Farming Life - Wednesday 12/10/11

[willie reynolds]

Emerald Classic - Final Race Report

It gives me great pleasure to open this year’s final race report with the exciting news that next year’s 1st PRIZE of £20.000 is GUARANTEED, “YES GUARANTEED”. Having been the most successful one loft race in the UK, Ireland, and perhaps even in Europe (based on this year’s results) for the 4th consecutive year. London may be hosting the 2012 Olympics but we hope to have our own Olympic event here in Northern Ireland by growing the current International participation, which consisted of no less than 14 countries this year, space to be allocated by receipt of deposit on a first come first served basis.


It seems like only yesterday since we opened the loft to accept the first arrivals for this year's Emerald Classic International One Loft Race, and like most others the current global recession had its effect resulting in numbers being down from last year, however we still managed to take in 658 birds from 14 different nationalities, 627 of which received ETS rings in June. After numerous training tosses 486 birds were race marked for the first Hotspot race and in addition to that we still had another 21 birds in the recovery bay, some may ask why? The answer is simple, here at the Emerald Classic we will not basket birds if we do not think they are capable of getting home, I didn’t do it with my own birds whenever I raced and I certainly will not do it with someone else’s birds, which after all were entered to compete in the grand final. I have received numerous compliments for this - never a complaint!



Again for the 4th year in succession our percentages have been unequalled - after a total of five hotspot races up to 225km and numerous daily training tosses 381 birds were race marked for this year’s final which represents 58% of our intake and 75% of the birds prior to HS1. With 331 birds recorded we had an 87% return from what many regard to be the toughest 410km route in the One Loft calendar.



Although the numbers were down the quality of entry was not. Again we received numerous entries from around Europe, the biggest coming from Team Germany, a professional syndicate comprising some of the country's best fanciers, along with Teams from Belgium, Romania, Moldova and Malta and entries from Alex Allemeersch & Corry Van Parys Belgium, Boscheind Flyers Netherlands, to name but a few.

Closer to home, we had support from some of the top lofts in the UK and Ireland for example Mr & Mrs Bill Lewis winners of the Europa One Loft Race, three RPRA one loft race winners Peter Robinson (2009), Richard Owen & Ken Hogarth (2010), Phil Bond (2011), Peter Fox of the world renowned Syndicate Lofts partnership Colijn/Gannus/Fox who have won numerous OL races around the world. Danny Dixon winner of 4 Nationals and one of the top section B lofts in the mighty NIPA, W Gray & Son winners of the SNFC one loft race & Emerald Classic (2009), Hennie & Anette Kallmeyer winners of the 2010 Emerald Classic. This is just a small example of the quality that competes with the Emerald Classic and trusts us with their best!

As soon as the 5th and final hotspot was over the bird were given a 2 week break during this time they were trained daily which proved very difficult this year due to the heavy rain and high winds which dominated the UK weather throughout the month of September. Having been in consultation with our Race Controller Alan Darragh for a number of days leading up to this year’s final, it was decided to race mark the birds on Thursday in case we would have to bring the race forward to Saturday. Race marking was carried out swiftly and efficiently as usual under the supervision of Leslie, Fred, David and our Convoyer Billy Bisset. As soon as the birds were race marked and wing stamped they were returned to the aviaries and the loft was securely locked. I am deeply indebted to Gerard & Colin who looked after the security of the birds during the Thursday and Friday night.


Saturday morning dawned with little change in the weather but a decision was made that we would proceed with the race as scheduled, however there was a “but”, if a window was not available on Sunday morning the birds would be brought home again - a decision I was hoping would not have to be made! Just after lunch time the birds were hampered and loaded onto the transporter under the supervision of Billy and assistance from some of our many overseas visitors who had arrived from England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. As soon as the transporter was loaded and the water tanks filled, the release mechanism was locked and the keys were handed over to Billy who left for Ross Carberry at 3pm.


