Billy Cullimore Wexford N & S 1st, 2nd, 5th, 9th & 10th South Sect & 1st, 2nd, 5th, 9th & 10th Open
1st Open IHU 10S 126345 ‘The Specialist’
The open winner has shown some form over the weeks leading to this race being placed in the results on three or four occasions. She was sent to the national paired and racing to a cock. Sire of ‘The Specialist’ is an 06 blue cock who won 2nd Open South Leinster Federation Derby. Grand sire is the winner of 3 x 1st clubs and 3rd open INFC yearling national 2002. He is also the grandsire of an IHU national winner from Skibbereen for Fred Malone Kilkenny. The Dam of ‘The Specialist’ is a 2009 blue hen. This hen was one of Billy’s best young birds last season and she is a daughter of ‘Stitch’ who was champion old bird of the year in the Wexford North & South Road Invitation Pigeon Club in 2005, 2006, 2007and runner up in 2008.
2nd Open IHU 10S 126380 ‘West Point Lad’
‘West Point Lad’ was Billy’s best young bird this year as it was placed seven times in the first eleven positions. ‘West Point Lad’ was also beaten for 1st place by loft mates and won the Wexford North & South Road Invitation Pigeon Club golden ring scheme. The sire of ‘West Point Lad’ is a 2001 red cock that is a winner of 5 x 1st clubs and was also winner of champion old bird of the year in the South Leinster Federation. The dam is a daughter of ’99’ cock.
5th Open IHU 10S 126302
The bird that finished 5th is bred from two 1st open national winners. The sire is ‘Clonard Lad’ who won 1st Open INFC o/b national from Skibbereen in 2007 and also finished 3rd open INFC o/b national from Skibbereen in 2004. The dam is a blue hen ‘Davy’s Girl’ who won 1st Open North Road National from Malinhead 212 miles. She is a daughter of ’99’ cock.
9th Open IHU 10S 126356
The sire of the 9th open winner was another great racer winning 3 x 1st’s. He also won 2nd Open 2006 INFC y/b national from Skibbereen. He is a son of ’99’ cock. The dam is a daughter of Clonard Lad and Davy’s Girl.
10th Open IHU 10S 126312
The bird that finished 10th was racing to hen and showed good form leading up to the race. Sire is the ’99’ cock. Winner of 3 x 1st Federations and won his last race from Skibbereen by 25ypm and was then put to stock. Dam is a daughter of Stitch. All Billy’s birds are Staff Van Reet’s and Billy would like to thank Eamon O Brien and Derek Cummins for all their help throughout the year.
Brendan Smith Wexford N & S 3rd & 4th South Sect & 3rd & 4th Open
Also in Wexford 3rd & 4th Open went to Brendan Smith who finished 9th Open in the Old Bird National on 25th May.
3rd Open IHU 10S 102705
The bloodlines of this hen are Staff van Reet. The sire of 3rd Open is a first prize winner on a few occasions with many other top positions. He is a full brother to the ‘Power Ranger’ winner of 1st Open INFC Skibbereen National 2004. The grandsire of 3rd Open is GB2002N 16219, a direct Dean Pallet who is the sire of ‘Blue Power Ranger’.
4th Open IHU 10S 102618
The bloodlines of this hen are also Staff Van Reet. The sire of 4th open is IHU 05S 016115 who is a full brother to 1st prize winners. The Dam of 4th open is IHU 08S 43012 a sister to ‘Blue Power Ranger’. The grandsire of 4th open is GB 2002 N 16449 a direct Dean Pallet Van Reet. This cock is the sire of at least 5 x 1st prize winners. The grand dam is a mealy GB 2004 E another Van Reet from Dean Pallet.
Thanks to Willie Hore for the Wexford report.
M & J O’Reilly Arklow United RPC 6th & 7th South Sect & 6th & 7th Open
The first birds into Arklow were timed by the top flying loft of M & J O’Reilly flying 157 miles and like the members in Wexford compete with the South Leinster Federation. Up to date I had no joy making contact with the loft, when news arrives it will be listed.
