16th SCMDPR - Final Race Report Part (1)

[willie reynolds]

“INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE”
THE 16th SUN CITY MILLION DOLLAR
(THE GREATEST PIGEON RACE IN THE WORLD)
(THE RACE WITH THE PROVEN TRACK RECORD)
“NEWSLETTER”

“FINAL RACE”
PETRUSVILLE 578km (359 miles)
held on Saturday 28th January 2012.

The UNITED KINGDOM TEAM had a reasonable “FINAL RACE” result and had 24 pigeons on the day and won 47th, 51st, 60th, 72nd, 88th, 123rd, 145th, 147th, 159th, 169th, 195th, 199th, 204th, 205th, 240th, 263rd, 272nd, 275th, 281st, 296th, 308th, 313th, 316th & 320th OPEN. The IRISH TEAM also had a good race and had 3 pigeons on the day which took 31st, 110th & 131st OPEN. Only 381 gallant pigeons were officially clocked on the day in this fairly tough race and this total also included 18 x Non-Activated pigeons and 1 x Defaulter pigeon.

The actual weather conditions in South Africa throughout this 2011/12 race series have once again been a dominant factor as they are in most one loft races around the world, at times it had been incredibly hot and dry and then extremely wet and unsettled for prolonged periods. However the good news was that only one of the training tosses had to be cancelled because of inclement weather during the whole race programme, with the Zandy Meyer (Race Director) and Andre van Wyk and Dave van de Merve (Loft Managers), plus Corrie Naude (Trainer) always thinking and considering the pigeons first rather than just getting another training toss under their belts.

Last year we had the award winning filmmakers, brothers Craig & Jarrod Boord from Streamline Media (Fearless Films) based in Australia who followed pigeon fanciers from around the globe to make a character-driven feature documentary that fascinates as much as it educates. So they attended the 15th SCMDPR with a film crew to view to add parts of the Greatest & Biggest Pigeon Race In The World Today into a television documentary, which has name been name LITTLE RIPPER which shows how far people will go in the pursuit of an obsession. LITTLE RIPPER shines a light on the little known world of pigeon racing, where passionate, eccentric characters strive for glory and where birds just want to come home. This 76 minute documentary with its homespun tone, easy style and laconic humour is a highly accessible film resonates with audiences drawn to the passion, dedication and diversity of the characters involved. This original documentary and its quirky subjects will charm audiences and critics alike when it takes on the 2012 international film festival circuit. If you wish to view certain parts of this fantastic television documentary then please go to:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZxuvh0xQMY or http://www.facebook.com/LittleRipperMovie where you will be able to view parts of this great film. There were over 22,000 viewings on YOUTUBE and FACEBOOK during the first few days of release.

For the 16th SCMDPR we had a very large German Film Company in attendance and they even brought over one of their favourite TV Stars AXEL PRAHL who plays the main part in this television documentary. They did a tremendous amount of filming during the race and all around Sun City Resort and I for one will be looking forward to seeing this film when it is finally released. As and when I find anymore out about a release date for this film I will forward full details on to the pigeon press for publication. What a year they picked to film such a documentary as the GERMAN TEAM dominated the Open result and won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 6th in THE FINAL RACE, which was a fantastic TEAM PERFORMANCE. No country has ever won the first four positions in any SCMDPR in the previous 15 years.

Sun City Resort and of course Sun International should be over the moon with these film companies coming to Sun City to film the SCMDPR, which actually gives them worldwide media and television coverage for all to see. Also when you take into account the thousands of VIDEOS and DVD’s that the SCMDPR have been produced during past 16 years on the SCMDPR and SUN CITY and then distributed literally all over the world, it must be the sort of advertising that any company or resort in the world would just love to have.

However, finally after numerous months of hard work and about 80 training tosses and twenty-seven (27) official races, which was made up by 22 Training Races and 5 Car Race Hot Spots plus two short non-qualifying training tosses and over 7,000km (approx. 4,350 miles) on the road, Thursday 26th January 2012 finally arrived for the basketing of the pigeons that were due to go to this truly prestigious International Pigeon Race. This outstanding team of top class pigeons supplied by some of the best fanciers in the world today had already undergone five testing Car Race Hot Spots from the end of November 2011 and were now in tip top form and ready for their twenty-eighth and final race in this 2011/12 race series. Fanciers and competitors were invited to the race lofts to enjoy a morning barbecue (braai) in the very warm conditions and watch the pigeons being basketed from the lofts. All the pigeons in the four lofts were finally loaded into the crates at the lofts by the loft staff and loaded onto the transporter on Thursday morning and were then ready to be taken to the massive air conditioned Superbowl for the race marking procedure. All the lofts were checked by myself and the loft staff to make sure they were completely empty before the transporter left for the Superbowl. The transporter arrived at the Superbowl at about 12-30 and the crates of pigeons were unloaded and then Zandy Meyer (Race Director) told everybody present what to do and what was expected from them. The race marking then started at about 13-00 and this is run by a team of four independent auditors who are all from E. COETZEE & KIE and nothing is left to chance, with every encapsulating ring carefully being removed for the first time since the pigeons arrived in Sun City, thus revealing the pigeon’s official ring number. The pigeon’s electronic ring is then passed over the electronic pad and scanned and the marker then reads the full ring number out to the person who is operating the computer, it is double checked against the computers database and then if all is correct, it then moves onto the next process which is having its official ring covered again by a special sticky label, which is supplied by the Auditors, then it is officially wing stamped and placed into one of the race crates. As the pigeons are scanned, the computer operator is also told by the computer when nineteen (19) pigeons have been race marked, that is checked with another person who is also doing a separate manual count, plus the sticky labels are also cut into the correct amount for each basket. So in essence there are three different checks before each basket is closed and sealed with nineteen (19) pigeons in each, which gives the pigeons plenty of room. With a great team of race markers from literally all over the world and four different marking tables, the actual race marking only took about five hours and the complete race marking was finally completed just before 18-00 with very few problems arising. A fantastic achievement once again and our thanks of course must go to all the fanciers concerned as without your help to race mark and basket these pigeons this massive task would have taken the Race Committee much longer to achieve. The general opinion of most of the fanciers I spoke to that had assisted us with race basketing in previous years was that the pigeons being basketed today were all in excellent condition and were ready for the task before them.

