Farming Life - Wednesday 13/03/13
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:14 am
Ian Gibb & Sons - Part (2)
The Results that where to contribute to the accolade of the NIPA Section D Fancier of the Year are as follows first thing to take into consideration was the terrible weather in the lead up to the first race, I recall one of the worst in recent years, 1st Race from Tullamore the loft finished 4th, 5th & 10th Club; 2nd Tullamore flown on the 19th of April the loft was to finish 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th Club finishing 42nd Section D; Roscrea followed on the 23rd of April with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th & 9th Club finishing 9th, 10th, 11th, 17th, 19th, 20th and 28th Section D NIPA with NIPA Open positions as follows 44th, 46th, 51st, 79th, 82nd, 83rd and 119th. Race 4 from Clonmel seen the loft finish 2nd & 3rd Club finishing 6th & 9th NPA Section D; prior to Roscarbery the loft sent to Fermoy having previously topped the NIPA from the same race point but like any other loft they met with disappointment (a true example of how hard it is to stay at the top week in week out) the loft was to finish 5th Club from Roscarbery the loft recovered finishing 1st, 5th & 9th Club followed by 11th Section D and 32nd, 196th and 261st Open NIPA which just proves the calibre of fancier coming back from a bad week to the next winning the Club; such was the disappointment from Fermoy this inspired them further for the week following Roscarbery the O/Birds where in Roscrea and what a team performance finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Club in the Section 1st, 8th, 21st, 23rd, 32nd, 36th and 41st with the NIPA Open positions as follows 17th, 44th, 100th, 102nd, 128th, 141st and 163rd. Back to Fermoy and on a day which proved difficult the loft was to finish 1st Club; Pilmore Beach was next up for the loft and they duly obliged finishing 16th NIPA Section D and 112th Open NIPA; the Nationals where next up with the loft competing with the INFC from Skibbereen where they where to finish 65th North Section; followed during the week by the Yearling Roscarbery Nationals for the NIPA where the Gibb loft was to finish 11th & 15th Section and 33rd and 51st Open. The cross water event with the first of these Talbenny in South Wales where to follow and the loft finished 44th NIPA Section D; back to Fermoy for one of my favourite races of the year the 5 Bird the loft had an excellent arrival finishing 13th Section and 38th Open NIPA which was a fantastic performance considering each loft can only nominate 5 pigeons to finish 38th best out of all the fanciers in the NIPA on the day that it was, some achievement! Penzance followed and the Gibb loft timed there good two year ’97’ finishing 30th Section and 156th Open NIPA. The Young bird season was the next thing on the agenda for the Gibb lofts with Tullamore the first race point to test the youngsters on the 23rd of July the loft was to finish very well topping the Glenavy Club and finishing 6th, 15th, 27th & 45th NIPA Section D in the over-all Open result the loft finished 82nd, 143rd and 167th. A return to Tullamore followed the next week where the loft was yet again to top the stong and competitive Glenavy & District HPS finishing 16th & 19th Section D; from Roscrea the loft had a good card finishing 3rd Club and 14th, 21st, 34th, 42nd, 44th and 45th NIPA Section D finishing 77th and 105th Open NIPA; With form starting to show in a number of Sections Roscrea was to follow for a second week on Saturday 13th August the Gibb loft had a result to remember birds everywhere to say the least the loft finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th & 11th Club, in the NIPA Section D result with some 3,000 pigeons competing 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 28th, 39th & 50th thought that was good the Open result looked like this 2nd, 3rd, 13th, 57th, 59th, 63rd, 66th, 106th and 137th NIPA; One of the hardest things in pigeon racing and many will know nothing will let you down quicker especially when you think things are right and send with confidence so when a loft does it week in week out just not in the Club but NIPA Section I take my hat of to you, Clonmel was next on the 20th August and another super team performance 1st, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th & 14th Club, finishing 1st, 4th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 40th and 43rd Section amazingly for the second week running the loft was to finish 2nd Open having twice topped the NIPA Open in Y/Birds the Year before they