By Mervyn Eagleson
On Wednesday 6th September 2023 at 14.24pm Martin Graham of Ballymena made history by becoming the first fancier in the Irish National Flying Club to win two channel Nationals in the same season. 1st INFC Open Penzance Yearling National with "Dens Lass" and 1st Open INFC Penzance Young Bird National with "Sammy's Girl".
Starting Out
Martin's life with the pigeons began in 1984 when he took an interest in his late father's birds which he raced to a barn at the back of the house in Greenmount Terrace in the Ballymena Town. Martin joined the Ballymena & District club at the age of ten to race young birds in 1985 with a real gather up of birds from many of the local fanciers. The Ballymena club at the time was one of the strongest in the NIPA housing many National and Derby winners including the famous Smyth Bros winners of the Friendship and Penzance YB Nationals with the INFC and William Erwin winner of the INFC Kings Cup with "Moonlight Mannequin" and twice winner of NIPA Old Bird Derby (now National). Martin raced away at the birds which he kept for fun and enjoyment until he was 18 and then decided to spend a bit of time in Australia in 1994. A few years passed and Martin decided to re-join the sport in 1999 and made a trip to Portadown to visit Bertie Fletcher. At that time Bertie had some of the best Van Wildermeersch on the planet and Martin impressed with what he'd handled purchased a few from him. The same bloodlines run through the veins of the lofts to this day, infact this years INFC Penzance Yearling National winner " Den's Lass" is a great grand daughter of Martin's old No 1 stock cock "Sunnyhill Producer" who bred Martin 10 x 1sts. His mother was one of the original Fletcher pigeons and a direct daughter of "Witslager", this hen bred Martin 27 x 1sts at club, Derby and National level.
Success
The Fletcher pigeon's were an instant success with Martin winning his best prize to date 5th Section & 16th Open from a tough NIPA Lamballe OB Derby in 2001. The chequer hen was gifted to Martin by Bertie and was a daughter of his INFC Talbenny Young Bird National winner. Two years later in 2003 Martin won 5th & 8th Open Nipa Bude and a fortnight later 1st Section & 2nd Open Nipa Lamballe OB Derby with "Champion Siobhan". This chequer pied hen was bought in a kit of 12 youngsters again from Bertie Fletcher and won Martin 3 x 1st including 1st club & 2nd Mid Antrim Combine Tramore, 1st club & 26th Open Nipa Penzance as a yearling and then 2nd Open Lamballe National. The following season Martin went one better and won 1st Open from the Nipa Skibbereen Inland Derby (now national) in a west wind with a record 9559 birds competing. This Maurice Verheye hen "Sunnyhill Lass" had been placed 8th Open Nipa Bude the season previous. Unfortunately Martin never got a single youngster off her as she was found dead in the loft in the winter of her National win. Around this time Martin purchased four Walkinshaw birds at Norman Thompson's of Comber clearance sale which, like the Fletcher Wildermeersch are a big part of the foundation's of the loft's to this day. Martin crossed the Fletcher's with the Walkinshaw's and produced possibly the best hen he ever owned "The Big Hen" she was off an original Fletcher pigeon called "278" and the dam a daughter of Thompson's "Broken Wing Hen". The "278" cock was also the sire of Martin's No1 stock cock at the time "Sunnyhill producer". Results over the next few years took a bit of a hit while Martin helping bring up three kids and working his eight till five job. Prizes won included 35th Open Nipa Lamballe OB Derby 2007, 2nd Section, 4th & 30th Open Nipa OB Derby St Malo 2008. The 4th Open hen had won 30th Open in the Sennen Cove Old Hens National the year previous on velocity 505. Her sire was "Sunnyhill Producer" and the dam was a daughter of "Ethel" Bertie Fletcher's 1st Open Nipa OB Derby winner from Dinard. In 2008 Martin decided to try his hand at widowhood racing for the first time and travelled to Dromore to meet Gerard Delaney of Oroory Hill Stud and purchase a kit of Willie Jacobs young birds to race. Like the Wildermeersch, success was instant and Martin amassed many club, Mid Antrim Combine and Section B wins including 1st Section & 19th Open Nipa Talbenny YB Derby, 1st Section & 4th Open Nipa Bude, 14th Open Nipa Rosscarbery National and one youngster gifted to clubmate Alwyn Livingstone won 3rd Open from the INFC Penzance YB National. In one young bird race Martin had 18 drop together and took the top 12 positions in the club. They were responsible for one of the best birds he ever raced "The Duke" a winner of 7 x 1st and won Rosscarbery on three occasions. They also bred Martin's Galway One Loft Race winner "Cool Lass" winning a record 50,000 euros in 2015. The National and Derby results still flowed nicely some being - 30th, 50th, 56th, 86th, 104th, 129th, 134th, 147th, 220th, 244th, 273rd, 307th & 318th Open Sennen Cove Yearling National, 7th, 17th, 18th & 47th Open Nipa Old Bird National, 59th, 131st & 230th Open Kings Cup, 13th, 15th, 31st, 33rd, 34th, 43rd, 47th, 58th, 105th, 115th & 146th Open INFC Penzance YB National.