Liam Donnelly & Son Finglas 8th South Sect & 8th Open
Liam Donnelly & Son I had the pleasure of covering last season when the loft won the Yearling Nat, in this race they again have the first bird into Dublin to win 1st Irish SR Fed, 8th Sect & 8th Open recording velocity 1276 for the 177 miles. The bloodlines of the Cheq Tip hen are Peit Valk and a very special hen bred from a pair of direct Van De Berg birds, she has 2 x 2nd Fed and has been well placed in the Yearling Nat and Skibbereen. A Darkness bird she was racing to the perch.
Brendan McLoughlin the PO from the South Down Federation has been fantastic help all season and has done various small reports, with the Skibbereen Nat dominated by South Sect lofts I thought it would be a good idea to cover the leading pigeons in the North Sect, Brendan duly obliged and this report will add to coverage of the race.
Paddy Brown Annsborough - 1st North section & 41st Open
The pigeon winning the North Section now known as ‘Geraldine’s Delight’ was named after Patrick’s wife who is a great asset around the loft. The parents of this pigeon are on loan from Annalong’s K Rooney & Son, and Patrick asked me to record his thanks to Kevin and Kristopher for all the help they have given him over the past few years. The sire of the pigeon timed here won an East Down Combine Open from Durrow in 2003 and has bred quite a few winners for Kevin and Kristopher. The breeding is Staf Van Reet from Brownlee, Ward & Nee. The dam is a Janssen from a pair bought at McCormack and Schofield’s clearance sale in Blackpool in 2006. The Janssen pair are ‘Mr Mack’ and ‘Amazing Grace’ and what a superb pedigree they have, having bred numerous winners for McCormack and Schofield including ‘Double 500’ winner of 1st City of Leeds Fed two years in a row from 500 miles. They have also bred many prize-winners for the Rooney’s at Club, Fed and Combine level. This young cock was sent to this race on chipping eggs as were the other two birds he timed in the result at 117th and 118th North section, 221st and 222nd Open INFC.
D Croskery & Son Annsborough - 2nd North section & 49th Open
Dominic and Dolen make it a 1, 2 for the Annsborough club just outside Castlewellan in Co Down. They had four birds in the result, taking the following North Section and Open positions – 2nd, 9th, 16th and 30th North Section and 49th, 79th, 89th and 115th Open. This was one of the best cards on the table on the day. Dominic and Dolen had a wonderful season at National level, winning a Hall of Fame in the King’s Cup, then winning the Robin Duddy Challenge from the Yearling National and Young Bird National and rounding the season off with this magnificent performance. Their first pigeon is off a Kees Bousa cock that they bought of John Gerard when paired to their good ‘01’ hen. ‘01’ is a daughter of the ‘Bolden’ cock and had positions from every Inland race in the club and has turned out to be a great stock hen. The pigeon timed here is the same way bred as one that was 1st Club, 3rd Fed 26th Open Tullamore earlier this year.
Mr & Mrs Stevenson Dromara - 3rd North section & 51st Open
This was another superb card for the Dromara partnership who timed their first pigeon at 3.52pm. They then had another four within 5 minutes and another shortly afterwards to give them 6 pigeons in the result at 3rd, 25th, 41st, 47th, 69th and 158th north section, 51st, 105th, 130th, 137th, 165th and 262nd Open. This result also gave them Best Average for the Old Bird Skibbereen National, and the Young Bird Skibbereen National, and winners of the ‘Gloria Hunniford Trophy’. This was certainly a loft in form as they were 5th Open NIPA Rosscarbery National the week before and had 15 birds in the Open result in the last 2 races of the season. This result is even more remarkable when it is considered that they started the season with only 33 young birds on the darkness and 6 naturals. The sire of their first pigeon timed here was 27th North section Old Bird Skibbereen National. The grandsire is a half Soontjens and was their 2006 NIPA Rosscarbery National winner, ‘Supreme Leader’. The dam is a Busschaert and is off the hen that won the silver diploma from NIPA Old Bird National from France. The pigeon timed here was a cock and was sent sitting on a day old youngster.