near completed the same fate in 2011, to complete the Open positions from Clonmel 2nd, 5th, 55th, 59th, 65th, 80th, 94th, 102nd and 116th . Back to Fermoy the following week for the Gibb lofts and once again yet another 1st Club followed up by 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th finishing 14th, 39th, 41st, 43rd and 45th Section D NIPA finishing 65th, 142nd, 147th, 154th and 157th Open NIPA. A return to Tullamore was to follow the first weekend of September with the Gibb loft finishing 42nd and 52nd Section D and 82nd and 100th Open NIPA; a welcome return to Fermoy was next on the racing calendar and especially the 5 Bird event once again this time with the youngsters and if you thought the O/bird performance was good against the rest of the country have a look at this performance 2nd, 3rd and 4th Section D NIPA followed up by an incredible 6th, 8th and 11th Open NIPA one of the top results I would have to say of the racing campaign to select 5 pigeons from your team as does every loft participating in the 5 Bird event throughout the whole of the NIPA and you end up with three over-all Open positions like that with 5 pigeons you have every right to be smiling like the cat that got the cream. In the over-all NIPA Fermoy Race the loft was to finish 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 24th, 30th, 31st, 32nd and 38th Section D finishing 6th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 37th, 38th, 39th, 75th 105th, 110th, 111th and 136th Open NIPA. The Y/bird National events where next up and like many lofts the pigeons are starting to fall to bits so selection is limited from Roscarbery the loft was to finish 25th Section and 144th Open NIPA with the Irish National Flying Club from Penzance the loft was to finish 114th Section and 149th Open and finally from the INFC Skibbereen Y/Bird National a couple of positions where gained in the North Section result namely 38th and 83rd finishing 154th Over-all. I would have to say what a year and no wonder the loft was crowned NIPA Section D Fanciers of the Year, without doubt truly well deserved.
Now as I previously wrote in the past my admiration in pigeon racing goes just not to the fanciers who can keep it going week in week out but more importantly in my opinion the fancier who can produce the O/Birds to perform at the highest level week in week out have my vote without question the harder of the over-all package to keep on performing. Just take note of the O/Bird performances this year from Tullamore on the 14th April 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 6th Club finishing 18th, 23rd, 24th, 29th and 45th Section D against 2,122 pigeons in the over-all Open 97th, 109th, 114th and 129th against 16,200 pigeons; Tullamore was to be the race point for the second race and a harder affair it turned out to be with the loft retaining 1st and 2nd Club finishing 34th and 45th NIPA Section D against a larger birdage of 2,805 pigeons; Roscrea was to follow a race point which has proved successful to the Gibb loft over recent seasons and this was to be equally as good with the loft recording 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Club finishing 1st, 11th, 33rd and 35th Section D against 3,300 pigeons in the over-all NIPA Open result the loft finished 6th and 103rd Open with 27017 pigeons competing and when you see the difference in positions gained in the Open with 1st and 2nd Club and 1st and 11th Section D you can see how far the winner was in front for the Gibb loft to record 6th Open with over 27,000 pigeons competing. The pigeon in question finished 5th Club and 29th Section D and 129th Open NIPA against 16,200 pigeons a fortnight earlier for the loft this a G/Child of a pigeon named “Golden Ace” (The Dawn of a Golden Era) just wetting your appetite at the minute!! Next to follow on the 5th of May was Clonmel once again an outstanding Club performance winning 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th and 8th finishing 4th, 7th, 9th, 15th, 19th and 23rd NIPA Section D against 3,677 pigeons in the over all NIPA Open result with some 28,688 pigeons competing the loft finished 13th, 29th, 31st, 43rd, 62nd and 95th Open NIPA. Back to Fermoy on the 12th of May and yet again the pigeons didn’t disappoint the loft recorded 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th Club finishing 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 30th and 44th NIPA Section D with 3,700 + pigeons competing now in the NIPA Open very similar to the week previous this time winning 14th, 18th, 24th, 25th, 29th, 33rd, 82nd 112th Open with over 