The 1st Section & 7th Open Nipa St Malo OB National hen of 2017 was named "Brenda Anna" after Martin's twin sister who had sadly passed away two years previously. "Brenda Anne" was the only bird in Section B and finished 7th National on velocity 441 with only 10 birds timed in race time. She was 7th section & 47th Open Bude the year previous. Her sire was a grandson of " The Big Hen " the best of the old Norman Thompson x Fletcher FVW family. He was also the grandsire of the hen that won 15th Open INFC Penzance Y/B National in 2015 with only 126 home in race time, and was sire of Martin's 2nd bird home from INFC Penzance Y/B National 2016 finishing 42nd Open. The dam was a full sister of Paul Swindell’s Champion "Queen Of The Rain" which finished 2nd Open INFC Friendship National with only a handful of birds home in race time.
"The Golden Years"
That brings us up to "The Golden Years" 2018 - 2023 and Martin's next major win and a dream fulfilled. At 1.37pm on Wednesday 13th June 2018 Martin clocked his blue cock "Denman" to win 1st Open INFC Sennen Cove Yearling National velocity 1419 with 3984 birds competing. Earlier in the season the cock had won 1st club, 23rd section and 88th open in the Nipa Rosscarbery OB Inland National and was 2nd club in a tough Skibbereen National a couple of weeks later. When Martin's father in law Denis Craig gave up the pigeons at the end of 2017, Denis gave him a few birds to break in. At the beginning of the 2018 season Martin broke the birds in and "Denman" was one of these. "Denman" contains the bloodlines of Hartog, Soontjen & Busschaert and as we will see later made his mark at stock. Martin continued the 2018 season in some style having the only two birds in the Mid Antrim Combine from the St Allouestre Kings Cup finishing 57th & 59th National. The first bird timed was a blue yearling cock sent sitting 12 days eggs. This cock was Martins first bird timed from Penzance two weeks previous winning 3rd club, 30th section and 172nd open in the Classic event. Sire was "Treble One" a son of the "Big Hen" and the dam a daughter of Danny Dixon's INFC Penzance YB National winner "Dixie Chick". In the INFC Penzance YB National event of that year Martin again had the only bird in the Mid Antrim Combine and finished 11th Open National. The sire was a grandson of the now famous "Big Hen" while the dam was a grand-daughter of Ronnie Williamson's Golden Pair. In the King's cup of 2019 Martin won 1st Mid Antrim Combine and 122nd Open National. This was the same blue cock that had won 59th Open Kings Cup the previous season and won Martin a Merit Award for twice in the money from Kings Cup. There was no National racing in the 2020 season due to the Covid outbreak but it was back to business in the 2021 season and from the Nipa St Malo OB National Martin was placed 6th, 8th & 10th Section and 50th, 100th & 109th Open National. The first bird was bred by Danny Dixon from Dunloy and had won the club in the hard Bude race the year previous winning 2nd Mid Antrim Combine. The sire was "The Belgie Cock" and the dam was in fact purchased by Danny for £900 at a sale of Martins and she was a direct daughter of "The Big Hen" Martins second bird was a daughter of the blue cock he timed as a yearling in the 2018 Kings Cup smash finishing 57th Open. The Kings Cup race of 2021 saw Martin win his best Kings Cup prize to date 12th North Section & 19th Open 504 miles with "Wee Fiona" and also win the Duddy Extreme Distance Trophy for Saint Allouestre furthest flying member in the King’s Cup open prizes. "Wee Fiona" was a 2-year-old chequer pied hen. Breeding on the sire's side was a son of Ronnie Williamson's "Golden Wonder" when paired to Martin's Famous "The Big Hen" while the dam was a daughter of "The Big Hen". The Nipa St Malo OB National saw Martin win another 1st Mid Antrim Combine & 3rd Section, 46th Open National with "Hugh's Delight" This 3yo chequer cock was placed 10th Section & 109th Open the season previous and won Martin a Nipa Bronze Diploma for a bird twice in the Open prizes in the OB National. Dam was a gift hen from top distance flyer Hugh Boyd of Randalstown and the sire was half-brother of "Brenda Anne" 1st Section & 7th Open for Martin in the Nipa St Malo smash of 2017.
