), 8th US$15,000 (£11,500), 9th US$12,500 (£9,600), 10th US$10,000 (approx. £7,700), 11th/15th US$7,000 each (approx. £5,385), 16th/20th US$5,000 each (approx. £3,846), 21st/30th US$3,500 each (approx. £2,692), 31st/40th US$3,000 each (approx. £2,307), 41st/50th US$2,500 each (approx. £1,923), 51st/70th US$2,000 each (£1,538), 71st/100th US$1,750 each (£1,346), 101st/150th US$1,500 each (£1,154), 151st/200th US$1,100 each (£846) and then 201st/250th US$1,000 each (£770), 251st/300th US$500 each (£385). (Subject to terms and conditions of entry). The actual cash prizes stated above represent exchange rates (1.30) 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 (£772,000 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, Robbie Prettejohn 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 United Kingdom 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 2017/18 race series. GOOD LUCK TO ALL COMPETITORS. Fantastic news, ALISTAIR HOGG has also won a BRAND NEW MOTOR CAR in HSCR2 in the 2017/18 race series. WELL DONE ALISTAIR.

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 www.pigeondigest.com plus of course they will also be published in the “BRITISH HOMING WORLD” and “THE RACING PIGEON” weeklies and many other international world pigeon publications for all to see, read and enjoy.
The race date for THE 23rd SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE has now been finalised and confirmed by the race organisers and it will take place on SATURDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2019.
If you are interested in participating, helping us or acting a Country Race Team Co-ordinator/Shipper, then please telephone me as soon as possible on 01279-812005 or my mobile 07860-568216 or SMS or email on reglofts@aol.com and I will give you all the information you require. My two proposed shipping dates for THE 23rd SAMDPR will take about the middle of MAY 2018 and then the second one should be around the middle of JUNE 2018. 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 loft.
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 or somebody 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 and give credit to those that deserve it.
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 THE PIGEON FANCIERS/ENTRANTS AND SYNDICATES WORLDWIDE DURING THE 2017/18 RACE SERIES.


THIS PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE SHOWS THE COMPLETED BRAND NEW 370 FOOT (113 METRES) STATE OF THE ART RACING LOFT WHICH IS SITUATED IN STUNNING SURROUNDINGS 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 44 EQUAL SIZED SECTIONS (22 EACH SIDE) THAT ARE ALL ACCESSED FROM A FULL LENGTH CORRIDOR THAT RUNS ALONG THE BACK OF THIS FABULOUS PIGEON LOFT. ALL THE 44 SECTIONS HAVE GRILLED FLOORING AND THE LOFT HAS A TOTAL PERCH CAPACITY FOR WELL OVER 9,500 PIGEONS IN COMFORT.

If you wish to know any more information on this prestigious international pigeon race please contact me ASAP:-

Paul Smith, United Kingdom Race Team Co-ordinator/Shipper and International Race Co-ordinator for The 22nd South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race, which is due to be held at Heron Banks Golf & River Estate and Emerald Resort, Casino & Hotel, South Africa on Saturday 3rd February 2018. Regency Lofts Limited,
2, Highmead, off Coltsfield, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. CM24 8LJ. England. Tel/Fax:- 01279-812005. (Int. Code:- +44-1279-812005). Mobile:- 07860-568216. Email Address:- reglofts@aol.com Regency Lofts Website:- www.regencylofts.com Skype Address:- talbot7944 Twitter Address:- PaulSmith@SmithReglofts
The South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race Website:- www.samdpr.com