From an original world record breaking entry of over 7,000 pigeons from 37 different countries, a total of 3,479 pigeons were finally basketed for “FINAL RACE” and the race was due to take place on Saturday 28th January 2012 from Petrusville 578km (359 miles) and this total included 265 United Kingdom pigeons and 33 Irish pigeons. In this final total there were 166 pigeons that were “Not-Activated” and so all of these would not be competing for any of the allocated prize money. Also unfortunately, 15 pigeons were deemed not fit enough to be sent to the race by the veterinary officer Dr. Marthinus Hartman senior veterinarian from the University of Pretoria Veterinary Sciences and also Dr. Le Grange who is from the Bird and Exoctic Animal Hospital, either because of injuries, feather faults or smashed identity rings which of course meant they were not eligible to compete in the race. Included in this total was one United Kingdom and one Irish pigeon. These owners would all get a US$1,000 refund as their pigeon/s were not actually entered for the race. For the third time we also had two Inspectors and a Veterinary Surgeon in attendance from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and they seemed to be very happy with the way the race basketing went and they caused no problems during the actual race marking.

It was also a great pleasure to see that all bar 2 of the 37 countries that originally entered pigeons still had pigeons left in the race, which in itself is a remarkable achievement and these were made up as follows:- INTERNATIONAL ENTRIES totalled a record breaking 2,947 and the host country SOUTH AFRICA had 532 entries and this is a breakdown of actual original entries per country and in brackets what was actually sent to the Final Race AUSTRALIA 226, AUSTRIA 35, BAHRAIN 6, BELGIUM 245, CANADA 39, CHINA 3, CZECH REPUBLIC 89, DENMARK 106, FRANCE 4, GERMANY 812, HUNGARY 18, IRELAND 33, ITALY 22, KUWAIT 144, MALTA 8, NETHERLANDS 181, POLAND 98, PORTUGAL 2, PUERTO RICO 2, QATAR 11, REPUBLIC OF KOREA 10, ROMANIA 41, SAUDI ARABIA 10, SLOVAKIA 40, SLOVENIA 10, SOUTH AFRICA 532, SWAZILAND 1, SWEDEN 8, SWITZERLAND 14, TANZANIA 1, TURKEY 4, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 2, UNITED KINGDOM 265, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 451 and ZIMBABWE 6. Once again it was great to see quite a few new countries competing for the first time but as usual it was also a great shame to see quite a few countries not being able to enter because of Avian Influenza restrictions imposed by their governments or ministries. Hopefully, things will improve for the 2013 SCMDPR. It should also be mentioned that for the first ten years the actual race distance had been from 632km (393 miles) but the Race Organisers and Race Committee decided a few years ago to reduce the race distance to give more pigeons a chance to make it back to the lofts on the day of liberation and that has been generally accepted by pigeon fanciers all over the world as a very positive move.

After the basketing had been completed in record time and the pigeons were fed and watered, they were then loaded onto the transported in the Superbowl so they would be ready for their early start towards the race point early on Friday morning. The transported was sealed with special numbered seals and were then left to have a rest in the Superbowl guarded by special security guards from Falcon Security. We then all departed, the lights were switched off and the pigeons could rest and think about the task that was in front of them. It was then back to the Vista Bar in the Cascades Hotel which was buzzing and everybody was talking about the race and what they thought their chances were, after some considerable time and a few drinks everybody said their goodbyes and made their way to bed in the early hours of the morning.