Glen Buckley & Sons Annaghmore - 4th North section & 58th Open
What another wonderful season this has been for G Buckley & Son racing out of the very competitive Annaghmore club. They are 4th north section, 58th Open here to add to an impressive list of National prizes this year which included 44th North section, 68th Open Old Bird Skibbereen, 9th, 18th and 79th North section, 11th, 22nd and 123rd Open Yearling National, 6th 64th, 111th, 164th North section, 7th, 76th, 141st, 200th Open Kings Cup, 4th, 51st, 59th North section, 8th, 60th,, 68th Open Friendship National and 91st, 131st, 152nd and 110th, 163rd, 190th Open Young Bird Penzance. The pigeon winning 4th North Section here is a half Soontjens from their own lines (its sire was 2nd Open Penzance Young Bird National) and a half Leo Van Rijn from Ken Darlington, Wales. These Van Rijn were brought in last year but this was the first time they were crossed. This bird is a hen that was sent flying to the perch and was very consistent throughout the season.
Spence Bros Lagan Valley - 5th North section & 62nd Open
This pigeon was the first Ulster Fed bird timed in the race to take 5th North section 62nd Open for Brian and Roy. The pigeon itself is a Blue Cheq hen that was sent to this race sitting on eggs that were overdue. The breeding is Jos Thone with the sire being direct from Ian Stafford while the dam was a gift bird from B & H Spence (Brian’s brother). This young bird was brought to peak form for the latter races having been 1st Lisburn & District, 19th section and 30th Open in the NIPA Rosscarbery National the previous week.
N Black & Son Dromara - 6th North section & 67th Open
This is another loft that has had superb season with the Irish National Flying Club and they can’t have been too far away from the overall Nat Championship. The pigeon timed here is one of six obtained from Brandon, Culshaw and Brandon from Rochdale who won section L of the NFC three weeks ago from St Malo. The Rochdale partnership had got birds from the Blacks a few years ago, which did really well for them. They decided over the winter months to swap 6 young birds this year, as Davy and Alan were keen to try their Janssen and Soontjens in the longer young bird races. This has certainly worked as three of the six were timed in Nationals – 1 in Penzance and 2 in Skibbereen. The pigeon timed at 6th North section here was probably the most consistent of them all, having been 4th club Rosscrea and 5th club Fermoy. She was actually their first bird from Rosscarbery the week before but didn’t trap. She was sent to this race sitting on eggs and was given a youngster the night before basketing. This obviously made her keener as she wasted no time here.
Allan McDonald Portadown - 7th North section & 71st Open
Allan has had one of his best young bird seasons for a long time having topped the Portadown club on six occasions this year. In recent weeks he was 22nd Open from the Penzance Young Bird National. The young cock timed here was 1st Club, 17th section E (5137 birds) Roscrea, and 1st club, 19th section (1063 birds) 178th Open(5054) birds in the NIPA National from Rosscarbery the week prior to the Skibbereen National. This youngster is bred from two direct Belgium pigeons from Smit and Van Winkle who live near the famous Jos Soontjen. Alan is a regular visitor to the Dutch Show and when there he travels down to Belgium and buys a few birds. The sire and dam both have Dirk Van Dykk’s ‘Rambo’ and ‘Hannibal’ in their bloodlines. The young bird timed here at 7th North section was sent to Rosscarbery on chipping eggs and to Skibbereen on a 7-day-old youngster.
