Bude - 12/06/10

[willie reynolds]

Around South Down by Brendan McLoughlin

Double Delight for K Rooney & Son -
Annalong partnership in rare double win.

The East Down Combine pigeons were in Bude on Saturday 12th June for their third channel race of the season. With a north west wind blowing all Irish organisations released together at 8.30am. The northwesterly wind meant that this was always going to be a difficult race but the birds cleared the race point well. With a westerly aspect to the wind South Down fanciers were once again optimistic that they could do well in the Open result and they were not disappointed with sixteen birds in the Open result.

Pride of place this week goes to Annalong’s K Rooney & Son who were 1st South Down Fed, 1st section and 1st Open East Down Combine. This turned out to be a terrific day for Kevin and Kristopher as they also took 1st Open NIPA from their 5 bird race from Fermoy to give them a very rare double of East Down combine and NIPA wins on the same day.

Kevin and Kristopher were 2nd Open East Down Combine last week in the Derek Wishart Classic but
moved up to the top spot here from what was a difficult Bude race. The winning pigeon is one of Kristopher’s pigeons and the younger Rooney was particularly delighted with this result. The winning pigeon, a two-year-old hen had been injured early in the season last year and resumed racing in the Derek Wishart race last year when it was second club. The sire of this week’s Open winner is a Lindelauf and is off a son of the ‘As Doffer’, a middle distance champion of Holland. The dam is a Willy Vanherck bred by PJ Boal, Dromore, which Kevin and Kristopher bought at the Charity Sale in the King’s Cup. This hen has bred a number of prizewinners for them.

Kevin and Kristopher have another bird in the South Down Fed result that takes 5th Fed, 5th section and 13th Open. This bird is a two-year-old cock that was injured last year but has recovered well. The sire of this one is a full brother of ‘The Favourite’ raced by J Hendricks & Son. The ‘Favourite’ was a winner of three races racing against 26,000, 25,000 and 17,000 pigeons. The dam of the pigeon timed here is also the dam of their Joe Ringland Classic winner from Skibbereen in 2007.

Mickey Croskery Annsborough has been the top Channel racer within the Fed and the Combine over the past couple of years and he has two pigeons in the Fed result this week. The first of these is 2nd Fed, 2nd section, 2nd Open which is the exact same position he had from this race last year when he lost out to E & A Rogan Newcastle. Mickey’s first pigeon here is a two-year-old hen that is De Richt x De Klak from the original birds obtained from J Jobey.

Mickey’s second pigeon is 7th Fed, 7th section, 16th Open and is a three-year-old cock, which was his Penzance Classic winner in 2008. It is a full brother of the pigeon that was 1st fed, 1st section 1st Open from the 1st Talbenny this year. The breeding is De Klak and Janus & Fox, with the sire being a son of the ‘Provence’ cock.

Annsborough’s R J Keown is 3rd Fed, 3rd section, 6th Open this week as his birds continue to show good form. R J’s pigeon is a two-year-old hen that has been a prizewinner each year. The sire was 1st Club, 2nd Fed from the Yearling National in 2007 and is a son of the old ‘Show cock’. The dam is a daughter of ‘Oscar’ and has been twice a prizewinner from Sennan Cove.

Last year’s Open winners from this race are back in the result this year again taking 4th Fed, 4th section, 11th Open and with another bird in the section result this was a good race for them. The pigeon timed here is a yearling Janssen x Fauconnier cock out of last year’s Open winner. The sire is down from Brian Murray from Manchester’s Combine cock. This yearling cock was 1st club from the two Talbennys to give it three club wins in a row. It now has three firsts and three seconds in the club.

Patrick Brown Annsborough, winner of the Open last week from Talbenny has two birds in the result here taking 6th Fed, 6th section, 15th Open, and 9th Fed, 9th section, 18th Open to show great consistency. Patrick’s first pigeon is from K Rooney & Son and is a Reynaert through Herbot Bros Belgium. This bird was 10th Fed Fermoy (2) and 6th Fed, 7th section, 21st Open Talbenny (1).
Patrick’s second pigeon is a full brother of the pigeon that was 9th section, 12th Open Talbenny (2). The dam is down from a hen obtained from Peter Martin, Fortfield, while the sire is a son of the old ‘19’ cock that won the Penzance Classic two years in a row in the Corrigs club.

Annsborough’s Pritchard Bros a name that always appears when the going gets tough is 8th Fed, 8th section, 17th Open this week. The pigeon timed here is a yearling Staf Van Reet cock from Andy Gregson Preston stock. This bird wasn’t raced as a young bird and was trained as far as Loughbrickland but has been in every club race this year including the three channel races.
Brendan Chambers Dundrum completes the result taking 10th Fed, 10th section, 21st Open. Brendan started the season late but has made each race count since. Brendan’s pigeon is a yearling Verheye x Brasspenning.

Full Result: 1, K Rooney & Son Annalong 1051; 2, M Croskery Annsborough 1048; 3, R J Keown Annsborough 1023; 4, E & A Rogan Newcastle 1018; 5, K Rooney & Son 1013; 6, P Brown Annsborough 1012; 7, M Croskery 1008.91; 8, Pritchard Bros 1008.80; 9, P Brown 1006; 10, B Chambers Dundrum 1003; P Brown 966 ABCD Nom; M Croskery 956 ABCD; M Jennings Annsborough 923 ABCD:
• The DTW has been won from Penzance by J Maguire & Ptrs. A new DTW will start from 1st Navan in the young birds.
• The 3 French races will have a £2 nom