It was then time to relax and entertain our guests, the general topic of discussion over the many beers consumed was how well the birds were looking, some commenting that they had never seen birds in any one loft race look so well and they had attended many! Along with some of our German visitors I had birds competing that afternoon in the German Ostseereennen a 402km one loft race which had an entry of over 1600 bird mainly from some of the country’s top lofts. Logging on to the live result showed that due to bad weather, the birds had not been liberated in Apeldoorn until 11.45 and presently no birds had been clocked. The afternoon passed quickly with the Scots and English holding up the bar and the Germans watching the computer, then all of a sudden a shout went up from Werner – “3rd John” - it transpired that 5 birds had arrived together and I had just won 3rd Open & 1st UK.!!

That gave me something to celebrate later that evening as we socialised with our many overnight guests in the comfortable surroundings of Corrs Corner Hotel, the attentiveness of the staff and high standard of accommodation and food was commented on by all.



Sunday morning arrived and it was not taking time to rain and the wind was turning the leaves on the trees I thought my worst fears were going to be realised and the birds would be coming home again, no one will ever realise what a weight was lifted off my shoulders when I received a call from Alan Darragh who confirmed the weather in Ross Carbery was near perfect, however rain was on its way. In preparation for an early release the birds were taken out to the liberation site at 6:45am and the drinkers were filled, following numerous weather checks by Alan, a decision was made to liberate at 9.00 am. Billy phoned after 9.00am to confirm that the birds were “up” and had cleared without turning.


The atmosphere at the loft was buzzing, with the brisk west/south west wind making it colder than previous years, the skies were heavy and the thick cloud was moving fast. With a mixture of different accents around the tables you could have been enjoying lunch in any typical European city! Temperatures were raised even further with a menu of Irish stew, chilli and baked potatoes, washed down with a wide selection of beverages including the traditional Guinness.


I had just finished making the necessary preparations whenever a shout went up “there are two birds” at first I thought they were returning from a previous outing as it was only 12:30, it was not until they flashed up on the plasma screen suspended over the bar and confirmation from Leslie who was overseeing the Mega Electronic Timing System, that they were in fact race birds. Several minutes then passed before a constant stream of birds started to arrive, this continued throughout the afternoon and by 20:05pm a total of 303 birds had been timed.



Winner of this year's Emerald Classic International One Loft Race.



1st Prize, The Boyd Memorial Cup and 1st Country trophy goes to Danny Dixon from Dunloy in Co. Antrim, Danny needs no introduction, having been the most successful loft in Section B of the mighty NIPA in 2010 and his winner now named “NINE ELEVEN” brings the total of National winners bred by him to four. Danny couldn’t believe that we had a race as the weather in Dunloy was horrendous and visibility zero whenever I phoned to congratulate him, let alone he had won it!



2nd & 3rd Prize, the Trophies, 1st Country Trophy and the Lakeside Trophy for the best 2 bird average in this year’s final goes to Corn Direct with pigeons bred by Brendan Mc Cann & Sons and entered by Connor Whelan from Bray in Co Wicklow although not present for the race, Connor and his father managed to make it up for the dinner and presentation. Sixty one seconds covered the next twenty five birds 4th 7th & 2nd Ace Pigeon going to Team Germany with an entry bred by Heinz Missey & Annette Gessner closely followed by 5th Boscheind Flyers Andre van de Weil & Jan Schreuder from the Netherlands. 6th Wilhelm Linke from Germany who also took 14th & 22nd, 8th Team Romania D Mihai & Bibi Stefanescu, 9th Reinhard & Sebastian Rolff from Germany, 10th Tom Laskey & Brian Robinson from Gateshead in Tyne & Wear, with their super little hen “Layel Girl” who came so close to winning this year’s newly introduced “Declared to Win” competition which has accumulated £1500 over the six races and will now rollover to Hotspot 1 in 2012.



That rounds up the top ten in this year’s final which saw six different nationalities being represented.



The accolade for having the Ace Pigeon in this year’s series goes to brothers Brian & Peter Fox of Syndicate Lofts UK from Bangor in North Wales. Peter needs no introduction being one of the partners in the world renowned Colijn Ganus Fox Syndicate with lofts in Indiana and Netherlands housing countless champions.


