“EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE”.
ON
HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4 & TRAINING RACE 12.
IN
THE 21st SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE
(THE BIGGEST & GREATEST PIGEON RACE IN THE WORLD!)
(THE RACE WITH THE PROVEN TRACK RECORD)
(THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN THE PIGEON WORLD)
DUE TO BE HELD AT
HERON BANKS GOLF & RIVER ESTATE,
SOUTH AFRICA
ON
SATURDAY 4th FEBRUARY 2017.
ANOTHER RACE SEASON STARTS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN SUNSHINE.
LIVESTREAM was once again up and running after one day delay and I logged on bright and early at 07.20 GMT (09.20 SA) time, the weather was very overcast and heavy clouds and quite a very strong head wind at the loft and on route. The pigeons were liberated at 06.00 cleared well and headed for home. I really did not have to wait that long as at 08.53 GMT (10.53 SA) because all of a sudden I saw a gang of about 30 pigeons swing round the loft and hit the landing area, smartly followed by another gang of about 15 pigeons, followed a short gap then three more small gangs of 9, 15 and 30 pigeons. The result came up on the iPad screen and I saw that 1st OPEN went to a fancier in BELGIUM. Within ten minutes of the winner being clocked over 100 pigeons had been officially recorded. As the pigeons arrived and hit the landing platform they looked in super condition after this tough fly. If you have never logged on to watch the pigeons arrive, I strongly suggest you give it a try, you will just love the experience. The “TEAM” and “LOFT STAFF” in South Africa did a great job to get a race on today, especially after all the heavy rain experienced over the last week and what was forecast for the next few days. WELL DONE TO ALL. https://youtu.be/z8cYbPk4rJQ HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4 was held on Sunday 8th January 2017 after a one day delay from 309km (192 miles) and for this race a total of 3,185 pigeons from 35 different countries were basketed and this included 2,949 International pigeons and 236 pigeons from South Africa and this figure also included 250 from the United Kingdom and 36 pigeons from Ireland. There were also 14 pigeons that were not basketed because they were left in the Hold Back section because they had made earlier mistakes and were not fit to be entered, this total included none from the United Kingdom or Ireland. So the total in the loft was 3,199 pigeons. The convoy were liberated at 06.00 in fine and cool conditions with a very strong head wind on route and a temperature of 16c (60f). The convoyer reported the pigeons cleared well and headed directly for home. A good race was anticipated, although they knew it would be a tough race. As the day progressed the temperature would steadily rise but rain was anticipated to arrive later in the day. CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st OPEN goes to the CAMPUS RPF from BELGIUM with pigeon named KUGELBLITZ bred by MARK DE COCK, which was officially clocked at 10.53.33.79 to record a winning velocity of 1,149ypm (17.5431 m/s) (39 mph), this pigeon also won 139th OPEN in TR1, 94th OPEN in TR4, 185th in TR6, 125th OPEN in HSCR1, 88th OPEN in TR9 and now 1st OPEN in HSCR4. 2nd Bader M F Al-Jwesr from Kuwait, 3rd Henry Boeckmann from Germany, 4th Stanescu + Dobre from Romania, 5th Ganus Family Loft from United States Of America, with an all pooler, bred from Wolverine which bred Mike Has Got A Very Good One winner of over US$100,000 x full sister to Laura Is A Big Winner Today the 1st OPEN winner in the 20th SAMDPR, top quality breeding, 6th Stanley Meyler from United States Of America, 7th Hilamb Syndicate from United Kingdom, 8th Henning, Keller & Kornelius from Germany, 9th Guido Barth from Germany, 10th HuD Koffler u M Kossow from Germany, 11th The Royal Lofts from United Kingdom, 12th Abdullah Al-Bakhit from Saudi Arabia, same pigeon was 29th OPEN IN HSCR3, 13th Taffys Syndicate from Australia, 14th Jamal Mutlak from Kuwait, 15th Quest Any Given Day from United States Of America, 16th Team Albatal from Germany, 17th Maurice O’Donnell from Ireland, 18th Ledder – Didden from Germany, 19th Mohammad Abdullhameed AlAzemi from Kuwait and 20th Ado Family Loft from United States Of America. The top twenty were separated by 1 minute 15.21 seconds and had 9 different countries represented in this result with 13 different countries represented in the top 50 and these were 6 minutes 14.80 seconds apart. A great International result with 6 different countries in the top 7 pigeons clocked in the OPEN, only 14 seconds apart. A total of 100 pigeons were officially clocked up to 11.04, then 300 up to 11.17, then 500 up to 11.27, then 1,000 by 11.58. A further update showed 1,500 pigeons were officially recorded by 12.56, then 2,181 by 15.54. The last loft list showed that 2,474 pigeons had been officially recorded by 19.15, leaving 711 pigeons to make it back to base camp. Monday morning dawned and the pigeons started to roll and 2,687 were recorded by 11.00, a further update showed 2,766 pigeons had returned by 18.27, leaving 419 to return to the race loft. With the 14 pigeons that were not sent that were still in the lofts the total left was now 2,780 pigeons. The Tuesday loft list showed that 2,804 pigeons were