28,000 pigeon competing once again. When completing loft profiles like this the facts are there for all to see you don’t need to bum and blow simply the results say it all, what I will add is the racing lofts of Ian Gibb & Sons are situated in an area that I would without any hesitation call unfavourable and without doubt his racing ability with his team of pigeons of course assisted by son Peter are catching the attention of the many greats who have dominated NIPA Open Racing for years within Northern Ireland with many admitting what he is achieving at his address, indeed I have heard many asking what time this one is at and that one is at and then you hear the name of Gibb what time is he when your mentioned among the elite you have achieved perfection in my opinion. Back to the racing results in the O/Birds this year, following the excellent result from Clonmel. Roscarbery was to follow once again the loft topped the Club followed by 2nd, 5th and 8th , in the Section result the early arrivals finished 6th, 10th and 37th with Open positions achieved by these 34th, 51st, 270th and 318th Open against 6,175 pigeons; back to Roscrea for the 2nd time on the 20th May with the loft recording a 3rd Club and numerous others following it through the trap, in the NIPA Section D result the loft finished 13th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 26th and 27th against 2,000+ pigeons. Onto Clonmel for the 2nd time also and once again the loft returned to the top of the leader board at Club level recording a top three finish with the top three finishing 6th, 33rd and 44th Section D NIPA with some 2,900+ pigeons competing. Now the pigeon that topped the Club for the Gibb boys finishing 6th Section in this race also finished 1st Club, 4th Section 3,677 pigeons and 13th Open NIPA Clonmel against 28,688 pigeons on top of that as a Y/B this Blue Cheq Cock as a youngster finished 5th Club, 41st Section and 147th Open Fermoy, 26,000+ pigeons on this occasion beaten to first Club by loft mates. The first cross channel event of the season as per normal was Talbenny and once again the loft struck finishing 42nd Section D NIPA with just short of 1,800 pigeons competing, this pigeon in question finished well from Roscrea for the loft in 2011 ending up 2nd Club beaten by loft mate finishing 10th Section D and 46th Open NIPA with some 25,000 pigeons competing also this year a fortnight before Talbenny this one finished once again well from Roscrea recording 26th Section D NIPA. Next up in the racing calendar was the Roscarbery Yearling cocks National flown on the 6th of June first pigeon home was a Belg recruit 11/192 finishing 6th Section and 21st Open 1,548 pigeons competing, now this same pigeon was sent to the Roscarbery Y/Bird National in 2011 recording 25th Section and 144th Open NIPA and this ones racing for 2012 wasn’t over as it was sent to the INFC Yearling National where it returned to finish 4th Club, 115th North Section and 177th Open Over-all. Prior to the Yearling National the Gibb loft competed in a couple of races flown on the same day namely Talbenny and Fermoy on the 9th of June from Talbenny the loft was to finish 27th, 37th and 40th Section D on what proved to be a difficult race if memory serves me right. From Fermoy on the same day a very solid team performance finishing 1st Club, also 8th, 12th, 31st, 32nd, 35th and 37th Section D and the over-all NIPA Open positions where as follows 11th, 20th, 91st, 92nd, 107th and 110th. I must also note that the Yearling National with the INFC seen the Gibb loft top the Club with 11/044 recording 28th North Section and 55th Open in the over-all result this same pigeon finished 149th Open last year in the Penzance Y/Bird National INFC and all being well with go in 2013 for the Triple Crown. Just looking through the results another performer I pick out is 10/127 winner of 13th Section D and 38th Open Fermoy 5 Bird as a yearling, this after winning 11th Section and 33rd Open Roscarbery Cocks Yearling National NIPA, from Clonmel in 2012 this same pigeon finished 7th Club, 19th Section D 3,677 pigeons and 62nd Open 28,000+ pigeons the following week 5th Club, 12th Section D 3,707 pigeons and 25th Open against 25,000+ pigeons yet again and from Fermoy on the 9th of June 31st Section D and 91st Open NIPA again big birdage !!!! Back to the week to week and next up was Bude on the 17th of June and yet again the Gibb loft finished 1st & 3rd Club 4th and 16th Section D and over-all in the NIPA Open 39th and 105th 4,489 pigeons; a come back race was flown on the same day from Fermoy and the loft was to top the Club