The Gala Dinner took place later that night and following an excellent 4 course meal in the Mulberry Suite, of Corrs Corner Hotel, the presentation of prizes by our guest of honour, Jeff Greenaway from Universal Pigeon Products, took place. With the presentation over, dancing continued into the early hours to a wide selection of music provided by the “Mighty Quinn”.
Although the music ended at 1.00am, the party continued into the wee small hours, it seemed like a good idea at the time - but having to entertain numerous visitors at the loft on Monday morning - it certainly wasn't!

A big thank you goes to the following people who have helped make the Emerald Classic the resounding and world recognised International success it has become over the past four years:-


Our very generous sponsors: Mr & Mrs Brian Wall of Gem Supplements, Alan Bamford of Top Flight Pigeon Corn, Frederic Basch & Leslie Madden of Mega Systems, Dr O J Botha of Avio Med, Simon Carr of Carr's, Derek Parr of Lakeside Lofts for the Beautiful 2 Bird Trophy, Jeff Greenaway Universal Pigeon Products, John Millar logistics who delivers birds to us through rain, hail, sleet and snow (of which we had plenty this year) and last but not least the most competent and professional Billy Reynolds for his press coverage over the year.
Race Controller: Alan Darragh who has made the Emerald Classic over the past 4 years.
Training & Convoyer: Billy Bissett
Race Marking: Leslie, Audrey, Fred, David, and Billy
Race Day: The Caterers, The Bar Staff, Waitresses and everyone else who helped
The management and staff of Corrs Corner Hotel who provided an excellent meal, accommodation and made all our guests most welcome and to Valerie for co-ordinating everything and ferrying everyone around before, during and after race day.

Finally a "Big Thank You" to everyone who has supported us and have helped to make us the

No. 1 "INTERNATIONAL ONE LOFT RACE" in EUROPE.

I hope that many old and new faces will join us again next year where the 1st Prize will be a guaranteed £20000. We will continue with what we know best and that is running a professional one loft race, keeping our clients informed and getting as many of our entries to that all important final race. Rules and regulations for 2012 can be downloaded from our web site. www.emeraldclassic.co.uk , perch space will be allocated on a first come first served basis so please don’t be disappointed as we expect to be oversubscribed for the 2012 “Olympic” event.

A big congratulation goes to ALL this year's prize winners. Best wishes, John H Boyd - Race Director.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN IRELAND - The sensational Leo Van Rijn family of B & K Hawes and Lee Fribbins coming to Sarsfield RPC, Lally Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 on Sunday 23rd October at 4.00pm, birds on view from 2.00pm. This will be the first sale of the year for Ireland's Own Pigeon Auctions and queries should be directed to either Homer Tel: 07538 238364 or Adie Tel: 07921 883997. As usual we will take any Commission Bids, the full Sale List will be available on www.pigeonnetwork.com. In the meantime see the article on B & K Hawes in the RP dated 30/09/11 and see below the article published in the Pictorial.

Kells & Dist HPS have another Social Evening planned to take place in the Dunsilly Hotel on Friday 4th November, pay at the door. They had a very successful night last year and this time the major guests include John Preece from Cwmtillery, the Preece Bros & Sons loft have won several 1st Nat into Wales. The guest panel will also include Gerald Delaney and Davy Black from Dromore in County Down and from the Irish Nat FC Patron Ronnie Johnston and President Syd Collins. Prior to the main event the Kells & Dist HPS will present the prizes for the year.

NIPA members should claim immediately for France Merit Awards, twice OB Nat St Malo for the Bronze, three times for Silver and four times for Gold. Claims should also be made for the Young Fancier of the Year. The annual Ladies Night will take place in the Templeton Hotel in Templepatrick on Friday 11th November. Tickets should be booked with Secretary Fred Russell Tel: (028) 92693913. All cups and trophies should be returned ASAP and in a clean condition.