still in the race loft. THE BRAND NEW MOTOR CAR was won in HSCR4 by the pigeon which actually took 1st OPEN, CAMPUS RPF from BELGIUM with pigeon named KUGELBLITZ bred by MARK DE COCK. WELL DONE MARK, a great start to The New Year. HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4, the 19 x US$1,100 (£917) CASH PRIZES were won as follows:- The pigeons that took 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th OPEN positions which are all mentioned above. Then the pigeons that took 21st, 22nd & 23rd OPEN won the remaining Hot Spot Cash Prizes, these included 1 from United States Of America, 1 x Germany and 1 x South African pigeons. WELL DONE TO ALL THESE WINNERS. THE 2-BIRD AVERAGE and US$2,000 (£1,667) was won by SI SE PUEDE LOFT (Team 5) from UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with pigeons named BMWX15 and BMWX7 bred by SI SE PUEDE FARM with an average velocity of 34.416 m/s. 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 17th OPEN went to ZANDYS DREAM TEAM (Team 2) with pigeons named ZANDYS DREAM and ZANDYS MOMENT bred by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with an average velocity of 32.756 m/s. 2nd UK, 31st OPEN goes to ZANDYS DREAM TEAM (Team 1) with pigeons named ZANDYS MEMORY and ZANDYS CHOICE again both bred by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with two more pigeons the same way bred as the two above. 3rd UK, 32nd OPEN (Team 2) goes to PAUL SMITH – REGENCY LOFTS with pigeons named FIRST HOME bred by DAVID COWARD-TALBOTT from GALLEYWOOD and FIRST PLACE bred by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET. 1st IRELAND, 108th OPEN went to DONNELLY & KIRKWOOD (Team 1) with pigeons named ZIMBA and SCAR both bred by KARL DONNELLY and with an average velocity of 29.980 m/s. THE 3-BIRD AVERAGE and US$3,000 (£2,500) was won by SI SU PUEDE LOFT (Team 5) from UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with pigeons named BMWX15, BMWX7 and BMWX17 all bred by SI SE PUEDE FARM with and average velocity of 49.140 m/s. 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 24th OPEN went to ZANDYS DREAM TEAM (Team 2) with pigeons named ZANDYS DREAM, ZANDYS MOMENT and ZANDYS VICTORY all bred from the same pair and all bred by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with an average velocity of 42.902 m/s. 1st IRELAND, 93rd OPEN went to GROVE HILL LOFTS (Team 1) with pigeons named GROVE HILL BRUNO, GROVE HILL TINY and GROVE HILL TED all bred by MC CONLON with an average velocity of 31.793 m/s. THE HOT SPOT AVERAGES after 4 races stands as follows:- 1st OPEN goes to ME FUI + GALLO LOFT from UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with pigeon named HOT AMERICAN GIRL and bred by MANUEL RODRIGUEZ, with a combined time of 13.53.33.55, which has taken 239th OPEN in HSCR1, 131st OPEN in HSCR2, 1st OPEN in HSCR3 & CAR WINNER and now 77th OPEN in HSCR4. 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 6th OPEN goes to THE ROYAL LOFTS (HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN) with pigeon named ROYAL NORFOLK, bred by PETER FARROW (LOFT MANAGER) from WOLVERTON, with a combined time of 14.10.27.50, which has taken 1,812th OPEN in HSCR1, 28th OPEN in HSCR2, 152nd OPEN in HSCR3 and now 11th OPEN in HSCR4. 1st IRELAND, 119th OPEN goes to MORAN & BOWDEN with their pigeon named CAPTAIN CHRIS bred by ANDREW MORAN, with a combined time of 15.08.46.75, which has taken 1,970th OPEN in HSCR1, 164th OPEN in HSCR2, 1,096th OPEN in HSCR3 and now 483rd OPEN In HSCR4. THE OVERALL AVERAGES after 15 official races now stand as follows:- 1st OPEN goes to JAN HOOYMANS – HU ZHEN YU from NETHERLANDS with pigeon named WASSERT bred by JAN HOOYMANS, actual flying time 27.41.25.74 with 188th TR1, 101st TR2, 2158th TR3, 955th TR4, 311th TR5, 2043rd TR6, 1559th HSCR1, 1491st TR7, 126th HSCR2, 2419th TR8, 383rd TR9, 1642nd TR10, 16th HSCR3, 87th TR11 and now 35th OPEN HSCR4. 2nd Open goes to Josef Schneider from Germany with pigeon GEORGIE and 3rd Open goes to Ganus Family Loft from United States Of America with pigeon named GOLDEN DRAGON. 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 6th OPEN goes to THE ROYAL LOFTS (HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN), with pigeon named ROYAL NORFOLK bred by PETER FARROW (LOFT MANAGER) from WOLVERTON, actual flying time 28.14.58.00 with 55th TR1, 82nd TR2, 151st TR3, 1,313th TR4, 3,041st TR5, 678th TR6, 1,812th HSCR1, 1,155th TR7, 28th HSCR2, 1,152nd TR8, 936th TR9, 2,429th TR10, 152nd HSCR3, 1,646th TR11 and now 11th HSCR4. 2nd UNITED KINGDOM, 8th Open goes to Manchester Maestros with pigeon named Lady Lois 2 bred by John Crehan from Manchester. 3rd UNITED KINGDOM, 25th Open goes to Zandys Dream Team, with pigeon named Zandys Venture, bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet. 1st IRELAND, 460th OPEN goes to JOHNSON – LEONARD & SONS, with pigeon named HOLLY J bred by PAUL JOHNSTON with a combined flying time of 23.14.06.40 with 2,470th TR1, 3,032nd TR2, 1,491st TR3, 3,004th TR4, 2,587th TR5, 1,515th TR6, 1,367th HSCR1, 2,750th TR7, 1,975th HSCR2, 2,865th TR8, 2,446th TR9, 2,725th TR10, 1,991st HSCR3, 2,498th TR11 and now 508th HSCR4. 