2019 Racing Season (Updated 12th September)

Tullamore  20th April 2019  (119 miles)

Cloughey :  241 birds      1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,12,13,17,18,19,20,21,22,23

Killyleagh :  160 birds      1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12

Section :  89 members sent 2,371 birds.    1,2,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,19 and 20 (16 birds in top 20 0f the Section)

Open :   133 members sent 3,576 birds.      1,2,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,24,25,26,28,30 and 34  (20 birds in top 34 of the Open)

 

 

Roscrea 28th April 2019 (137 miles)

Killyleagh Central :   1,2,4,5,6

Section : 52 members sent 1,158 birds.   1,2,10,17,21 (These 2 won the Section by over 50 ypm on a day where the birds hit lots of rain)

Open : 702 members sent 18,761 birds. 75th and 76th Open

 

Fermoy 4th May 2019 (189 miles)

Cloughey (238 birds competing) 2,3,4,7,8,9,13,14,15

Killyleagh Central (124 birds competing)   1st    (only entered 3 birds here)

Section (2,190 birds competing from 93 lofts): 3,4,5,9,10,11,19,20

Open : (3,381 birds competing from 140 lofts)  9,10,11,15,16,17,30,31,34,35 (10 birds in top 35 of the Open)

 

Mallow 11th May 2019  (204 miles)

Sent 3 to Killyleagh Club and was 1st 2nd 3rd club.

Sent 55 to Cloughey and was 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th club

In the East Down Combine Section (94 members sent 2,000 birds) – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 13th, 18th and 19th

In the EDC Open (147 members sent 3,886 birds) : 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 15th, 23rd, 24th and 38th Open

 

Corrin 18th May 2019 (195 miles)

1st Club 200 birds, 5th Section F 1,1,37 birds, 71st Open NIPA 20,013 birds.

 

Joe Ringland Skibereen Classic 19th May 2019  (250 miles)

1st Open 927 birds

The winner is a 100% Kris Wijnants cock. He was 11th Combine 2 weeks ago against 3,381 birds. These Wijnants love to roll their sleeves up. Last weeks 1st Open Combine winner was a G-Daughter of “ROMEO – The No.1 cock”.  This weeks Derby winner is a G.Son of “ROMEO”

 

NIPA Barleycove National (269 miles) 25th May 2019

Very pleased with both efforts today

5th Section, 35th Open NIPA National (416 members sent 3,464 birds).  In this race we sent ONE pigeon

NIPA Fernmoy :   4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 21st Section (44 members sent 922 birds)   8 birds in the top 12 of the Section

29th, 30th, 31st, 33rd, 42nd, 43rd, 59th, 61st, 114th Open (533 members sent 12,018 birds)    8 birds in the top 61 against over 12,000 birds

 

Fermoy 2nd June 2019 (189 miles)

Been awake all night. I can’t believe how our birds performed yesterday. One of the proudest moments of our racing career. 15 birds arrived together from 189 miles and they are over 1 min 30 seconds clear of the rest of the Combine. Only 14 of them scanned over the ETS pads; but certainly a memory that we’ll savour

 

Sent same 3 birds as always to Killyleagh – 6th Club

Sent 51 to Cloughey. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18

EDC Section 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,17,18,19,20 (18 birds in top 20 of the Section) 90 members sent 1,735 birds

EDC Open 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,17,18,19,20,25,29,31,38,39,40 (24 in the top 40 0f the Open) 127 members sent 2,573 birds

 

The winner is a yearling cock raced on Roundabout. Both parents were acquired from Les Green

2nd Open was the hen that was actually 2nd Open (beaten by a loftmate) in the opening race of the season. She’s been 2nd Section 2,371 birds, 2nd Open 3,576  3rd Open (again beaten by loft mates), 23rd Open and 36th Open.  With an ounce of luck she’d have been a 3 x 1st Open winner.

3rd Open is “THE 50 COCK”. He’s some pup this fella let me tell you. Look at the racing record of this Van Den Bulck cock

3rd Open Mallow 4,255 birds,

10th Open Tullamore 22,129 birds,

10th Open Mallow Classic 541 birds,

12th Open 3,577 birds,

13th Open 1,454 birds,

13th Open Mullingar,

21st Open Thurles 5,194 birds,

21st Open Mallow 3,976 birds,

24th Open Tullamore 5,378 birds,

29th Open Skibereen 1,178 birds.