also from this event finishing 21st Section D and 133rd Open. Penzance was next up in the cross channel programme with the loft finishing 4th Club, 23rd Section D and 163rd Open. France was next up and the race point St.Malo this the final race of the 2012 O/Bird season for the loft and they finished an impressive 2nd Club 17th Section D and 146th Open. The Y/Bird season was to follow and as per the norm for the last few years the first race of the season seen the pigeons go to Tullamore the Gibb loft where to complete the same fate as the first Y/Bird race of 2011 by winning the Club also finishing 2nd & 4th in the over-all Open the positions had improved from 2011 and with some 7,500 pigeons competing the loft finished 36th, 59th and 148th. Tullamore was to remain the preferred destination for the NIPA for a further two weeks and the Gibb loft was to excel once again topping the Club yet again in the two occasions finishing exceptionally well in the NIPA Open result on the 28th of July with the following positions 22nd, 23rd, 34th, 35th and 36th. Next up after a treble of Tullamores was Roscrea and yet again the pigeons didn’t fail there owner finishing 1st, 3rd and 4th Club, also NIPA Section D Success finishing 1st, 19th and 37th with just short of 3,000 pigeons competing in the over-all NIPA Open result on a day that for sure didn’t suit the loft location of the Gibb boys the Section winner for them was to finish 10th Open with 25,000+ pigeons competing, a super pigeon on the day. To Clonmel the following week and a 1st and 2nd Club for Ian Gibb & Sons finishing 17th and 19th Section D and 90th and 93rd Open NIPA 22,147 pigeons competing. Fermoy was next up on the 26th of August the loft continued its rich vein of form scoring 1st Club yet again also finishing 8th, 12th and 43rd NIPA Section D 2,25 pigeons competing in the over-all NIPA a finish of 17th, 28th and 140th with just short of 18,000 pigeons competing. Talbenny for the youngsters proved a stern test yet again another Club 1st for I Gibb & Sons finishing 15th Section D and 156th Open Talbenny Y/Bird National; on the same day as Talbenny the NIPA organised a race from Tullamore which was very well supported yet again 1st Club with a host to back it up for the Gibb loft they finished 1st, 2nd, 4th, 28th, 36th, 38th and 42nd Section D and 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 30th, 43rd, 47th and 54th Open NIPA with 9,167 pigeons competing. Fermoy on the 8th of September seen yet again 1st Club a finish of 15th Section D and 48th Open NIPA with 11,404 pigeons competing.
Now as many will know to achieve that level of success and especially week in week out takes an awesome amount of work and I set about asking Ian just what was involved in the day to day running of the racing loft/stud. Firstly Ian says you need the room especially for racing to have different sections doing things at different times, so as when one team has peaked you have another ready to take over, this very much the same approach with the youngsters. In total the Gibb loft would have around 150 O/Bird racers spread over 9 x sections with a mixture of widowhood, round-about and natural this to enable different types of racing, distance etc.
(To be continued).
Single Bird Challenge 2013 –
Although we do not at the present time know the venue for the Kings Cup the Blue Riband Grand National race for members of the INFC the deadline for entries to the Single Bird challenge is getting very close. One bird per loft is the Free Nomination and the entry details must be returned to David Black challenge co-ordinator on or before 17th March 2013 at 11 Drumiller Hill, Dromore, County Down BT25 1EP. The life ring of the bird must be registered to the member entering the pigeon and the loft location as on the entry form. The Joe Doheny Trophy is awarded to the winner and 1st, 2nd & 3rd will be presented with Framed Diplomas kindly sponsored by Sawyers & Co Estate Agents Banbridge and Dromore. The Guaranteed prize fund is sponsored by the INFC this will be published in the Race Entry Booklet. Last season £2,000 was paid out and the winners were 1st W G Neill Annaghmore, 2nd C & G Quinn Milltown & District and 3rd F & J Crowe Gorey RPC.
Mid Antrim Combine – AGM Wednesday 13th March
The AGM for the Mid Antrim Combine will be held in the Harryville HPS Clubrooms at Antrim Road Ballymena on Wednesday 13th March at 8.00pm. Two Delegates from each member club to vote on proposals. Agenda to include - 1. Minutes of previous AGM, 2. Passing of Accounts, 3. Correspondence, 4. Any other Business 2012, 5. Meeting to follow AGM.