Friday soon dawned and was a day for me of meeting people, meetings and setting up the SCMDPR Trade Stand and after a few hectic hours and meeting scores of old friends it was soon time to get ready for The Welcome Reception which was to be held in the spectacular Hall Of Treasures in Entertainment Centre, which started at 20-00 and which as usual had a fantastic buffet waiting for everybody to enjoy, the presentation of the food was as usual outstanding to say the least and once again Sun International did us proud, just like they have done in past years and as usual this was a casual function and was attended by about 500 fanciers. Zandy Meyer (Race Director) then told everybody present about the weather forecast for the Saturday plus he informed everybody in attendance that the pigeons would be liberated near Petrusville which was about 578 km (359 miles) back to Sun City. He wished everybody good luck and that it looked good for a great race and he thought it would be a fairly tough event and in his speech he also welcomed everybody to Sun City and told us all that Sun International were once again very proud to be hosting the 16th Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race and once again wished everybody good luck for the race tomorrow and said he looked forward to congratulating the 2012 SCMDPR winner tomorrow evening and hoped he would be seeing us all again next year. All the Country Race Shippers that were present were then called to the stage and presented with a gift from ASI for their efforts throughout the year, plus all the sponsors were called up and presented with a framed diploma for their support in the race. Zandy Meyer and Joan-e Holt then handed over all the awards and each person that was present then was called up to the stage and were all greeted with great applause. The function finally finished about 22-30 and people made their way back to the various bars to round off their day and once again the Vista Bar was packed to the hilt with pigeon fanciers and friends all hoping that tomorrow was going to be their special day. As the International Race Co-ordinator and one of the Official Shippers, I would like to personally thank all the Country and Regional Race Shippers for all their hard work and efforts over the years because without your help and assistance the race would never have got off the ground and would not be the fantastic success it is today. Everybody I spoke to about this function thought it was outstanding in every way, so let us hope the weather is good enough again next year to have this event in such fabulous surroundings.

I finally surfaced on Saturday morning and as I went down for breakfast and was informed that the convoy of pigeons were liberated at 06-35 in fine and clear conditions, with a fresh easterly wind of 18kph at the race point and a temperature of 20c or 68f, rising as the day progressed to around 28c or around 82f by midday in Sun City with a steady head wind. As the day progressed the temperature rose to over 30c or 88f with some light rain showers in different areas on their flightpath. So once again a reasonable race was anticipated and the Zandy Meyer (Race Director) and Corrie Naude (Trainer) Andre van Wyk, Dave van der Merwe (Loft Managers) thought the first pigeons would take about nine to nine and a half hours to complete their journey, which at nine hours would be around 40mph. The atmosphere at breakfast was electric and almost everybody I spoke to said how long do you think they will take and my response was nine hours and four minutes. My actual predicated arrival time was 15-39. Around the nine hour mark seemed to be a favourite with most fanciers and with breakfast over, it was now over to the Superbowl to see what was happening there and as usual it was packed and fanciers were all around the trade stands and buying products and gifts. On the two massive screens you could watch the liberation of the pigeons near to Petrusville earlier in the day and this of course created a lot of interest, also the screens were showing Google Earth and this showed the route the pigeons should be taking and this was the sixth time in Sun City that pigeon fanciers and guests could see what was actually happening on the two massive screens. THE SUN CITY MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE IS THE ONLY ONE LOFT RACE IN THE WORLD THAT OFFERS SUCH INFORMATION TO ITS ENTRANTS AND AS ANYBODY WILL TELL WHO WAS PRESENT, IT REALLY DOES ADD TO THE EXCITEMENT ON THE DAY. It was also great to see that the transporter staff had taken video clips of a small group of pigeons battling against the wind, just above the ground and transmitted it back to the Superbowl so fanciers could view it. In between all these clips and information, Alan Jordaan was updating people with the current weather forecasts and news that had been telephoned back to the organisers from the Convoyer on the returning transporter and Corrie Naude (Trainer) in the back up vehicle. KEEPING FANCIERS/ENTRANTS INFORMED HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE OBJECT OF THIS GREAT RACE. Before I left the Superbowl fanciers and guests were allowed to their tables where they could sit down and enjoy a superb lunch with some music and entertainment laid on, plus of course regular updates from Alan Jordaan on what was happening on route.

I finally left the Superbowl at about 12-30 to go to the lofts with Michael Holt and Pieter Saayman to greet a few other Country Race Shippers and Cornay Smit (Attorney), E. Coetsee & Kie (Independent Auditors), Peter Morey (Official Photographer) plus media and other photographers from all over the world that were going to watch the race transpire at the loft location in the hot afternoon sun. Once again the UNIKON ELECTRONIC CLOCKING SYSTEM (DEISTER) had been checked and the battery back-up system was connected and in place just in case we had a power cut or a big electrical storm. The camera crew were all set up and in position to film the winning pigeons arriving and all of this was being relayed direct into the Superbowl for the five to six thousands fanciers/guests/friends to watch live as the pigeons arrived at the lofts. A superb lunch was laid on for everybody at the lofts which was just what we all needed as most of us would be at the lofts until darkness fell and then as usual the excitement started to build as the predicted time of arrival got closer.

All the people at the lofts decided to have a R50 bet on “GUESS THE CLOCKING TIME OF THE WINNING PIGEON”, they asked me to go first and I put down 15-39, quite a few others put down earlier times and others of course put down much later times right up to nightfall. This always adds to the fun during the long day and we all had a laugh as each person passed the anticipated time of arrival and were then crossed off the list.