2nd IRELAND, 776th Open goes to Joe Kennedy & Son with pigeon named Eddie C and 3rd IRELAND, 771st Open goes to Robbie Daly with pigeon named Big Bird. THE COUNTRY CHALLENGE is a separate country competition which costs US$120 (approx. £100) per pigeon to enter and offers 3 cash prizes in each of the 5 Hot Spot Car Races and currently there is 143 UNITED KINGDOM pigeons entered and the Prize Money will be as follows:- There will be cash prizes of 1st Prize US$125 (approx. £104), 2nd Prize US$75 (approx. £62) and 3rd Prize US$50 (approx. £42) on Hot Spot Car Races 1, 2, 3 & 4. Then on Hot Spot Car Race 5 the prizes will increase to 1st Prize US$5,130 (approx. £4,275), 2nd Prize US$3,078 (approx. £2,565) and 3rd Prize US$2,052 (approx. £1,710). In The Final Race there will be just a 1st Prize winner takes all and that will go to the entered pigeon with the best average over the 5 x Hot Spot Car Races and The Final Race. The winning pigeon will be crowned THE UNITED KINGDOM COUNTRY CHALLENGE ACE WINNER and the Prize is now standing at US$5,920 (approx. £4,934). Of course only pigeons that were fully paid for and entered into this competition prior to basketing for Hot Spot Car Race 1 are eligible to fly for this ACE PIGEON AWARD. The UNITED KINGDOM TEAM have always supported this extra competition and the winners in this HSCR4 were as follows:- THE UNITED KINGDOM COUNTRY AVERAGES after 15 races are as follows: 1st UNITED KINGDOM, MANCHESTER MAESTROS with pigeon named LADY LOIS 2 bred by JOHN CREHAN from MANCHESTER, with a combined flying time of 28.18.04.05, 2nd UNITED KINGDOM, ZANDYS DREAM TEAM, administered by bred by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET and with pigeon named ZANDYS VENTURE bred by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with a combined flying time of 28.51.13.24, 3rd UNITED KINGDOM, MILLYS LOFT with pigeon named DUNDEES BACK bred by MICHAEL MELLOR from CREWE with a combined flying time of 29.18.37.75. 1st UNITED KINGDOM and US$125 (approx. £104) goes to 55th OPEN, LUCKY DEVILS SYNDICATE, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with pigeon named LUCKY DEVIL and bred by BOB FENECH from ATTLEBOROUGH. 2nd UNITED KINGDOM and US$75 (approx. £62) goes to 180th OPEN, TIM ATKIN, with pigeon named MAHREZ MAGIC bred by TIM ATKIN from RUGBY, 3rd UNITED KINGDOM and US$50 (approx. £42) goes to 185th OPEN, MILLYS LOFT, with pigeon named DUNDEES BACK bred by MICHAEL MELLOR from CREWE. The IRELAND TEAM only entered 6 pigeons and will fly for 1st Prize US$125 (approx. £104), 2nd US$75 (approx. £62) and 3rd Prize US$50 (approx. £42) on Hot Spot Car Races 1, 2, 3 & 4. Then on Hot Spot Car Race 5 the prizes will increase to 1st Prize US$335 (approx. £279), 2nd Prize US$201 (approx. £167) and 3rd Prize US$134 (approx. £112). In The Final Race there will just be a 1st Prize winner takes all and that will go to the pigeon with the best average over the 5 x Hot Spot Car Races and The Final Race. The winning pigeon will be crowned THE IRISH COUNTRY CHALLENGE ACE WINNER and the Prize is now standing at US$440 (approx. £367). Of course only pigeons that were fully paid for and entered into this competition prior to basketing for Hot Spot Car Race 1 are eligible to fly for this ACE PIGEON AWARD. THE IRISH COUNTRY CHALLENGE AVERAGES after 15 races are as follows:- 1st IRELAND, PHILIP & MARK SMITH with their pigeon named ELIZ with a combined flying time of 39.04.20.35. This partnership are also 2nd with pigeon named Jamie Hayden. These are the only 2 pigeons that have completed 15 races. 1st IRELAND and US$125 (approx. £104) goes to 613th OPEN, PHILIP & MARK SMITH with pigeon named GAELIC HOPE and bred by this partnership, 2nd IRELAND and US$75 (approx. £62) goes to 1,153rd OPEN, G+J DOUGLAS with pigeon named LURGAN BELLE and bred by this partnership, 3rd IRELAND and US$50 (approx. £42) goes to 1,581st OPEN PHILIP + MARK SMITH with pigeon named PAULA S and once again bred by this partnership. CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 7th OPEN went to HILAMB SYNDICATE, entered by KEN AMBLER from KEIGHLEY and RON HILLCOAT from SOWERBY BRIDGE with their pigeon named THISTLECRACK which was bred by KEN AMBLER from KEIGHLEY, which was officially clocked at 10.53.47.34 just 11.55 seconds away from the actual race winner. 2nd UK, 11th Open The Royal Lofts (Her Majesty The Queen), with pigeon named Royal Norfolk that was bred by Peter Farrow (Loft Manager) from Wolverton, this pigeon has flown very well so far and won 55th TR1, 82nd TR2, 151st TR3, 28th HSCR2, 152nd HSCR and now 11th HSCR4 and is now holding onto 1st UK, 7th OPEN in the OVERALL AVERAGES and 1st UK, 6th OPEN in the HOT SPOT CAR AVERAGES after 4 races, 3rd UK, 26th Open Guys Lofts Elite with pigeon bred by Graham Guy from Wolverhampton, this pigeon won 1st UK, 10th OPEN in HSCR3, Graham fancied this pigeon and won a cool US$1,496 (£1,247) in pool money, 4th UK, 55th Open Lucky Devils Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet with pigeon bred by Bob Fenech from Attleborough, this pigeon is the same way bred as Lucky Countess a big winner two years ago in the 19th SAMDPR and already proving to be an outstanding breeder, 5th UK, 68th Open Zandys Dream Team with pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, this pigeon is bred from Lucky Countess mentioned above, 6th UK, 85th Open Team Lincs with pigeon bred by Paul & Tracey Stacey from Sleaford, 7th UK, 90th Open Syndicate Lofts