The Results that where to contribute to the accolade of the NIPA Section D Fancier of the Year are as follows first thing to take into consideration was the terrible weather in the lead up to the first race, I recall one of the worst in recent years, 1st Race from Tullamore the loft finished 4th, 5th & 10th Club; 2nd Tullamore flown on the 19th of April the loft was to finish 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th Club finishing 42nd Section D; Roscrea followed on the 23rd of April with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th & 9th Club finishing 9th, 10th, 11th, 17th, 19th, 20th and 28th Section D NIPA with NIPA Open positions as follows 44th, 46th, 51st, 79th, 82nd, 83rd and 119th. Race 4 from Clonmel seen the loft finish 2nd & 3rd Club finishing 6th & 9th NPA Section D; prior to Roscarbery the loft sent to Fermoy having previously topped the NIPA from the same race point but like any other loft they met with disappointment (a true example of how hard it is to stay at the top week in week out) the loft was to finish 5th Club from Roscarbery the loft recovered finishing 1st, 5th & 9th Club followed by 11th Section D and 32nd, 196th and 261st Open NIPA which just proves the calibre of fancier coming back from a bad week to the next winning the Club; such was the disappointment from Fermoy this inspired them further for the week following Roscarbery the O/Birds where in Roscrea and what a team performance finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Club in the Section 1st, 8th, 21st, 23rd, 32nd, 36th and 41st with the NIPA Open positions as follows 17th, 44th, 100th, 102nd, 128th, 141st and 163rd. Back to Fermoy and on a day which proved difficult the loft was to finish 1st Club; Pilmore Beach was next up for the loft and they duly obliged finishing 16th NIPA Section D and 112th Open NIPA; the Nationals where next up with the loft competing with the INFC from Skibbereen where they where to finish 65th North Section; followed during the week by the Yearling Roscarbery Nationals for the NIPA where the Gibb loft was to finish 11th & 15th Section and 33rd and 51st Open. The cross water event with the first of these Talbenny in South Wales where to follow and the loft finished 44th NIPA Section D; back to Fermoy for one of my favourite races of the year the 5 Bird the loft had an excellent arrival finishing 13th Section and 38th Open NIPA which was a fantastic performance considering each loft can only nominate 5 pigeons to finish 38th best out of all the fanciers in the NIPA on the day that it was, some achievement! Penzance followed and the Gibb loft timed there good two year ’97’ finishing 30th Section and 156th Open NIPA. The Young bird season was the next thing on the agenda for the Gibb lofts with Tullamore the first race point to test the youngsters on the 23rd of July the loft was to finish very well topping the Glenavy Club and finishing 6th, 15th, 27th & 45th NIPA Section D in the over-all Open result the loft finished 82nd, 143rd and 167th. A return to Tullamore followed the next week where the loft was yet again to top the stong and competitive Glenavy & District HPS finishing 16th & 19th Section D; from Roscrea the loft had a good card finishing 3rd Club and 14th, 21st, 34th, 42nd, 44th and 45th NIPA Section D finishing 77th and 105th Open NIPA; With form starting to show in a number of Sections Roscrea was to follow for a second week on Saturday 13th August the Gibb loft had a result to remember birds everywhere to say the least the loft finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th & 11th Club, in the NIPA Section D result with some 3,000 pigeons competing 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 28th, 39th & 50th thought that was good the Open result looked like this 2nd, 3rd, 13th, 57th, 59th, 63rd, 66th, 106th and 137th NIPA; One of the hardest things in pigeon racing and many will know nothing will let you down quicker especially when you think things are right and send with confidence so when a loft does it week in week out just not in the Club but NIPA Section I take my hat of to you, Clonmel was next on the 20th August and another super team performance 1st, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th & 14th Club, finishing 1st, 4th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 40th and 43rd Section amazingly for the second week running the loft was to finish 2nd Open having twice topped the NIPA Open in Y/Birds the Year before they near completed the same fate in 2011, to complete the Open positions from Clonmel 2nd, 