It was now 15-00 and the tension was building up as anything in the sky moved, then just after a few hours looking into the empty sky, all of a sudden I spotted a single pigeon approaching the lofts at about 15-31 (8 hours 56 minutes), slightly earlier than I expected and amidst great excitement the cameraman in the lookout tower zoomed in on the pigeon that was approaching the lofts and it hit the loft and trapped immediately now everybody was hoping that this pigeons was theirs, it was officially clocked at 15-31-16.01 and the computer screen in the control office at the lofts and the Superbowl very quickly revealed that the CONGRATULATIONS for winning the coveted 1st OPEN position belonged to TEAM RUHR - SCHINK representing GERMANY with their pigeon named RUBELLOS and rung DV01696.11.222, which recorded a winning velocity of 1178.70ypm or 64.66 kph (approx. 40.18 mph) and won a staggering US$200,000 (approx. £133,333). It was a great shame that the breeder was not present in Sun City to see their pigeon trap first to win the most prestigious international pigeon race in the world today and to be crowned as the current “WORLD CHAMPIONS” and all the German fanciers present were also very quickly being congratulated by all the other fanciers, entrants and competitors around them. This winning pigeon was of Janssen Brothers/Hofkens x Andre Roodhooft bloodlines and was like many other past winners of this great race, not really a form pigeon with positions 3860th, 3909th, 3455th, 553rd and 2305th positions in the five earlier Car Race Hot Spots, with its best position being 299th in the race series. However, on the day it was certainly the best pigeon and ended up being crowned THE SUPREME CHAMPION AND WELL DESERVED WINNERS. Two more pigeons arrived 3 minutes after the race winner and 2nd OPEN and runner-up went to TEAM SYLT 2000 – GOEBEL-VARNEY also from GERMANY with pigeon named SYLY ORPHEUS which was clocked at 15-34-27.56 and won US$120,000 (approx. £80,000), this syndicate also came 2nd OPEN a few years ago and always get some good positions in the Final Races, 3rd OPEN went to RUEDIGER SCHOENAU from GERMANY with their pigeon named LUKE DONALD which was clocked at 15-34-56.25 and won US$75,000 (approx. £50,000), 4th OPEN went to TEAM BRANDY from GERMANY with pigeon named RAGNER 2 which was clocked at 16-01-05.66 and won US$50,000 (approx. £33,334), 5th OPEN went to PENKIN SYNDICATE BELGIUM from SOUTH AFRICA with pigeon named QUEEN OF HEARTS and bred by SAVILLE PENKIN, which was clocked at 16-01-07.71 and won US$25,000 (approx. £16,667), 6th OPEN went to VOLKER GRASER from GERMANY with pigeon named MOONSHOT which was clocked 16-01-10.71 and won US$20,000 (approx. £13,334), 7th OPEN went to KAJ OG MICHAEL from DENMARK with pigeon named DK TINA which was clocked at 16-01-36.95 to win US$17,500 (approx. £11,667), 8th OPEN went to H and T SYNDICATE from AUSTRALIA with their pigeon named MR H which was clocked at 16-01-41.80 to win US$15,000 (approx. £10,000), 9th OPEN went to PAULS CONNECTIONS from SOUTH AFRICA with pigeon named BABY BLUE which was clocked at 16-06-38.15 and won US$12,500 (approx. £8,334), then 10th OPEN went to COMB WOLFSEN – DE RIDDER from NETHERLANDS with pigeon named SUNDREAM WIRRAMIRA which was clocked at 16-06-48.30 to win US$10,000 (approx. £6,667). All these top 10 pigeons all won one of the superb SUN CITY MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE GOLD MEDAL and had 35 minutes 33 seconds between them and the top ten pigeons were from 5 different countries represented. Then taking 11th OPEN went to ABDULLAH BIN JAMEAI from KUWAIT with