UK with pigeon bred by Peter Fox from Bangor, 8th UK, 107th Open Kingsmead School from Hednesford with pigeon bred by C Rose & Son, great to see this pigeon doing well, the kids at the school are over the moon with how their pigeons a flying in this race series, hope it continues, 9th UK, 119th Open J & J Syndicate with pigeon bred by Joe Kennedy & Son from Belfast, 10th UK, 157th Open Andy Gregson from Preston, 11th UK, 176th Open Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell and Windsor, 12th UK, 180th Open Tim Atkin from Rugby, 13th UK, 182nd Open another for The Royal Lofts (Her Majesty The Queen) with a second pigeon bred by Peter Farrow (loft Manager) from Wolverton, 14th UK, 185th Open Millys Loft with pigeon bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe, 15th UK, 205th Open another for Zandys Dream Team with a second pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, another one from Lucky Countess, 16th UK, 223rd Open another for Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell and Windsor, 17th UK, 225th Open another for Hilamb Syndicate, entered by Ken Ambler from Keighley and Ron Hillcoat from Sowerby Bridge with a pigeon bred by Ron Hillcoat, 18th UK, 228th Open Orbital Lofts with pigeon bred by Roger Lowe from Reading, 19th UK, 246th Open another for Millys Loft with a second pigeon bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe and 20th UK, 247th Open Robbo with pigeon bred by Norman Robinson from Bridlington. A total of 50 pigeons from the United Kingdom were officially recorded up to 11.41, with 100 up to 12.36. A later update loft list issued showed 142 UK pigeons had returned to the lofts by 14.20 and then 160 by 15.27 and by 19.15 a total of 196 had been officially recorded, leaving 54 UK pigeons still to return to the loft. Monday dawned and by 18.27 a total of 218 UK pigeons had returned, leaving 32 UK pigeons to return to the loft. However I am sure a few more will work back in the next few days. The Tuesday loft list showed that 220 UK pigeons were still in the race loft. CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st IRELAND, 17th OPEN went to MAURICE O’DONNELL with pigeon named LIADIN 10 and bred by MAURICE O’DONNELL, which was officially clocked at 10.54.20.84, just 47.05 seconds behind the actual race winner, Maurice fancied this pigeon and he also won US$646 (£538) pool money, 2nd Ireland, 211th Open Pat Maher with the same pigeon that won 165th OPEN IN HSCR4, 3rd Ireland, 483rd Open Moran & Bowden, 4th Ireland, 508th Open Johnson – Leonard & Sons, 5th Ireland, 599th Open Safet Duran and 6th Ireland, 613th Open Mark & Philip Smith. A total of 6 Irish pigeons were officially clocked by 11.33, with a later report showed 18 were clocked by 13.45, then 24 by 15.51. The last loft list on the day showed 29 Irish pigeons were in the loft, leaving just 7 Irish pigeons to make it home. Monday morning dawned and a further 4 more showed up before darkness, leaving just 3 Irish pigeons to return to the race loft. The Tuesday loft list showed that 33 Irish pigeons were still in the race loft. GLOBAL NOMINATIONS on HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4 amounted to a staggering US$21,026.45c (£17,523) and there was a total of 479 pigeons actually entered which included 34 from the United Kingdom and 4 from Ireland and there was 1,703 nominations and all this money in this race was won by pigeons in the top 122 positions. There was just one IRISH winner in this race for 17th OPEN for MAURICE O’DONNELL with his pigeon named LIADIN 10 bred by MAURICE O’DONNELL which won him a cool US$646 (£538) for its efforts. There was just one UNITED KINGDOM winner in this race and that was 26th OPEN for GUYS LOFTS ELITE with pigeon named LITTLE STAR 1 bred by GRAHAM GUY from WOLVERHAMPTON that won US$1,496 (£1,247) for its efforts. WELL DONE GUYS ON THESE EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES. UNITED KINGDOM NOMINATIONS amounted to US$1,109.25c (£925) and showed 22 pigeons with 97 nominations and the winners were TEAM LINCS taking 85th OPEN with their pigeon named GRANTHAM, bred by PAUL & TRACEY STACEY from SLEAFORD which won US$229.50c (£191) for its efforts and then 107th OPEN for KINGSMEAD SCHOOL from HEDNESFORD with pigeon named KINGSMEAD ROSE bred by C ROSE & SON from the MIDLANDS winning US$5.95c (£7) for its efforts and then lastly MANCHESTER MAESTROS taking 414th OPEN with pigeon named LADY LOIS 2, bred by JOHN CREHAN from MANCHESTER winning US$873.80c (£727) for its efforts. WELL DONE TO ALL CONCERNED. THE KNOCKOUT COMPETITION offers a US$25,000 (£20,834) First Prize and only fully paid up pigeon before basketing of Hot Spot Car Race 1 are eligible to compete for this great cash prize. This great competition offer the following conditions and one lucky winner will walk away with “THE POT OF GOLD” after the Final Race. These rules are as follows:- This competition will take place over the last four Hot Spot Car Races and the Final Race, if however any Hot Spot Car Race is cancelled the race committee can use a Training Race to replace any Hot Spot Car Race. As usual this competition is very well supported and this year was no exception as there was a total of 2,747 pigeons entered, which was made up of 2,571 International pigeons, which included 236 