5th, 55th, 59th, 65th, 80th, 94th, 102nd and 116th . Back to Fermoy the following week for the Gibb lofts and once again yet another 1st Club followed up by 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th finishing 14th, 39th, 41st, 43rd and 45th Section D NIPA finishing 65th, 142nd, 147th, 154th and 157th Open NIPA. A return to Tullamore was to follow the first weekend of September with the Gibb loft finishing 42nd and 52nd Section D and 82nd and 100th Open NIPA; a welcome return to Fermoy was next on the racing calendar and especially the 5 Bird event once again this time with the youngsters and if you thought the O/bird performance was good against the rest of the country have a look at this performance 2nd, 3rd and 4th Section D NIPA followed up by an incredible 6th, 8th and 11th Open NIPA one of the top results I would have to say of the racing campaign to select 5 pigeons from your team as does every loft participating in the 5 Bird event throughout the whole of the NIPA and you end up with three over-all Open positions like that with 5 pigeons you have every right to be smiling like the cat that got the cream. In the over-all NIPA Fermoy Race the loft was to finish 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 24th, 30th, 31st, 32nd and 38th Section D finishing 6th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 37th, 38th, 39th, 75th 105th, 110th, 111th and 136th Open NIPA. The Y/bird National events where next up and like many lofts the pigeons are starting to fall to bits so selection is limited from Roscarbery the loft was to finish 25th Section and 144th Open NIPA with the Irish National Flying Club from Penzance the loft was to finish 114th Section and 149th Open and finally from the INFC Skibbereen Y/Bird National a couple of positions where gained in the North Section result namely 38th and 83rd finishing 154th Over-all. I would have to say what a year and no wonder the loft was crowned NIPA Section D Fanciers of the Year, without doubt truly well deserved.
Now as I previously wrote in the past my admiration in pigeon racing goes just not to the fanciers who can keep it going week in week out but more importantly in my opinion the fancier who can produce the O/Birds to perform at the highest level week in week out have my vote without question the harder of the over-all package to keep on performing. Just take note of the O/Bird performances this year from Tullamore on the 14th April 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 6th Club finishing 18th, 23rd, 24th, 29th and 45th Section D against 2,122 pigeons in the over-all Open 97th, 109th, 114th and 129th against 16,200 pigeons; Tullamore was to be the race point for the second race and a harder affair it turned out to be with the loft retaining 1st and 2nd Club finishing 34th and 45th NIPA Section D against a larger birdage of 2,805 pigeons; Roscrea was to follow a race point which has proved successful to the Gibb loft over recent seasons and this was to be equally as good with the loft recording 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Club finishing 1st, 11th, 33rd and 35th Section D against 3,300 pigeons in the over-all NIPA Open result the loft finished 6th and 103rd Open with 27017 pigeons competing and when you see the difference in positions gained in the Open with 1st and 2nd Club and 1st and 11th Section D you can see how far the winner was in front for the Gibb loft to record 6th Open with over 27,000 pigeons competing. The pigeon in question finished 5th Club and 29th Section D and 129th Open NIPA against 16,200 pigeons a fortnight earlier for the loft this a G/Child of a pigeon named “Golden Ace” (The Dawn of a Golden Era) just wetting your appetite at the minute!! Next to follow on the 5th of May was Clonmel once again an outstanding Club performance winning 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th and 8th finishing 4th, 7th, 9th, 15th, 19th and 23rd NIPA Section D against 3,677 pigeons in the over all NIPA Open result with some 28,688 pigeons competing the loft finished 13th, 29th, 31st, 43rd, 62nd and 95th Open NIPA. Back to Fermoy on the 12th of May and yet again the pigeons didn’t disappoint the loft recorded 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th Club finishing 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 30th and 44th NIPA Section D with 3,700 + pigeons competing now in the NIPA Open very similar to the week previous this time winning 14th, 18th, 24th, 25th, 29th, 33rd, 82nd 112th Open with over 28,000 pigeon competing once again. When completing loft