(Those are just his Open positions. He’s some tool let me tell you). Thank you for all the kind comments that we’ve already received

 

Mallow Classic 9th June 2019

A pleasing day’s racing today which sees us win the Champions of the East Down Combine OB Inland even though we missed 2 races earlier in the season. Today was the Derek Wishart Classic so each loft can send no more than 15 birds.

Cloughey : 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th

Killyleagh : 1st and 2nd

Section : 6th, 13th

Open : 8th, 18th, 29th, 31st, 32nd, 35th, 36th, 37th and 38th. (9 birds in top 40 of the Open from 15 birds sent)

We also sent some to Bude with the East Down Combine

Cloughey : 1st and 6th

 

Fermoy 15th June 2019 (189 miles)

Another incredible team effort by the birds yesterday. We truly don’t want this OB season to come to an end! 9 birds arrived together initially which included many of our “big hitters” who’ve been sensational this season. There was plenty of support from loftmates too

 

Cloughey : 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Killyleagh : 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th

Section : 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th  (16 in the top 18 of the Section)

Open : 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 33rd and 40th   (16 in the top 18 of the Open and 26 in the top 40).   That’s over 50% of the pigeons that we entered in the race in the top 40 of the Open in the Combine!

 

 

 

Penzance 22nd June 2019 (297 miles)

Cloughey : 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 11th and 12th

 

Fermoy (189 miles)

We decided to send our best sprinters to this race even though a SE wind is our worst wind for both the Section and Open in the NIPA. Nevertheless, it was the final inland race of the OB season so we thought we’d roll the dice one more time. With stunning results!

Killyleagh :  1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th

Section (32 members sent 354 birds)  :    1st, 2nd, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 20th, 21st and 28th

Open :  (378 members sent 5,218 birds) :  127th and 130th Open

On the day the first 2 hens put up a dazzling performance to win the Section by at least 4 minutes on our worst possible wind.

The Section winner is “The 468 Hen”..   She will now be paired up and her YB offered for sale. 

Her 2019 racing record is

1st section 75th Open 18,761 birds Roscrea
1st section 127th Open 5,218 birds Fermoy
5th section 30th Open 12,018 birds Fermoy
9th Open Fermoy

13th Section Fermoy 1,735 birds
13th Open Fermoy beaten by 12 loftmates 2,573 birds

19th Section Tullamore 2,371 birds
24th Open 3,577 birds Tullamore
38th Open Mallow 3,886 birds

As a young bird last year : 34th open Roscrea 7021 birds

 

 

Start of the YOUNG BIRD Season

Navan – 68 miles. 20th July 2019

Cloughey – 347 birds.   1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th

Killyleagh – 233 birds.  1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th

Section : 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th and 19th (2,532 birds competing)

Open :  31st, 32nd, 33rd and 38th (3,452 birds competing)

An excellent start to the season with nearly 40 Yb’s home through the traps in a shade over 2 minutes. Well represented were the new bloodiines of “BEST KITTEL”, “GOLDEN PRINCE” and “THE DREAM RODE”

 

 

 

2nd Navan Race – 27th July 2019

A sensational effort by the YB team with 19 arriving together and 45 going through the trap in 2 minutes. In reality we also know there were 4 that were early that missed the trap too but we never had time to put that right.  It was especially pleasing to see the young G-Children of “BEST KITTEL” showing their promise claiming the following positions in the Open : 4th, 5th, 8th, 16th, 21st and 23rd Open

Cloughey – Sent 68. There were 316 birds away in the Club

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th

Killyleagh – Sent 39.  There were 260 birds away in the Club

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th (We had the best 23 velocities in the Club)

 

Section :  3,058 competing

4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th

 

Open :  4,394 birds competing

4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th

 

 

Tullamore 2nd August 2019 (NIPA Area Liberation)

With an uncertain weekend forecast we decided to send the younger part of the YB team to an area liberation with the NIPA from Tullamore on Friday. The younger part of the team haven’t had the same amount of work as the main team and still have a long way to go in both their education and maturity

Nevertheless, “the wee ones” performed well from Tullamore winning 10th, 18th, 22nd and 23rd against 1,531 birds. The first one was about 30 seconds off winning the race, so this “BEST KITTEL” youngster performed ever so well on one of the worst winds we can hope for

 

 

Tullamore 4th August 2019 (East Down Combine)

Following a one day holdover the main YB team were away from Tullamore (119 miles) on Sunday 4th August. Competing on a very poor wind for our area the YB once again showed they are very well within themselves with 16 birds arriving within 60 seconds and 45 of the 63 entered home within 3 minutes.