from the United Kingdom and 37 from Ireland and 176 pigeons from South Africa. KNOCKOUT ROUND 1 will take place on HOT SPOT CAR RACE 2 and 1,787 (65%) of the entered pigeons will move forward to the next round. KNOCKOUT ROUND 2 will take place on HOT SPOT CAR RACE 3 and 984 (55%) of the entered pigeons will move forward to the next round. KNOCKOUT ROUND 3 will take place on HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4 and 345 (35%) of the entered pigeons will move forward to the next round. KNOCKOUT ROUND 4 will take place on HOT SPOT CAR RACE 5 and 69 (20%) of the entered pigeons will move forward to the next round. Then KNOCKOUT ROUND 5 will take place on THE FINAL RACE on SATURDAY 4th FEBRUARY 2017 and just 69 top class pigeons will be competing and the first pigeon clocked of these remaining 69 KNOCKOUT PIGEONS will walk away this coveted First Prize of US$25,000 (£20,834). THIS REALLY IS A GREAT INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION THAT CREATES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF INTEREST AND EXCITEMENT THROUGHOUT THE RACE SERIES. After HOT SPOT CAR RACE 2 there were a total of 1,787 pigeons still in this competition and they were 1,669 International pigeons which included 150 from the United Kingdom and 19 from Ireland and 118 South African pigeons. After HOT SPOT CAR RACE 3 there were a total of 984 pigeons still left in this competition and they were 922 International pigeons which included 91 from the United Kingdom and 7 from Ireland and 62 pigeons from South Africa. After HOT SPOT CAR RACE 4 there were just 345 pigeons left in the competition and these were made up as follows:- 323 International pigeons, included 27 from the UNITED KINGDOM and 2 from IRELAND, plus 22 from SOUTH AFRICA. See SAMDPR Results & Listings for full list. GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE PIGEONS IN THE NEXT ROUND. Next race is TRAINING RACE 12 is due to take place on Wednesday 11th January 2017. LIVESTREAM was up and running at the race loft so I woke up very early and logged on at 05.30 (GMT) or 07.30 (SA time) on Wednesday morning at home to watch the pigeons arrive from TRAINING RACE 12. With even more heavy rain forecast for later in the day the pigeons were liberated at 07.10 from 62km (39 miles). Good to see the team are thinking of the pigeons. I thought the pigeons would take 50 minutes to cover the distance. Once again it is fantastic to be able to sit nearly 6,000 miles away and watch the pigeons arrive back home. The weather looked very good with a nice blue sky and a few fluffy clouds and a light head wind for most of the journey. I did not have to wait long for the first arrivals and bang on my predicted time of 08.00 the first gang of about 100 pigeons arrived at 08.00 (SA time) or 06.00 (GMT), followed by another big group of about 100 pigeons appeared, they all swung round the loft and were joined by a few more big gangs, then all of a sudden hundreds started hit the landing platform and started to trap. I also had my iPad ready for the result and all of a sudden I showed 1st OPEN had gone to GERMANY. The pigeons just fell out of the sky with literally hundreds being clocked within a few minutes of the actual race winner, in fact over 1,000 pigeons were officially clocked within 5 minutes of the actual race winner. If you have not logged on yet to watch the pigeons arrive from the races, you do not know what you are missing, it is fantastic and also a great experience. https://youtu.be/kHHkGT2T0ts TRAINING RACE 12 took place on Wednesday 11th January 2017 from 62km (39 miles) and a total of 2,771 pigeons were basketed from 35 different countries and this total included 2,552 International and 203 South African pigeons and this total also included 219 from the United Kingdom and 33 from Ireland. Only 52 pigeons were held back and not basketed, these included two from the United Kingdom and also none from Ireland, these were all left in the lofts because they had made mistakes earlier in the week. Total still in the loft was 2,823 pigeons. The convoy were liberated at 07.10 in fine and cool conditions, with a moderate head wind on route, 16c (60f) and a good steady race was anticipated. The temperature was expected to rise to during the day but once again heavy rain was forecast to start later on. CONGRATULATIONS for winning 1st OPEN goes to GUIDO BARTH from GERMANY with pigeon named JOS 1 bred by GUIDO BARTH, which was officially clocked at 08.00.10.84 to record a winning velocity of 1373ypm (20.5922 m/s) (46mph), this pigeon had already won 90th OPEN in TR3, 194th OPEN in TR7, 426th OPEN in TR8, 378th OPEN in HSCR3, 268th OPEN in TR11 and now 1st OPEN in TR12. 