Mid Antrim Show Scene

The Mid Antrim Show Season will be underway in a short time and some clubs have already made arrangements. Ballymena & Dist will operate as before each Monday starting on 31st October with classes for Young Cock and Young Hen Through the Wires. With a number of new members racing it is hoped they will bring a few birds to each show and we also look forward to inviting visitors. Penning is from 7.30pm until 8.00pm and it should be the usual good craic during the judging. Harryville HPS will start on Thursday 3rd November with classes for Young Cock and Old Cock Through the Wires. The Harryville series will continue each Thursday with penning from 7.30pm until 8.00pm through to 15th December. The annual Open Show will be held in the Harryville Clubrooms first Saturday in December. Visitors to all the shows will be made most welcome. Cullybackey HPS will start the show season on Saturday 29th October usual arrangements and the first classes for Young Cock and Young Hen Through Wires. The annual Dinner & Prize night will be held on Friday 28th October, the venue this year is the Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena.

McCartney calling it a day!

George McCartney of Moira is selling out due to his very successful Butchery Business expanding. Ronnie Johnston has agreed to sell the stock and he will know this family of bird’s right back to the achievements of the famous McCartney Bros. Keep an eye on the press for the latest news, sale dates are for the usual venues at Glenavy and Newtownbreda. The Glenavy date is Saturday 15th October at 2.30pm and then a few days later Newtownbreda on Monday 17th October at 7.30pm, all done a dusted on the one weekend.

Charity Sale in Gilford & Dist –

Charity Sale on behalf of the late Joseph Finnegan, Gilford & District RPC to be held in the local clubrooms on Saturday 15th October, viewing 13.00hrs and the sale to commence at 14.00hrs. Approx 45 birds, and T3 Clock, all proceeds going to the Southern Area Hospice.

Major Sale for Joe Brown in Glenavy.

Joe Brown from Dollingstown has a sale booked to take place in Glenavy on Saturday 29th October from 2.00pm. All the Darkness Youngsters are for sale including the many prize winners also a large number of the older stock birds that have bred numerous winners over the last number of years. Approx 90 birds in total and price on each pen, Joe will be there himself to explain the strains involved and the winning done and he will take orders for 2012 young birds these are usually sold out every year. A day not to be missed in Glenavy, Sat 29th October.

Mid Week Racing - A Topical Question

We had A Bit of Craic recently regarding arranging of mid-week racing, it appeared there was a high level of interest in the Belfast Area. A very good idea in my opinion, short mid-week racing helping to keep the sport alive and at the same time some level of competition for those interested. Others will just use the races for training, the idea has been tried before. The big NIPA tried this, a fair number of years back mind you, I suppose it was quite successful, and more recently Sect E had mid-week racing for a couple of years, quickly going out of fashion. Up in the far flying North West the City of Derry Fed have been having races for years and this gives the local fanciers good competition over and above what is on offer weekly by the NIPA. It is something I think that can be a success arranged on a local basis for those interested, most lofts now have the ETS systems and not the same trouble timing in the birds. Race checking can be after work, for those lucky enough to have a job. Discussion on this subject should be developed, our birds are bred for racing.

RPRA News Update

Something else for the fancy to think about, the RPRA will be putting up an Award in 2012 to celebrated HM The Queen Anniversary, I seem to remember the INFC introduced the Yearling Nat the last time we had something like this and it remains one of the best races to this time in the INFC. I had put forward the idea myself with the late L O Barr. We need a race where all the RPRA Members in Ireland can take part, and we need to decide on awards, maybe with everything else Framed Diplomas for Area Winners with a photo of the bird. It needs discussion at the local level, the decision will be made early next year. The Region Secretary Robert Reid would like to tie down a deadline for claims for the various award’s, this should not be a problem. The NIPA can be asked to place an Award Notice in their Race Book, we should also place an advert for the Irish Region in the BHW as other GB Regions do, this both to cover meetings and notices for the various awards. I see a suggestion as well that the RPRA have a Web Page for each local Region to publish news items etc, another move in the right direction.