The race was dominated by the West Section with no East Section pigeons making the Open result. In the East Section we were 6th, 7th, 8th and 11th Section which will probably be against approx 3,000 birds. The winner of the Section was 1627 and we recorded 1626 so I’d estimate at being no more than 10 seconds off winning the Section which was really pleasing on the day.

Even more satisfying was the “BEST KITTEL” lines. The hen that was first through the trap last week was 2nd through the trap this week – so there’s a lot of promise to be delivered in these lines

 

Tullamore 10th August 2019

Cloughey :  5th Club

Killyleagh : 1st and 3rd

30th and 36th Open Combine

A strange race to decipher. We expected a kit together and we got 1. Then another 1, then a 2. That’s not like our pigeons. Then, all of a sudden we got a kit of 18 arrive in a hurry, and these were all our fancied pigeons. They came offline, giving us the impression that they had gone round something in the latter stages of the race. If the birds are well they’ll be decent next week

 

Thurles and Fermoy 17th August 2019

This week we wanted to give our pigeons more distance so we sent most of them to the NIPA Fermoy (190 miles). We also entered just TWO pigeons into the EDC Thurles race

Cloughey :  (Sent 2). 2nd Club, 2nd Section, 14th Open. A great performance sending just 2. 2nd Section against approx 3,000 birds.

NIPA Fermoy :  964 birds in the Section.

We had 14 birds arrive together from 190 miles. Wicked!   6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 28th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 45th Section (984 birds). Those first 14 were all in the Open result (top 300) against 14,581 birds.   A good performance on a wind that didn’t suit

 

Fermoy 24th August 2019

Killyleagh : 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th

Section  (1,018 birds)  18th, 19th, 21st, 30th, 31st, 35th

What a frustrating day.  We know from friends down the line and images on social media that the latter part of the journey that the birds had a lot of fog to contend with. To get to us our birds need to come across Strangford Lough at the home end, and the ferry that runs across the Lough wasn’t running at various points of the day because of the fog. We literally couldn’t see 50 yards at the home end. Not the birds fault – they just couldn’t get in to us. Let’s hope for a clean race next week because the birds are well we’re sure of it

 

Roscrea and Thurles.    NIPA and EDC 30th August 2019

A day to savour and remember. This is the day that we’ve been waiting for!

 

In the EDC they were at Thurles and we sent TWO pigeons to the Combine. A G-Son of “GOLDEN EGGS” came and did his job winning 9th Section 17th Combine

The main team went to the NIPA and they were at Roscrea (137 miles).  The result was record-breaking

9 birds arrived together, but that only tells part of the story

At Club level we had 29 of the first 30 places

In Section F of the NIPA (22 members sent 462 birds) and we took the first 30 places with the exception of 12th place.

In the Open (271 members sent 4,810 birds) and we finished

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.12.14.15.16.17.18.20.21.22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32

That’s 29 birds in the first 32 of the Open !

The winner is a direct son of “DREAM RODE” x Direct Daughter of “GOLDEN PRINCE”.   There were also 3 “BEST KITTELS” in the top 10 too

 

Talbenny 2nd September 2019

We sent just TWO pigeons to the East Down Combine race from Talbenny. Again the birds were marvellous with one of the two winning

1st Club, 3rd East Section, 12th Open Combine Talbenny

Terrific performance from only 2 entries

 

 

Saturday 7th September 2019

NIPA race from Corins

A strange race to end the season on with large gaps between the early arrivals in the NIPA result

Club :  1st, 2nd and 4th

Section, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 31st, 32nd, 35th, 36th, 37th, 44th and 45th.

Open (294 members sent 5,071 birds).   129th, 135th and 178th Open

The winner was another one direct from “DREAM RODE” when mated onto a direct daughter of “BEST KITTEL”.

A splendid season all told and one to be proud of.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 Open in the NIPA

29 birds in top 32 of the NIPA (Another record)

4 x 1st East Down Combines in 2019

Very pleased!