NORA which was clocked at 16-07-19.11 and won US$7,500 (approx. £5,000), 12th OPEN to ABDRAB ALRASOL AL-OBAID from SOUTH ARFICA with OBAID 2 which was clocked at 16-11-01.16 and won US$7,500 (approx. £5,000), 13th OPEN went to WILHELM LINKE from GERMANY with COCKNEY which was clocked at 16-15-37.48 to win US$7,500 (approx. £5,000), 14th OPEN for HERBERT BRESSER from GERMANY with TIMO which was clocked at 16-15-52.58 to win US$7,500 (approx. £5,000), 15th OPEN for HENRIK MELDGAARD from DENMARK with DIDDE SOFIE 2 which was clocked at 16-16-25.88 to win US$7,500 (approx. £5,000), 16th OPEN for KAREL KLEMENS from CZECH REPUBLIC with OLA K and clocked at 16-16-51.48 to win US$5,000 (approx. £3,334), this fancier won 1st OPEN in the FINAL RACE in 2010 with pigeon named ALI and also won THE KNOCKOUT COMPETITION in the 2010 FINAL RACE, 17th OPEN for KOOPMAN RACING TEAM from NETHERLANDS with TUVOK clocked at 16-17-10.73 to win US$5,000 (approx. £3,334), 18th OPEN for J HOOYMANS from NETHERLANDS with pigeon CHAOS clocked at 16-18-48.26 to win US$5,000 (approx. £3,334), 19th OPEN for MDG SYNDICATE from BELGIUM with FLY FOR ROSES clocked at 16-19-24.06 to win US$5,000 (approx. £3,334) and then 20th OPEN went to LEIDEMAN - SPITHOVEN from NETHERLANDS with MAGGIE MAIDEN clocked at 16-19-40.51 to win US$5,000 (approx. £3,334). 21st OPEN for RA BAKKER and ZOON from NETHERLANDS,
22nd OPEN another for KOOPMAN RACING TEAM from NETHERLANDS, 23rd OPEN another for BROESAMLE - ZUZOLO from GERMANY, 24th OPEN for WERNER BUCHLOH from the GERMANY, 25th OPEN for TEAM STEFFI from GERMANY, 26th OPEN for CLUB DES XX from BELGIUM, 27th OPEN for HANS and EVERT-JAN EIJERKAMP from NETHERLANDS, 28th OPEN for BUNDYROCK from AUSTRALIA,
29th OPEN a third pigeon for KOOPMAN RACING TEAM from NETHERLANDS who once again had an outstanding race to follow up some fantastic results in past races and then 30th OPEN for KITCHENBRAND LOFTS from SOUTH AFRICA who won 1st OPEN in the 2010/11 SCMDPR. All these last ten competitors won $3,500 each (£2,334). Then we had 31st OPEN for PHILIP and MARK SMITH from IRELAND, 32nd OPEN for TONY KAN from UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 33rd OPEN for RONNIE JNR + ROBERT SCOTT from SOUTH AFRICA, 34th OPEN for LOGAN OLD BOYS from AUSTRALIA, 35th OPEN for SI SE PUEDE FARM SYNDICATE from UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 36th OPEN for TEAM SG JUNG - JUPID from GERMANY, 37th OPEN for TEAM OHIO from GERMANY, 38th OPEN for ROGER BONNETT from BELGIUM, 39th OPEN for WILDCARD SYNDICATE from BELGIUM, 40th OPEN for MOUSIES DREAM SYNDICATE from BELGIUM and purchased by MAURICE O’DONNELL from IRELAND, 41st OPEN for BLUE SAVANA SYNDICATE from SLOVAKIA, 42nd OPEN for WILHELM STOLL from GERMANY, 43rd OPEN for TEAM GERMANY - MARIEN from GERMANY, 44th OPEN for AHSAN KHAN from UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 45th OPEN another for HERBERT BRESSER from GERMANY, who also won 14th OPEN in this same race, 46th OPEN for IVANA KODL from the CZECH REPUBLIC, 47th OPEN for LLOYD and KELLY from UNITED KINGDOM, this partnership also came 40th OPEN in the 2010/11 Final Race, 48th OPEN for JUERGEN STEFANISZYN from the GERMANY, 49th OPEN for KEVIN MALLEY from UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and then 50th OPEN for PARTNER SYNDICATE from AUSTRALIA. All these last twenty competitors won US$2,000 each (£1,667). It was interested to see that 6 different countries were represented in the top 10 and a total of 13 different countries represented in the top 50, which just goes to show that it really was a truly international race result.

