Mullingar - 01/08/09

[willie reynolds]

Rooneys Romp Home from Mullingar

The East Down Combine moved on to Mullingar for the third race of the Young Bird programme. The pigeons were released at 11.30am in a south southwesterly wind and they romped home at speeds of over 60 miles per hour. The leading pigeons in the South Down Fed took an hour and four minutes for the 69-mile fly.

The Annalong lofts of K Rooney & Son had a superb race here taking the top seven positions in the Fed, with all seven making the top ten in both section and Open results. Bobby McConnell kept his good run of form going with two birds in the Fed, section and Open results.

Around the other Fed clubs, Patrick Brown took the top seven in Annsborough, Dan Hillen the top three in Newcastle, while A McNamara & Ptrs were best in Dundrum and S Milligan & Dtr were best in Tyrella.

The Rooneys had their best race of the season with eight birds in the Fed result from first through to seventh and back in again for tenth. The first seven of these take fourth through to tenth in both the section and Open result for a good day’s racing. Everybody knows how dedicated Kevin and Kristopher are to their pigeons and Kevin is quick to point out the amount of work put in by Kristopher now which is a major bonus for the partnership as Kevin works long hours.

The sire of the winning pigeon this week is from D Shields, Cragshead. This bird was first club twice last year and was third club this year from Thurles when they had three birds arrive together. The dam is a Lindelauf x Janssen that was 2nd Fed last year in the Yearling National and was one of the three to arrive together from Thurles this year to take second club.

Their second pigeon taking 2nd club, 2nd Fed, 5th section and 5th Open is a Janssen whose parents have already bred a host of prizewinners.

The sire of the pigeon at 3rd Fed is a good racing Soontjens cock that has taken a lot of prizes including three firsts. It was timed in the prizes in both the NIPA and East Down Combine from Skibbereen. The dam is also a Soontjens, this time from Joe O’Reilly from Arklow.

The fourth pigeon is a Van Reet with the sire coming from Mickey McConville, Crumlin and is one of his best breeders. The dam is one of Kevin and Kristopher’s old Van Reets and is a 10-year-old hen that bred two Open winners in one nest, as well as a Fed winner from Skibbereen.

Their fifth pigeon is one of Kristopher’s White Grizzles and is their most consistent racers so far. It was in the result from in the Federation’s race from Navan and has won the club pools from Navan.

The pigeon at 6th Fed, 9th section and 9th Open is a Cooremans x Van Reet cross with the sire coming from J Scates, Hillfoot and the dam is a full sister of their two Open winners from the 10-year-old Van Reet mentioned above.

The pigeon at 7th Fed, 10th section, 10th Open is the same way bred as the fourth pigeon. These Van Reets are also winning for Mickey McConville and have proved a good combination.

Kevin and Kristopher’s eighth pigeon taking 10th Fed is a Lindelauf, with the sire being second Open behind clubmate Bobby McConnell from Thurles last year. The dam was placed three times as a young bird, taking a first, a second, and a third club.
Bobby McConnell Annalong has two birds in the Fed result this week. He has got off to a great start and was 2nd Open from the 1st Navan. This week he is 8th and 9th Fed, 12th and 14th section and 12th and 15th Open.

The sire of Bobby’s first pigeon is a Van Reet x Busschaert while the dam was bred by Ernie Tonks from the West Midlands and is a pure Maurice Mathheuws.

The sire of Bobby’s second pigeon is off the good Pencil Blue Cock that won many prizes including 9th Open East Down Combine from a very difficult Penzance in 2004. The Pencil Blue cock has won over £1000 in racing. The dam of this youngster is a Van Reet.

Full Result: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, K Rooney & Son Annalong 1899, 1898.88, 1898.88, 1898.39, 1896, 1895, 1889; 8, 9, B McConnell Annalong 1876, 1870; 10, K Rooney & Son 1848:

Loft KO: Quarter Final Draw: 1, M Croskery v D Blaney; 2, N King & Son v A Murray & Son; 3, S Milligan & Dtr v M Jennings; 4, J Cleland v K Rooney & Son:

Brendan McLoughlin PO