2023
Right up to date now and the 2023 season and what a season it was for Martin, becoming the first fancier in the history of the Irish National Flying Club to win two channel Nationals in the same season. The first of these wins was the INFC Penzance Yearling National flown on Wednesday 14th June. Another day which Martin will remember for a lifetime. After flying the 329 miles to the superb lofts on the Old Cullybackey Road this classy blue pied hen timed in at 14.24pm to win the INFC Penzance Yearling National and emulate her sire "Champion Denman" who won the same race back in 2018 when flown from Sennen Cove. Martin's winning blue pied hen and was sitting eggs 10 days and was named "Den's Lass". The sire as I mentioned earlier was "Champion Denman". A great racing cock for Martin winning the club in 2018 from the NIPA Skibbereen OB National plus 88th Open and a few weeks later 1st Open INFC Sennen Cove Yearling National 332 miles velo 1419. The dam of Martin's latest National winner was a blue hen that won 13th Open in a strong headwind from the INFC Penzance YB National smash of 2015. Sire of the dam is "Lion Eyes" bred from Martin's original No1 stock cock "Sunnyhill Producer" the sire of 10 x 1st including 4th Open Lamballe OB National. The mother of the dam was a daughter of "The Big Hen" responsible for countless National positions for himself and many others. In fact "The Big Hen's" bloodlines run through all six of the birds Martin timed in this years National. The dams mother also bred "Wee Fiona" 19th Open INFC Kings Cup in the St Allouestre smash of 2021 when only 42 birds homed in race time. Martin had an excellent Yearling National race winning further positions of 13th, 21st & 123rd Open. His second bird clocked at 15.30pm to win 13th Open was another blue hen sitting 12 days on eggs. Sire of this one was "Treble One" a son of "The Big Hen" and also the sire of 57th Open Kings Cup smash 2018. Dam was "Rushvale Percilla", No1 stock hen of Glen McNeilly's which Martin purchased at his clearance sale. This hen had already bred Glen a 1st Section & 5th Open St Malo National bird in 2021. Breeding is M & D Evans Vandenabeele. Martin timed his third bird sitting 8 day on egg at 15.43pm to win 21st Open National. Dam of this hen was the same dam as the first hen and the sire was a cheq cock kindly presented by Malachy Maguire & Sons of Newry to the INFC Charity auction in 2020. Sire of the Maguire Cock was "Young Sean" a winner of 1st Section & 2nd Open NIPA St Malo National 2015. Dam was "No Surprise" 22nd Open INFC St Allouestre Kings Cup and winner of the Harkness Rose Bowl with her half brother "Young Oisin" in 2018. No Surprise was also 4th Open in the INFC Kings Cup Single Bird Challenge in 2019. Bloodlines of the Maguire cock also includes Home Alone and Portavogie Lass. In total Martin timed 6 of his 9 entries in surely what was one of his best days racing to date. The second National win of the season arrived on Wednesday 6th September when he timed his blue w/f hen "Sammy's Girl" at 14.24pm to win 1st Open INFC Penzance Young Bird National velo 1452. The National winner herself "Sammy's Girl" had all the young bird races including the Dale National being the first bird home 3rd club and 110th Open and in-between races was privately tossed both north and south road with the wind always on her head. She was bought in a kit of young birds from one of Irelands top racers and breeders Paddy & William McManus of Ahoghill. The sire now retired was a fantastic racing cock winning a stack of prizes including 1st Section & 10th Open Nipa Penzance & Classic 2022 velo 1421. He was bred from two of the pigeon's Paddy and William brought in from Louis Thijs (100% Leo Heremans). The National winners dam was a direct Van Den Brande hen. Something of interest, both Martin's National winners this year were timed at the exact same time 14.24pm. At the end of this season the loft will lift three INFC cups, the Nelson Corry Cup for 1st Open Penzance Yearling National, the J.M.K. McGugan Perpetual Cup for 1st Open Penzance Young Bird National and the Harkers Cup for Best Average Penzance Yearling and Penzance Y. B. Nationals.