As there was a total of 300 cash prizes on offer in this race that meant that pigeons from 51st right through to 300th OPEN would still win a good cash prize for making it home and a grand total of US$225,000 (approx. £150,000) was still to be won with 51st to 75th positions would all win US$2,000 (approx. £1,334 each), 76th to 100th OPEN positions would all win US$1,500 (approx. £1,000 each), 101st to 150th OPEN positions would all win US$1,250 (approx. £834 each), 151st to 250th OPEN positions would all win US$1,000 (approx. £667 each), plus 251st to 300th OPEN positions would all win US$500 (approx. £334 each), plus numerous other pools and nominations and I would just love to print the whole race result but of course space and time does not permit to publish all the gallant pigeons that were officially clocked, however if you want to see the full race result then please just log onto www.scmdpr.com and you can view every pigeon that was officially clocked in during this race. Another amazing fact was that from the 37 different countries that originally entered pigeons into the race only a few actually failed to get a pigeon in the top 300 cash prizes and most of these were countries with very small entries. All the 300 cash prizes were taken by 19-04 and a total of 381 pigeons had been officially clocked by 21-52 on the day.

When Sunday morning dawned the first pigeon clocked was an Belgium pigeon at 05-31-10 and the pigeons just fell out of the sky for most of the day and by 19-18 on Sunday evening a total of over 2,017 pigeons had actually been officially clocked, plus numerous Non-Activated pigeons. By nightfall on Monday a grand total of over 2,180 pigeons had been officially clocked and the general condition was excellent. Over the next few days quite a few more pigeons returned to the lofts in Sun City and before I left South Africa a total of 2,415 pigeons had been officially clocked. This total was made up 2,075 International pigeons, which included 184 United Kingdom and 28 Irish pigeons, plus 340 South African pigeons clocked. Quite a few more pigeons will of course home during the next few weeks which should take the total to just over 2,500 pigeons, which for a one loft race is an excellent result. As usual the loft staff will leave the Unikon Clocking System on and this will still record late arrivals. Of course numerous more updates will be available for all to see on the SCMDPR web site. Anybody wanting to study the Race Result in more depth can log onto www.scmdpr.com and hit the “RESULTS & LISTINGS” section and get all the information they require. One thing that I find quite amazing is that from the 166 pigeons that were Not-Activated prior to the race, a total of 130 of these had made it back to the lofts which is a 78.313% return rate. Of the Activated pigeons the return rate worked out at just over 67% of those sent to the race. Both these figures show the quality of the pigeons entered and I do not know of any other one loft race in the world that can proudly quote such a high return rate. WELL DONE TO THE RACE ORGANISERS FOR GIVING PIGEON FANCIERS ALL OVER THE WORLD A RACE IN WHICH ALL PIGEONS HAD AN EQUAL CHANCE TO MAKE IT BACK TO THE LOFTS IN SUN CITY. IT JUST GOES TO PROVE ONCE AGAIN THAT IF THE PIGEONS ARE GIVEN THE PROPER TRAINING THEY WILL DO THEIR LEVEL BEST TO MAKE IT BACK TO BASE CAMP WHICH OF COURSE IS THEIR HOME.

The team of auditors from E. COETZEE & KIE led by JAKKIE VAN NIEKERK are present at the lofts to make sure everything is done correctly and then after the pigeons have homed and had time to of had some food and of course a drink, the loft staff then catch them and basket them and then they are brought to the auditors to check the ring numbers but before this can be done the sticky plastic ring cover that is put on at the race marking to hide the identity of the country ring is removed so that they can read the ring number and confirm with the database this pigeon actually was basketed and competed in the Final Race plus of course they also make sure they are all carrying the auditors wing stamp that was put on when they were basketed in the Superbowl. At the same time this checking is being done the first 100 pigeons home have a new plastic numbered (1 to 100) ring put on their leg to state which position each pigeon had taken in the Final Race. This of course also helps early on Sunday morning when the pigeons have to be basketed again for the auction, all that happens then is you just look at the number on the plastic ring and that shows which auction pen it has to be put into, which of course saves a lot of valuable time. The auditors have to stay at the lofts until dark as every pigeon that make it home in the top 300 has to be checked against the database before any prize money is actually handed over to fanciers or entrants. Also CORNAY SMIT (ATTORNEY) places the first three pigeons home in the race in show pens with a paper base and early the next morning the droppings from each of these pigeons is collected and put into special glass files and then sent off for dope testing. ALL THIS IS DONE, SO THAT FANCIERS/COMPETITORS and ENTRANTS know that everything is above board with all aspects of this great race. WELL DONE LADS, YOU REALLY DO A GREAT JOB.

It was now time to attend the PRIZE PRESENTATION & DINNER in The Royal Ballroom at 20-00 and as I entered the room it looked stunning with a wonderful buffet set up on two sides. As soon as people were sitting down at their tables Zandy Meyer (Race Director) gave a short speech about the very tough race and stated that 381 pigeons had been officially clocked and he was sure many more would work back during Sunday and the next few days. It was now time to present the prizes and as Zandy Meyer read out the prize winners name the appropriate award was handed over by Joan-e Holt and the winners started to arrive at the stage to collect their awards. Starting off at tenth prize and working down to the actual race winner, all as listed above in the race result and all were applauded to the stage to get their awards, trophies and Gold Medals.

However, as we all know there is only one winner and today this was the TEAM RUHR - SCHINK from GERMANY with their great pigeon named RUBELLOS and owned and entered by this partnership were then called to the stage to collect the coveted Winners Jacket, Winners Trophy, Gold Medal and a massive cheque for US$200,000 (approx. £133,334), amidst tremendous applause. Unfortunately, these fanciers were not present so WILLI VAN BEERS the GERMAN RACE SHIPPER was called to the stage to collect all the prizes this great pigeon had won. Many fanciers were congratulating the all the winners as they returned to their tables, which is usual in an International Pigeon Race of this standing. Numerous other awards were also handed out to Joan-e Holt, Marion Branford, Andre van Wyk, Dave van der Merve, Corrie Naude, Michael Holt and Peiter Saayman for all their hard work and efforts throughout the 2011/12 race series. Also all the other Loft Staff were personally thanked for all their efforts throughout the year. Then Paul Smith who is the United Kingdom Race Team Shipper & International Race Co-ordinator was called to the stage and asked to present a “Special Award” to Zandy Meyer (Race Director) for all his hard work and effort he had put into this race since day one. This award was also greeted by tremendous applause. Then as soon as the presentation was finished the dancing started to a wonderful girl group and continued until midnight. The good news this year was that I did not have to go back to the lofts at midnight or have to worry about getting up bright and early on the Sunday morning because all the major cash prizes had been won on the day.