profiles like this the facts are there for all to see you don’t need to bum and blow simply the results say it all, what I will add is the racing lofts of Ian Gibb & Sons are situated in an area that I would without any hesitation call unfavourable and without doubt his racing ability with his team of pigeons of course assisted by son Peter are catching the attention of the many greats who have dominated NIPA Open Racing for years within Northern Ireland with many admitting what he is achieving at his address, indeed I have heard many asking what time this one is at and that one is at and then you hear the name of Gibb what time is he when your mentioned among the elite you have achieved perfection in my opinion. Back to the racing results in the O/Birds this year, following the excellent result from Clonmel. Roscarbery was to follow once again the loft topped the Club followed by 2nd, 5th and 8th , in the Section result the early arrivals finished 6th, 10th and 37th with Open positions achieved by these 34th, 51st, 270th and 318th Open against 6,175 pigeons; back to Roscrea for the 2nd time on the 20th May with the loft recording a 3rd Club and numerous others following it through the trap, in the NIPA Section D result the loft finished 13th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 26th and 27th against 2,000+ pigeons. Onto Clonmel for the 2nd time also and once again the loft returned to the top of the leader board at Club level recording a top three finish with the top three finishing 6th, 33rd and 44th Section D NIPA with some 2,900+ pigeons competing. Now the pigeon that topped the Club for the Gibb boys finishing 6th Section in this race also finished 1st Club, 4th Section 3,677 pigeons and 13th Open NIPA Clonmel against 28,688 pigeons on top of that as a Y/B this Blue Cheq Cock as a youngster finished 5th Club, 41st Section and 147th Open Fermoy, 26,000+ pigeons on this occasion beaten to first Club by loft mates. The first cross channel event of the season as per normal was Talbenny and once again the loft struck finishing 42nd Section D NIPA with just short of 1,800 pigeons competing, this pigeon in question finished well from Roscrea for the loft in 2011 ending up 2nd Club beaten by loft mate finishing 10th Section D and 46th Open NIPA with some 25,000 pigeons competing also this year a fortnight before Talbenny this one finished once again well from Roscrea recording 26th Section D NIPA. Next up in the racing calendar was the Roscarbery Yearling cocks National flown on the 6th of June first pigeon home was a Belg recruit 11/192 finishing 6th Section and 21st Open 1,548 pigeons competing, now this same pigeon was sent to the Roscarbery Y/Bird National in 2011 recording 25th Section and 144th Open NIPA and this ones racing for 2012 wasn’t over as it was sent to the INFC Yearling National where it returned to finish 4th Club, 115th North Section and 177th Open Over-all. Prior to the Yearling National the Gibb loft competed in a couple of races flown on the same day namely Talbenny and Fermoy on the 9th of June from Talbenny the loft was to finish 27th, 37th and 40th Section D on what proved to be a difficult race if memory serves me right. From Fermoy on the same day a very solid team performance finishing 1st Club, also 8th, 12th, 31st, 32nd, 35th and 37th Section D and the over-all NIPA Open positions where as follows 11th, 20th, 91st, 92nd, 107th and 110th. I must also note that the Yearling National with the INFC seen the Gibb loft top the Club with 11/044 recording 28th North Section and 55th Open in the over-all result this same pigeon finished 149th Open last year in the Penzance Y/Bird National INFC and all being well with go in 2013 for the Triple Crown. Just looking through the results another performer I pick out is 10/127 winner of 13th Section D and 38th Open Fermoy 5 Bird as a yearling, this after winning 11th Section and 33rd Open Roscarbery Cocks Yearling National NIPA, from Clonmel in 2012 this same pigeon finished 7th Club, 19th Section D 3,677 pigeons and 62nd Open 28,000+ pigeons the following week 5th Club, 12th Section D 3,707 pigeons and 25th Open against 25,000+ pigeons yet again and from Fermoy on the 9th of June 31st Section D and 91st Open NIPA again big birdage !!!! Back to the week to week and next up was Bude on the 17th of June and yet again the Gibb loft finished 1st & 3rd Club 4th and 16th Section D and over-all in the NIPA Open 39th and 105th 4,489 pigeons; a come back race was flown on the same day from Fermoy and the loft was to top the Club also from this event finishing 