In Martin's Words
After a 4-year break from racing young birds competitively I decided to have another go at the Penzance YB National, a race I've tried so hard to win for many years. My best efforts over the years got me many Open prizes including my best result's 11th, 13th, 15th & 18th Open with only failing to time once (2007) in 13 years. This season I put 12 youngsters bred off my own stock on the darkness, and I made contact with the famous partnership of Paddy & William McManus of Ahoghill to enquire if they would be willing to sell me 12 young birds for a bit of fun up Ireland. My good friend Sammy Steele who has been a great help and encouragement to me, and helps train my pigeon's for the Nationals said he would go halfers in the young birds so we purchased the kit of 12 from Paddy and William and we had good sport with them timing them in the prizes most weeks. The hen in question that has now been named "Sammy's Girl " was sent to Dale National the previous weekend and she was my first bird to the loft finishing 3rd club and 110th Open Nipa 222 miles on velocity 1322 flying 4 minutes short of 5 hours. I'd noticed that a pair of young ones in the loft were feeding a small chick and she would have tried to cover the chick and sometimes she managed to push her way on to the nest and sit beside the other hen but more often the cock chased her away. She was still keen to claim the chick and would sit on a block above the nest and would always be looking down at the chick. On the Sunday after the Dale National which was the day before basketing for the Penzance National I gave the birds a bath and in the evening I noticed a real change in her appearance, she looked very sharp and her feathering was so tight. I made my mind up she was for the Penzance YB National and the rest is now history, and I was fortunate to win a second national within a few months.
Loft Management
Martin like's a strong eye with character for breeding and say's his family of birds have great wings the best winged pigeon he ever owned was the father of "The Big Hen" the "278" cock, long narrow flights and a beautiful pigeon in the hand, well balanced and full of muscle, and said he's very fortunate his pigeons still carry that same frame as "The Big Hen" and her sire.
Martin feeds mostly Natural young bird with racing finesse plus a high energy grain from Bamfords.
When treating birds he uses Tollison Schroeder from Jeff Greenaway, He treats for canker, cocci, fungi and uses Broncho Sprint for respiratory, usually treating mid April and then Broncho Sprint two weeks before a major National.
Martin tosses once or twice a week at the beginning of the season but when the Nationals come around the birds are tossed in to headwinds for 10-12 days straight, Portstewart being a favourite location.
Martin's breeding method is line breeding to a champion hen or cock, he has linebred and inbred "Denman" to his winning daughter "Dens Lass" and also to her dam and granddam to give him an outcross for 2024 hopefully.
When purchasing stock Martin always looks to buy off pigeons that are placed top 10 in National races, mostly Kings Cup winning pigeons for a cross into his own family and said he has been very fortunate the past number of years. He has always admired the late Malachy Maguire & Sons from Newry with their phenomenal racing record and was fortunate to purchase a son of "No Surprise" at an Infc charity auction. He also purchased the No1 stock hen at Glen McNeilly’s clearance sale, both these birds crossed with his own scored well this year in the INFC Yearling Nat.
Concluding
To win one National in a season is an achievement but to win two is quite incredible and both of them achieved flying the toughest channel route in the UK. Martin is up there with the best National racers in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and I can see him adding more wins to his CV over the coming years. I hope anyone who reads this article enjoys it as much as I have writing it. Mervyn Eagleson.
Martin Graham (r) of Ballymena & Dist and good friend Sammy Steele,
with awards collected at the INFC presentation in Stormont Hotel, Belfast.
2023 INFC cups and awards won by Martin Graham.
“Denman” the 2018 INFC Yearling Nat winner.
Montage of this season winner of the Yearling Nat and winner of the Penzance YB Grand Nat.