2nd Tim Lucas from United States Of America, 3rd Aqil Alajaj from Saudi Arabia, 4th Mels Loft from United States Of America, 5th Bader M F Al-Jwesr from Kuwait, 6th Pieter Veenstra & Yu Dong from Netherlands, 7th Ali Alashkanani from Kuwait, 8th Estuary Syndicate from United Kingdom, 9th SG Adelmann from Germany, 10th Union Antwerpen-Uitmaak from Belgium, 11th Dieter Siebert from Germany, 12th Helmut Schulz from Germany, 13th Zandys Dream Team from United Kingdom, 14th Gordon Meng from United States Of America, 15th Klaus Stieneker from Germany, 16th Saad R Alabhoul from Kuwait, 17th Team Koch – Fuge from Germany, 18th The Platinum Ladys from South Africa, 19th Jan Hooymans – Hu Zhen Yu from Netherlands and 20th Adnan Al-Shaeel from Kuwait. The top twenty in this result were separated by just 22.09 seconds and had 8 different countries represented in the top 20 and 10 different countries in the top 50, only 41.66 seconds away from the actual race winner. This race resulted as another with fantastic returns with 247 recorded by 08.02, then 500 by 08.03, then 1,000 by 08.05, then 2,000 by 08.09, then 2,733 by 09.53 leaving 38 to make it back to the lofts. A total of 2,743 pigeons were officially clocked by 16.07, leaving just 28 pigeons to make it back to the loft. CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 8th OPEN went to ESTUARY SYNDICATE and with pigeon named SL 1 which was bred by PIETER OBERHOLSTER from KEYSOE, which was officially clocked at 08.00.22.45, just 11.61 seconds away from the race winner. 2nd UK, 13th Open Zandys Dream Team with pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 3rd UK, 70th Open Paul Smith Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet and with pigeon bred by Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 4th UK, 82nd Open another for Zandys Dream Team with a second pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 5th UK, 93rd Open another for Estuary Syndicate with a second pigeon bred by Pieter Oberholster from Keysoe, 6th UK, 103rd Open a third pigeon for Zandys Dream Team with a third pigeon bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet, 7th UK, 105th Open Guys Lofts with a pigeon bred by Graham Guy from Wolverhampton, 8th UK, 108th Open Lloyd & Kelly from Didcot, 9th UK, 121st Open Alan Richardson from Whitby, 10th UK, 131st Open Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell and Windsor, 11th UK, 135th Open Joe Kennedy & Son from Belfast, 12th UK, 139th Open Alistair Hogg from Winchburg, 13th UK, 142nd Open another for Crammond, Langstaff & Gilbert from Fontwell and Windsor, 14th UK, 149th Open Premier Stud UK Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet and with pigeon bred by Premier Stud from Patringham Haven, 15th UK, 175th Open John Chipperfield from Herne Bay, 16th UK, 184th Open Millys Loft with pigeon bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe, 17th UK, 201st Open Trainspotters with pigeon bred by Turner & Watson, 18th UK, 260th Open The Royal Lofts (Her Majesty The Queen) with pigeon bred by Peter Farrow (Loft Manager) from Wolverton, with a pigeon named Royal Norfolk that is flying very consistently and holding 1st UK, 7th Open in The Overall Averages after 16 races, 19th UK, 263rd Open another for Millys Loft with a second pigeon bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe and then 20th UK, 264th Open Team Lincs with a pigeon bred by Paul & Tracey Stacey from Sleaford. Another great race with 60 UK pigeons being officially clocked by 08.04, then 100 up to 08.06 and then 150 by 08.10, then 200 by 08.20, then 216 by 09.29 leaving 3 UK pigeons to return to base camp. The last loft list of the day showed still 216 UK pigeons had been clocked, leaving 3 still to make it back to base camp. CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st IRELAND, 162nd OPEN went to G+J DOUGLAS with pigeon named LURGAN BELLE, bred by G+J DOUGLAS which was officially clocked at 08.01.32.04, just 1 minute 21.20 seconds after the actual race winner. 2nd Ireland, 368th Open Maurice O’Donnell with the same pigeon that won 1st Ireland, 17th Open in HSCR4, 3rd Ireland, 420th Open Joe Kennedy & Son, 4th Ireland, 714th Open Moran & Bowden, 5th Ireland, 781st Open Philip & Mark Smith and then 6th Ireland, 950th Open Johnson – Leonard & Sons. A good race with 22 pigeons being officially clocked by 08.10, then 30 by 08.17 then the final list showed all 33 Irish pigeons had been officially recorded by 08.26. THE OVERALL AVERAGES after 16 official races now stand as follows:- 1st OPEN goes to JOSEF SCHNEIDER from GERMANY with pigeon named GEORGIE and bred by JOSEF SCHNEIDER, actual flying time 28.35.52.74, with 2065th TR1, 332nd TR2, 2136 TR3, 595th TR4, 1161st TR5, 162nd TR6, 97th HSCR1, 850th TR7, 472nd HSCR2, 33rd TR8, 964th TR9, 241st TR10, 181st HSCR3, 32nd TR11, 338th HSCR4 and now 383rd TR12. 2nd Open goes to Jan Hooymans – Hu Zhen Yu from Netherlands and 3rd Open goes to Ado Family Loft from United States Of America. 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 7th OPEN goes to THE ROYAL LOFTS (HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN) with pigeon named ROYAL NORFOLK bred by PETER FARROW (LOFT MANAGER) from WOLVERTON, actual flying time of 29.07.02.00, with 55th TR1, 82nd TR2, 151st TR3, 1313th TR4, 3041st TR5, 678th TR6, 1812th HSCR1, 1155th TR7, 28th HSCR2, 1552nd TR8, 936th TR9, 2429th TR10, 152nd HSCR3, 1646th TR11, 11th HSCR4 and now 260th TR12. 2nd UNITED KINGDOM, 8th Open goes to Manchester Maestros with pigeon named Lady Lois 2 bred by John Crehan from Manchester. 3rd UNITED KINGDOM, 30th Open goes to Zandys Dream Team with pigeon named Zandys Venture bred by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet. 1st IRELAND, 469th OPEN goes to JOHNSON – LEONARD & SONS with pigeon named HOLLY J bred by PAUL JOHNSON, actual flying time 33.42.56.57, with 2470th TR1, 3082nd TR2, 1491st TR3, 3004th TR4, 2587th TR5, 1515th TR6, 1367th HSCR1, 2750 TR7, 1975th HSCR2, 2865th TR8, 2446th TR9, 2725th TR10, 1991st HSCR3, 2498th TR11, 508th HSCR4 and now 2428th TR12. 