21st Section D and 133rd Open. Penzance was next up in the cross channel programme with the loft finishing 4th Club, 23rd Section D and 163rd Open. France was next up and the race point St.Malo this the final race of the 2012 O/Bird season for the loft and they finished an impressive 2nd Club 17th Section D and 146th Open. The Y/Bird season was to follow and as per the norm for the last few years the first race of the season seen the pigeons go to Tullamore the Gibb loft where to complete the same fate as the first Y/Bird race of 2011 by winning the Club also finishing 2nd & 4th in the over-all Open the positions had improved from 2011 and with some 7,500 pigeons competing the loft finished 36th, 59th and 148th. Tullamore was to remain the preferred destination for the NIPA for a further two weeks and the Gibb loft was to excel once again topping the Club yet again in the two occasions finishing exceptionally well in the NIPA Open result on the 28th of July with the following positions 22nd, 23rd, 34th, 35th and 36th. Next up after a treble of Tullamores was Roscrea and yet again the pigeons didn’t fail there owner finishing 1st, 3rd and 4th Club, also NIPA Section D Success finishing 1st, 19th and 37th with just short of 3,000 pigeons competing in the over-all NIPA Open result on a day that for sure didn’t suit the loft location of the Gibb boys the Section winner for them was to finish 10th Open with 25,000+ pigeons competing, a super pigeon on the day. To Clonmel the following week and a 1st and 2nd Club for Ian Gibb & Sons finishing 17th and 19th Section D and 90th and 93rd Open NIPA 22,147 pigeons competing. Fermoy was next up on the 26th of August the loft continued its rich vein of form scoring 1st Club yet again also finishing 8th, 12th and 43rd NIPA Section D 2,25 pigeons competing in the over-all NIPA a finish of 17th, 28th and 140th with just short of 18,000 pigeons competing. Talbenny for the youngsters proved a stern test yet again another Club 1st for I Gibb & Sons finishing 15th Section D and 156th Open Talbenny Y/Bird National; on the same day as Talbenny the NIPA organised a race from Tullamore which was very well supported yet again 1st Club with a host to back it up for the Gibb loft they finished 1st, 2nd, 4th, 28th, 36th, 38th and 42nd Section D and 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 30th, 43rd, 47th and 54th Open NIPA with 9,167 pigeons competing. Fermoy on the 8th of September seen yet again 1st Club a finish of 15th Section D and 48th Open NIPA with 11,404 pigeons competing.
Now as many will know to achieve that level of success and especially week in week out takes an awesome amount of work and I set about asking Ian just what was involved in the day to day running of the racing loft/stud. Firstly Ian says you need the room especially for racing to have different sections doing things at different times, so as when one team has peaked you have another ready to take over, this very much the same approach with the youngsters. In total the Gibb loft would have around 150 O/Bird racers spread over 9 x sections with a mixture of widowhood, round-about and natural this to enable different types of racing, distance etc.
(To be continued).
Single Bird Challenge 2013 –
Although we do not at the present time know the venue for the Kings Cup the Blue Riband Grand National race for members of the INFC the deadline for entries to the Single Bird challenge is getting very close. One bird per loft is the Free Nomination and the entry details must be returned to David Black challenge co-ordinator on or before 17th March 2013 at 11 Drumiller Hill, Dromore, County Down BT25 1EP. The life ring of the bird must be registered to the member entering the pigeon and the loft location as on the entry form. The Joe Doheny Trophy is awarded to the winner and 1st, 2nd & 3rd will be presented with Framed Diplomas kindly sponsored by Sawyers & Co Estate Agents Banbridge and Dromore. The Guaranteed prize fund is sponsored by the INFC this will be published in the Race Entry Booklet. Last season £2,000 was paid out and the winners were 1st W G Neill Annaghmore, 2nd C & G Quinn Milltown & District and 3rd F & J Crowe Gorey RPC.
Mid Antrim Combine – AGM Wednesday 13th March
The AGM for the Mid Antrim Combine will be held in the Harryville HPS Clubrooms at Antrim Road Ballymena on Wednesday 13th March at 8.00pm. Two Delegates from each member club to vote on proposals. Agenda to include - 1. Minutes of previous AGM, 2. Passing of Accounts, 3. Correspondence, 4. Any other Business 2012, 5. Meeting to follow AGM.