CONGRATULATIONS for taking 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 47th OPEN & US$2,500 Prize Money (approx. £1,667) and “FLYING THE FLAG” for the UNITED KINGDOM went to LLOYD and KELLY from DIDCOT with their good pigeon NED KELLY, which also picked up US$6,596 (approx. £4,398) Global Nomination and which was bred by Paul Kenny & Vendel Segesdy from Didcot and was actually clocked at 16-41-03.14, this same partnership also won 40th Open in the 15th SCMD Final Race, 2nd UK, 51st Open & US$2,000 (approx. £1,334) went to N+A EVANS and CUTHBERT from WOLVISTON with pigeon named BURNTOFT JAY, also winning US$646 (approx. £431) in the Global Nominations, these fanciers had another outstanding race series, also winning a Brand New Motor Car in Car Race Hot Spot 1 with their pigeon Burntoft Sydnee and US$1,000 Cash Prize, 3rd UK, 60th Open & US$2,000 (approx. £1,334) went to R + P MONTILA with pigeon named SOLITAIRE SUPER V bred by this partnership from Everton, Near Sandy, this pigeon also won US$646 (approx. £431), these fanciers also had a great race series and won a Brand New Motor Car in Car Race Hot Spot 2 and US$1,000 Cash Prize with this same pigeon, 4th UK, 72nd Open & US$2,000 (approx. £1,334) went to WOODHOUSE LOFTS with pigeon named WOODHOUSE SUPER POOPER bred by Nev Proctor from BROWN EDGE, Nev won 8th Open in the Final Race a few years ago winning a Gold Medal, 5th UK, 88th Open & US$1,500 (approx. £1,000) went to SYNDICATE LOFTS UK with pigeon named RED NECK bred by PETER FOX from BANGOR, who always flies a good pigeon in these races, he also won 6th Open in the Final Race a few years ago winning a Gold Medal, 6th UK, 123rd Open & US$1,250 (approx. £834) went to PORTER BROTHERS with pigeon named GEORGE which was bred by this partnership from LIVERPOOL, these guys also had a great pigeon named Liverpool Lass a few years ago that won 3 x 1st UK in the race series, 7th UK, 145th Open & $1,250 (approx. £834) went to MANCHESTER MAESTROS with pigeon named SPANISH IDENTITY, which also won US$2,550 (approx. £1,700) Global Nomination, this pigeon is also the nestmate to PLUTOLOGY and both bred by CREHAN & O’CONNOR from MANCHESTER, what can one say about this partnership during this race series, I can only think of one word EXCEPTIONAL, they have won about US$25,000 (approx. £17,000) in Nomination Money, Car Race Hot Spots Cash Prizes and now well up in the Final Race, plus PLUTOLOGY sold for a vast amount of money when it was auctioned in South Africa after the race, see further down for details about this fantastic pigeon, 8th UK, 147th Open & US$1,250 (approx. £834) went to PACKER and CLARKE from GRAYS with pigeon named HANKS DESTINY, this partnership also had a reasonable race series, 9th UK, 159th Open & US$1,000 (approx. £667) went to SMITH-McALLISTER SYNDICATE, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET and with pigeon named SUPERSONIC bred by BRUCE McALLISTER from FURNEAUX PELHAM, who usually manages to get a good pigeon in the Final Race, 10th UK, 169th Open & US$1,000 (approx. £667) went to CARLOS DREAM SYNDICATE, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with pigeon named CARLOS DREAM and bred by JOS REILLY from DUBLIN, this pigeon was bred specially for this syndicate as a tribute to the late Carlo Napolitano who was The Loft Manager to Her Majesty The Queen, who unfortunately died in early May 2011. Pigeons similarly bred to this great pigeon have now successfully flown the Final Race four times in the past few years. Thanks again Jos for breeding such a superb pigeon for this great cause, 11th UK, 195th Open & US$1,000 (approx. £667) went to PREMIER STUD UK SYNDICATE, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET and with a pigeon named PREMIER DIAMOND bred by PREMIER STUD from PATRINGHAM HAVEN, this great pigeon flew exceptionally well in this race series and won 21st Open in Car Race Hot Spot 1 and won US$1,000 Cash Prize, then 10th Open in Car Race Hot Spot 5 and US$1,000 Cash Prize, plus US$1,000 Country Challenge Cash Prize, the 195th Open in the Final Race and yet another US$1,000 Cash Prize, 12th UK, 199th Open & US$1,000 (approx. £667) another for SYNDICATE LOFTS UK with pigeon named PIPER again bred by PETER FOX from BANGOR, as mentioned above Peter always exceeds in these races and won a Gold Medal a few years ago for 6th Open, 13th UK, 204th Open & US$500 (approx. £334) another for LLOYD and KELLY with pigeon named SUN PRINCESS and once again bred by EAMON KELLY from DIDCOT, who had a great race this year to add to his pigeon won 40th Open on the day last year when only about 50 made it on the day, 14th UK, 205th Open & US$500 (approx. £334) went to THE LIVER BIRDS from LIVERPOOL with pigeon named DREAM ON, bred by J + L. DAVISON, Lee and Lindsey were present in Sun City to watch their pigeon arrive which had been flying really well in the run up to this Final Race, 15th UK, 240th Open & US$500 (approx. £334) another for N+A EVANS from WOLVISTON, with pigeon named BURNTOFT EMERALD, who as mentioned above have had a really great race series, 16th UK, 263rd Open & US$500 (approx. £334) for D. GRUZELIER with pigeon named MUNKIN, 17th UK, 272nd Open & US$500 (approx. £334) another for PACKER and CLARKE from GRAYS with pigeon named GRANDE CANYON and bred by this partnership, who had a really good race series with their team of pigeons, 18th UK, 275th Open & US$500 (approx. £334) went to BRAMMER and NASHER with pigeon named MEFUKA and bred by FRANK BRAMMER from GLOUCESTER, who had also had pigeons to score quite a few positions in this race series, 19th & 20th UK, 281st & 296th Open & US$500 (approx. £334) each went to PIGEONS and BOXING with two pigeons named EVERTON and LILY AND PAUL and which were both bred by PAUL SMITH from ORMSKIRK, who is currently a Commonwealth Boxing Champion, who had four of his six entries still left in the race and got all four home which in itself is a remarkable achievement,
21st UK, 308th Open went to GLEN-SENSERS with pigeon named GLEN SENSER THREE, which was bred by Les Berry & Son from Leicester, 22nd UK, 313th Open went to KEN DARLINGTON from BARRY with pigeon named SUPREME ROYAL, this pigeon ended up 1st UK, 4th Open in the Sun City Overall Averages for the 28 race series and also picked up some Country Nomination Cash in the Final Race,
23rd UK, 316th Open went to FINGHALL LOFTS with a pigeon named FINGHALL YOUNG CHARITY and entered by KEITH THOMPSON from DONCASTER, which I believe was purchased by Keith at a charity sale, hence the name for this pigeon, 24th UK, 320th Open went to G and K JONES from AYLESBURY with their pigeon named AYLESBURY LASS, which had also flown well during this race series, they entered 3 pigeons and got two to the Final Race and both were clocked. A total of 184 United Kingdom pigeons returned home from the Final Race.

