Skibbereen Nat - 18/09/09

[willie reynolds]

Mickey tops the Fed in last race of season

The 2009 pigeon-racing season came to an end on Friday 18 September when the final race was held from Skibbereen. This race was organised by the Irish National Flying club and was originally scheduled for the Saturday. South Down fanciers were eagerly looking forward to this race as the wind for the Saturday was prevailing from the west and this would have given them a good chance of obtaining high Open and North section positions.

However news filtered through late on Thursday night that there was a possibility that the birds would be liberated on the Friday morning due to rain forecast for Saturday.

This was what happened and the birds were released at 11.30am in light winds. The conditions were pretty overcast for much of the day and many fanciers reported an erratic sort of race with gaps between birds returning home. While the wind was light it was from an easterly direction which as I mentioned before is not a favourable wind for coastal members.

The winner of the South Down Federation this week is Annsborough’s Mickey Croskery who has had another superb year’s racing. He had three more birds in the Fed result taking 5th, 6th and 10th Fed. Mickey's first bird was 70th Open racing against 3,118 pigeons from all over Ireland.

The dam of the winning pigeon is a blue hen from D Croskery & Son while the sire is a Walter De Richt cock. This is the only youngster out of this pair this year.

Mickey’s second pigeon is out of the cock that topped the East Down Combine from Talbenny last year while the dam is an ash hen out of the ‘Pool’ cock. The dam is a sister of the dam of his third bird.

The third bird timed by Mickey is the bird that was 5th Fed 7th section, 39th Open last week and was 1st Fed, 11th Open from Mallow. Its sire was 1st Open EDC from Sennen Cove Classic in 2008. The Sennen Cove winner is from the number one De Klak hen from Jobey and Gordon, Dunston. This hen is a full sister of the father of the pigeon that was 1st Open Up North Combine from Clermont for Jobey & Gordon. The sire is son of the dam, when paired to the old Soontjens cock that is the father of the loft. The dam of this week’s winner was 1st Open EDC from Thurles this year. The dam of the Thurles winner is a Janus & Fox through John Jobey, from the Up North Combine. The sire is the pigeon known as the ‘Pool’ cock.

Mice’s fourth pigeon taking tenth Fed is a hen from the original De Klak lines of Jobey and Gordons.
D Croskery & Son Annsborough also have four pigeons in the Fed result taking 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 9th to complete another very successful year’s racing. The sire of their first bird is a Jeff Greenaway pigeon from Eddie Coulter, Lisburn while the dam is one of the Walter De Richt pigeons. This pair bred two winners last year and I’m sure they will be staying in the stock loft.
The pigeon taking third Fed this week was 1st Fed, 1st section, and 21st Open last week from the Skibbereen Derby. The sire is the pigeon that was 3rd Open in the Portsmouth National while the dam is from Fleming Keery, Ballylesson. This bird won Best In Show at the Dundonald Christmas Show last year, a show judged by the Croskerys. When Dolen and Fleming were talking afterwards they agreed to pair these birds together. Fleming's hen was one of his best racers but was always reluctant to pair so this was the first young bird out of her.

Dominic and Doley’s 3rd pigeon is a De Klak of the old original lines while the pigeon at 9th Fed is out of the dam of the Derby winner paired to the ‘02’ cock.

P Brown & Son Annsborough are 4th Fed this week in a young bird season that saw them take the top three in the Fed’s pre-season Navan race against the odds in a west wind. The pigeon timed here is a Vandenabeele brought in from Gordon Bros & Sons Cloughey this year.

The result is completed by Annsborough’s Patrick Brown in 8th Fed. Patrick had another excellent season with the highlight being his Open win from Nenagh. The pigeon timed here is another in form bird that was 3rd Fed, 3rd, section, 24th Open in the previous week’s Skibbereen Derby. Patrick’s bird is a son of the ‘19’ cock, a pigeon that was first club two years in a row in the Corrigs from the Penzance Classic and was twice second section ‘F’ from that race. The dam is a Busschaert from Peter Martin, Fortfield down from ‘Red Rum’.

Full Result: 1, M Croskery Annsborough 1458; 2, 3, D Croskery & Son Annsborough 1413, 1391 Nom £16; 4, P Brown & Son Annsborough 1362; 5, 6, M Croskery 1355, 1350; 7, D Croskery & Son 1345; 8, P Brown Annsborough 1338; 9, D Croskery & Son; 10, M Croskery 1325:

• Annual Dinner & Prize Distribution will take place on Friday 9th October in the Dundrum Inn. Tickets £16 can be obtained from any committee member
• Applications for Young Bird of the Year and Old Bird of the Year should be with the secretary before 1st October.


Brendan McLoughlin PO.