2nd IRELAND, 768th Open goes to Joe Kennedy & Son with pigeon named Eddie C and 3rd IRELAND, 783rd Open goes to Robbie Daly with pigeon named Big Bird. GLOBAL NOMINATIONS on TRAINING RACE 12 amounted to US$1,328.55c (£1,107) and there was a total of 70 pigeons actually entered which included 5 from the UK and just none from IRELAND and there were 200 nominations and all this money in this race was won by pigeons in the top 166 positions. There were no UK winners. UNITED KINGDOM NOMINATIONS amounted to US$45.65c (£38) and there was a total of 7 pigeons entered and there was 19 nominations. There was just one winner as follows:- 175th OPEN for JOHN CHIPPERFIELD from HERNE BAY with pigeon named BIG TOP winning US$45.65c (£38) for its efforts. WELL DONE JOHN. THE COUNTRY CHALLENGE is a separate country competition which costs US$120 (approx. £100) per pigeon to enter and offers 3 cash prizes in each of the 5 Hot Spot Car Races and currently there is 143 UNITED KINGDOM pigeons entered and the Prize Money will be as follows:- There will be cash prizes of 1st Prize US$125 (approx. £104), 2nd Prize US$75 (approx. £62) and 3rd Prize US$50 (approx. £42) on Hot Spot Car Races 1, 2, 3 & 4. Then on Hot Spot Car Race 5 the prizes will increase to 1st Prize US$5,130 (approx. £4,275), 2nd Prize US$3,078 (approx. £2,565) and 3rd Prize US$2,052 (approx. £1,710). In The Final Race there will be just a 1st Prize winner takes all and that will go to the entered pigeon with the best average over the 5 x Hot Spot Car Races and The Final Race. The winning pigeon will be crowned THE UNITED KINGDOM COUNTRY CHALLENGE ACE WINNER and the Prize is now standing at US$5,920 (approx. £4,934). Of course only pigeons that were fully paid for and entered into this competition prior to basketing for Hot Spot Car Race 1 are eligible to fly for this ACE PIGEON AWARD. The UNITED KINGDOM TEAM have always supported this extra competition and the winners in this HSCR1 were as follows:- THE COUNTRY CHALLENGE AVERAGES after 16 races are as follows:- 1st UNITED KINGDOM is MANCHESTER MAESTROS with pigeon named LADY LOIS 2 which was bred by JOHN CREHAN from MANCHESTER and has a combined flying time of 29.12.11.30. 2nd UNITED KINGDOM is ZANDYS DREAM TEAM, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with pigeon named ZANDYS PRIDE which was bred by PAUL SMITH and has a combined flying time of 29.50.19.79. 3rd UNITED KINGDOM is MILLYS LOFT with pigeon named DUNDEES BACK bred by MICHAEL MELLOR from CREWE with a combined flying time of 30.19.49.60. The IRELAND TEAM only entered 6 pigeons and will fly for 1st Prize US$125 (approx. £104), 2nd US$75 (approx. £62) and 3rd Prize US$50 (approx. £42) on Hot Spot Car Races 1, 2, 3 & 4. Then on Hot Spot Car Race 5 the prizes will increase to 1st Prize US$335 (approx. £279), 2nd Prize US$201 (approx. £167) and 3rd Prize US$134 (approx. £112). In The Final Race there will just be a 1st Prize winner takes all and that will go to the pigeon with the best average over the 5 x Hot Spot Car Races and The Final Race. The winning pigeon will be crowned THE IRISH COUNTRY CHALLENGE ACE WINNER and the Prize is now standing at US$440 (approx. £367). Of course only pigeons that were fully paid for and entered into this competition prior to basketing for Hot Spot Car Race 1 are eligible to fly for this ACE PIGEON AWARD. THE IRISH COUNTRY CHALLENGE AVERAGES after 16 races are as follows:- 1st IRELAND is PHILIP & MARK SMITH with pigeon named ELIZ bred by these fanciers and with a combined flying time of 39.58.20.60. 2nd IRELAND is another for PHILIP & MARK SMITH with pigeon named JAMIE HAYDEN bred by these fanciers with a combined flying time of 41.30.45.65. Pigeons nominated and paid for into THE COUNTRY CHALLENGE competition from other countries were as follows:- AUSTRALIA 18, BELGIUM 10, CANADA 2, DENMARK 9, GERMANY 35, IRELAND 6, NETHERLANDS 5, POLALD 9, SOUTH AFRICA 72, UNITED KINGDOM 143 and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 17. These figures are quoted just shows what great support the UNITED KINGDOM gives this special competition. GOOD LUCK TO ALL FANCIERS AND ENTRANTS IN TRAINING RACE 13 ON SATURDAY 14th JANUARY 2017. PROPOSED RACE PROGRAMME:- The remaining Training Races, Mid-Week Races and Saturday Races during 2016/17 race series are now listed as follows:- Training Race 13 from 100km (62 miles) on Saturday 14th January 2017, Training Race 14 from 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday 18th January 2017, HOT SPOT CAR RACE 5 from 350km (218 miles) on Saturday 21st January 2017, Training Race 15 from 62km (39 miles) on Wednesday 25th January 2017, Training Race 16 from 80km (50 miles) on Saturday 28th January 2017, then THE FINAL RACE from 550km (342 miles) on Saturday 4th February 2017. These dates are not be set in stone and if the proposed date for any of these races is not suitable for liberation, then these will take place on the next best day in that week. Daily training will also take place during the week providing the weather is suitable. No training will take place on Sundays unless of course a holdover takes place on the Saturday race. The Overall Averages and