P Campbell & Sons Armagh - 8th North section & 72nd Open
This is another loft that was in peak form at the latter end of the season having won 3 races towards the end of the season. The pigeon timed here was a Vandenabeele hen bred as a gift bird by club mates E Murtagh & Son. Its nest mate was 8th Section in the 5 Bird Fermoy race. It’s interesting to note that all three pigeons that won this year for Malachy were Vandenabeeles. This young bird was raced on the darkness and was keen on the nest but hadn’t actually laid so she was slipped an egg and was sent sitting to the National 17 days. Twenty minutes before basketing she was given a young bird, which she took to straightway.
D Croskery & Son Annsborough - 9th North section & 79th Open
This is the same loft that are 2nd North section in this race and the only loft in the North section with two birds in the top ten. Their second pigeon is a nest mate of their pigeon that was 1st South Down Fed, 1st East section and 12th Open East Down Combine from Skibbereen Derby. The dam is a direct Walter De Ryck, while the sire is a son of the cock that was 4th National Portsmouth. The De Ryck pigeons are only in the loft a couple of years now and have produced a host of prizewinners. The cock that was 4th National Portsmouth is down from Rodney & Jason Walker’s two National winners paired to one of their own De Klak pigeons.
Gordon Bros & Sons Killyleagh Central - 10th North section & 81st Open.
The Gordon’s have had a tremendous season with the East Down Combine and have taken numerous Open & Section positions. Their team of pigeons is based on the Vandenabeele family and it is indeed to the Vandenabeele that we go for the breeding of the pigeon at 10th North Section here. The sire is a direct M & D Evans and is a son of ‘Golden Gaby’. The dam is a Vandenabeele down from ‘Jester’and ‘Carrie’, M & D Evans’ top stock pair. The grand dam of the pigeon timed here was 3rd North Section, 5th Open in this race in 2002. This young bird is a cock that was sent paired but not sitting. It had been a consistent racer but hadn’t taken any major prizes before this.
Many thanks to all who assisted in what was the last race of the season, congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to meeting them all at the Annual Dinner & Prize Presentation to be held at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast on Friday 26th November, main guests are Geoff & Catherine Cooper. Skibbereen Nat was kindly sponsored by Harkers Ltd and the BHW, Hormoform Packs are won by W Cullimore SLF, P Brown EDC, M/M Stevenson NIPA, Spence Bros Ulster Fed, W Ellis ECF, and L Donnelly & Son ISRF. The Tom Marshall Trophy for 1st Open Skibbereen is won by W Cullimore (Wexford North & South) and the Charles Hunniford Memorial Trophy for Best Ave (North Sect) Skibbereen OB & YB is won by Mr & Mrs Stevenson (Dromara).
Willie Reynolds
INFC Press Officer.
Tel/Fax: (028) 256 44683
Mobile: 07939 684876
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Billy Cullimore holding his 1st INFC Skibbereen YB National Winner.
Brendan Smith holding his 3rd & 4th Open INFC Skibbereen YB National Winners.
Liam Donnelly from Finglas winner of 1st Irish SR Fed,
8th South Sect & 8th Open INFC Skibbereen.
Patrick Brown from Annsborough (r) winner of 1st North Sect INFC Skibbereen
with Kevin Rooney & Son who supplied the parents.
Alan Darragh from Cullybackey won 1st Mid Antrim Comb in the Old Hens Nat.
D Croskery & Son from Annsborough had a fantastic season 2nd North Sect Skibbereen,
Hall of Fame Diploma and the Robin Duddy Challenge.
"Clan Leader" raced by Allan McDonald of Portadown Inv, winner of 3 x 1st Club
inc Rosscarbery and Skibbereen YB Nationals.
Malachy Campbell of Armagh holding the winner of 8th North Sect
INFC Skibbereen for P Campbell & Son.
A happy Adrian Beggs, Beggs & Hall from Larne & Dist
had the best bird into East Antrim from Skibbereen.
Martin Graham had the early arrival from Skibbereen,
the Ballymena & Dist loft won 1st Mid Antrim Comb.