THIS WAS CERTAINLY ANOTHER OUTSTANDING UNITED KINGDOM TEAM RESULT AS WE ACTUALLY HAD 20 PIGEONS CLOCKED IN THE TOP 300 AND 24 CLOCKED ON THE DAY OUT OF 381 PIGEONS. THIS ONCE AGAIN SHOWS THAT NUMBERS DO COUNT AND OUR RECORD ENTRY OF 657 PIGEONS FROM SOME OF THE TOP FANCIERS AND LOFTS IN THE COUNTRY JUST ONCE AGAIN GOES TO PROVE THAT THE PIGEONS BRED IN THIS COUNTRY WILL PERFORM WELL AGAINST THE BEST IN THE WORLD TODAY.

WELL DONE to all the other members of the UNITED KINGDOM TEAM that got pigeons home on the Sunday and also during the next few days and whilst I would like to mention all of you in this International Press Release, space unfortunately does not permit me to do so. Anybody wanting to view the full list just has to log onto www.scmdpr.com and hit the Results & Listings button on the left hand side of the home page, then enter United Kingdom and hit the GO button, all the results will come up in front of you in order of how they were officially clocked.

CONGRATULATIONS for taking 1st IRELAND, 31st OPEN & US$2,500 Prize Money (approx. £1,667) and
“FLYING THE FLAG” for IRELAND went to PHILIP + MARK SMITH with their good pigeon named GAELIC GOLD, which was clocked at 16-33-05.98. 2nd Ireland, 110th Open for MAURICE O’DONNELL with his great pigeon named PANACKY PEET, which won US$1,250 (approx. £834), this pigeon flew its socks off and performances are mentioned below, 3rd Ireland, 131st Open went to GERY DALY – BEAUMONT BIRDS with pigeon named RYAN AIR 1, which won $1,250 (approx. £834), 4th Ireland, 444th Open another for MAURICE O’DONNELL with pigeon named PHARLAP, 5th Ireland, 636th Open for PHILIP & MARK SMITH with pigeon named SILVER WINGS which flew very consistently throughout the whole race series led the Irish Team Sun City Overall Averages for a few weeks in the race series and then 6th & 7th Ireland, 670th & 674th Open two more pigeons for MAURICE O’DONNELL with NISHOS RETURN and SUPERSTAR DJ. WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU, IT WAS GREAT TO SEE THE IRISH FLAG COMING UP ON THE RESULTS. I would just like to say that MAURICE O’DONNELL travelled out to Sun City and really did have a fantastic time catching the sun, after day one he looked like a burnt lobster but on day two looked even worse (that will teach you to sit in the South African sun for to long). Maurice actually had a fantastic 2011/12 race series and actually won the Cascade Challenge and some Nomination Money, he also won 8 times 1st, 7 times 2nd, 5 times 3rd and 8 times 4th in the Irish Team, plus 1st, 11th, 13th, 56th, 61st, 62nd, 64th and 81st in earlier races in this race series, with his outstanding pigeon PANACKY PEET winning six of these top prizes and 5 times 1st IRELAND, plus a 1st OPEN and also won 1st COUNTRY PRIZE OF US$1,000 (approx. £667) in CAR RACE HOT SPOT 5. Maurice asked me to pass on his gratitude to all the United Kingdom fanciers that travelled out for the race because all of them made him feel part of the party. WELL DONE MATE ON A FANTASTIC RACE SERIES. A total of 28 Irish pigeons made it home from the Final Race.