the allocated US$17,500 (£14,000) Prize Money will only count in races of 50km (31 miles) and over. ***SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT*** I am sorry that I can’t add all the information about who bred all the pigeons or where they live as I can only publish details which I am in possession of. If there are no details besides your winning pigeon/s then please contact me on reglofts@aol.com with your details and I will include these in my later International Press Reports. I personally do my best to give all the fanciers, entrants and breeders all the credit they and their pigeons deserve when they manage to get in the results so your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated. For the first few races numerous pigeons will not trap, so do not worry if yours is clocked late. The main thing to consider over the first few shorter races is that all the pigeons will not trap quickly but if they have made it back to the race loft on Heron Banks Golf & River Estate they are there to fight another day. With each race the pigeons will learn a bit more, giving them more experience to tackle all the tasks that they are going to have in front of them during the testing 2016/17 training and race series. GOOD LUCK TO ALL CONCERNED AND REGULAR “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASES”, “NEWSLETTERS” AND “UPDATES” WILL BE SENT OUT TO ALL COMPETITORS/ENTRANTS AND SYNDICATE SHAREHOLDERS ON A WEEKLY BASIS BY EMAIL OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. ALSO WEEKLY “PRESS RELEASES” WILL BE SENT OUT TO BOTH OUR TWO PIGEON PUBLICATIONS NAMELY THE “BRITISH HOMING WORLD” AND “”THE RACING PIGEON” PLUS IT WILL ALSO BE ON MY REGENCY LOFTS WEB SITE www.regencylofts.com FOR ALL TO VIEW. I would also just like to notify fanciers that my weekly “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE”, “NEWSLETTERS” and “UPDATES” can now also be seen on the following pigeon web sites:- www.regencylofts.com www.iprr.co.uk www.elimarpigeons.com www.pigeonportal.com www.pigeonglobe.co.uk www.cyberpigeon.co.uk www.pigeonbasics.com www.starpigeons.com www.pigeonpixels.co.uk www.theloftreport.com www.oneloftracing.com plus of course they will also be published in the “”BRITISH HOMING WORLD” and “THE RACING PIGEON” weeklies and other world pigeon publications for all to see, read and enjoy. The race date for THE 22nd SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE has already been agreed and confirmed by the race organisers as SATURDAY 3th FEBRUARY 2018. If you are interested in participating or acting a Country Race Team Shipper/Co-ordinator, then please contact me as soon as possible on 01279-812005 or my mobile 07860-568216 or SMS or email on reglogfts@aol.com and I will give you all the information you require. My two proposed shipping dates for THE 22nd SAMDPR will take about the middle of MAY 2017 and then the second one should be around the middle of JUNE 2017. Of course these two dates will be confirmed nearer the time. I strongly recommend that you try to ship your race entries on the 1st shipping date as this then gives these pigeons much more time to settle into the race lofts. If you have any questions about any aspect of THE SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE, then please contact me as soon as possible on 01279-812005 or my mobile 07860-568216 or by SMS or email at reglofts@aol.com and I will do my best to answer any of your questions or queries about this great race. These “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASES” do take a lot of my time to prepare and I try to get as much into them as possible as I know fanciers and entrants like to know what is happening, unfortunately some time, some information will not be to hand when the print deadline is reached so can’t be included in that report. I can only apologise if I leave something out but I can assure everybody that I do my best to get as much information as possible to put into each of these international reports. IF ANY PIGEON FANCIER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OR IN FACT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE MY WEEKLY “INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASES”, “NEWSLETTERS” AND “UPDATES” BY EMAIL, THEN ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS EMAIL ME THEIR ACTUAL EMAIL ADDRESS I WILL PUT THEM ON MY EMAIL DATABASE AND I WILL THEN FORWARD THEM ALL THE INFORMATION BY EMAIL ON A REGULAR BASIS. BEST OF LUCK TO ALL PIGEON FANCIERS/SYNDICATES & ENTRANTS WORLDWIDE DURING THE 2016/17 RACE SERIES. Paul Smith, United Kingdom Race Team Co-ordinator/Shipper and International Race Co-ordinator for The 21st South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race, which is due to be held at Heron Banks Golf & River Estate and Emerald Resort, Casino & Hotel, South Africa on Saturday 4th February 2017. Regency Lofts Limited, 2, Highmead, off Coltsfield, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. CM24 8LJ. England. Tel/Fax:- 01279-812005. (Int. Code:- +44-1279-812005), Mobile:- 07860-568216. Email Address:- reglofts@aol.com Regency Lofts Website:- www.regencylofts.com Skype Address:- talbot7944 Twitter Address:- PaulSmith@SmithReglofts The South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race Website:- www.samdpr.com ]]>