Irish National Flying Club Old Bird Skibbereen National 2011. The Irish National Flying Club had their first race of the season on Tuesday 24 May from Skibbereen. The birds were liberated at 10.45am in a light westerly wind, which was to turn fresh westerly on the way home. I suspect that there was a touch of southerly there all the same considering the velocities that were put up. It was another first class race with Wexford birds taking the top ten in the Open. The winner Thomas Hore had an exceptional race with 4 birds in the top ten. 534 members entered 4442 birds in the Bamfords Pigeon Feeds sponsored Old Bird Inland National, and they were competing for 17,491 in pools and prizes. Open Result: T Hore Wexford North & South 1 st, 8 th, 9 th and 10th South section---1 st, 8 th, 9 th 10 th Open Vels. 1893, 1867, 1866, 1865 winning 666 and the Ronnie Johnston Challenge Cup flying 131 miles Thomas Hore was born into the sport of racing pigeons as his parents Willie and Mary Hore have been fanciers all their lives as was Thomas grandfather. They are no strangers to success at all levels of competition on both the north and south road. They themselves have tasted national success on both roads, with some of the highlights being 1 st Open Yearling National from Strathaven in Scotland and 2 nd Open INFC Young Bird National from Skibbereen, also winning a car. Last season Thomas finished 5 th Open INFC Old Bird National and 7 th Open IHU NFC Old Bird National. The Hore family s birds certainly showed signs of form the week before the National when they put in a magnificent performance to take 30 of the first 33 positions from Pilmore Beach on Wednesday and 11 of the top 20 positions from Castletownbere on Sunday. The winning pigeon in the National is a two-year-old Blue Pied hen. It s sire was bred by Roger Maris, Belgium. This cock is a winner of 1 st club, 1 st section, 2 nd Combine, 2,872 birds and 3 rd club, 10 th section, 11 th combine 3,888 birds. He is bred down from Roger Maris best stock bird the Oude Van 91. He was sire of numerous excellent birds including: the Ace pigeon of 1994, The Looney, Nr 12, Nr 54 etc. The Oude Van 91 is also the grand sire of 57, a car winner for Lennon & Burnett. He is also the g grandfather of the 2003 Pennine Marathon winner and 1 st Kent Federation, 2 nd Open Gold Ring Race. The dam of the winner was bred by their good friend the Master, John Patterson, Ballylesson. She is a Gaby Vandenabeele and carries the bloodlines of the Bliksem The pigeon at 8 th Open is a two-year-old red hen. This hen was unlucky in her previous race before the National as she was beaten by only two seconds for first prize. Her sire is a De Klak bred by B & R Long & Cox from one of their top sprint cocks Quasimodo. The dam is a Marcellis also bred by B & R Long & Cox from another of their top cocks Sinderby, who is a brother to Orange who was twenty one times in the first ten including 7 x 1sts. The bird at 9 th Open is a two-year-old blue tip cock. This bird was a very consistent racer as a young bird. He wasn t raced last year as a yearling or even let out of the loft for a fly as he was given a complete years rest. The sire of this cock was 7 th Open IHU NFC Waterville last season for Thomas. The sire of this bird was bred by the late Paddy Donnelly from Dublin and the dam was bred by Ron McKelvey, Newry. The dam of the 7 th Open is a full sister to the Champion Old Bird of the Year in the South Leinster Federation 2008 for Willie & Mary Hore. The pigeon at 10 th Open is a two-year-old cheq hen. The sire of this bird arrived with her from this race to take 13 th Open. He is a winner of numerous top ten positions and has been beaten by loft mates for 1 st prize. The grand dam of 10 th Open is a 1 st prizewinner for Thomas and the great grandsire was a 1 st prizewinner for Willie and Mary Hore. The dam of 10tyh Open is another consistent racer for Thomas and
is also placed in the positions from this race. She is a daughter of Champion old Bird of theyear in South Leinster Federation 2002 for Willie and Mary Hore. Thomas had a superb card here with other birds taking 13 th, 14 th, 73 rd, 84 th and 181 st Open T Kehoe Wexford North and South 2 nd and 6 th South section--- 2 nd and 6 th Open Vels. 1887, 1867 winning 334, flying 130 miles Terry is no stranger to success at National level as can be seen from the following performances with the INFC. 1 st Open Skibbereen Young Bird National 1994,1 st Open Barleycove Young Bird National 2000, 15 th Open Skibbereen Young Bird National 2002 and 5 th & 7 th Open Skibbereen Young Bird National 2003. Terry has also won 1 st, 3 rd, and 6 th Open Valentia Young Bird Derby and 2 nd Open Valentia Old Bird Derby. These performances were all achieved with his family of Neawlaert x Staf Van Reets. In 2007 Terry introduced a new family, Roland Janssens from Louella Pigeon World. And these are responsible for his 2 nd and 6 th Open winners here. Among these new introductions were sons of Roland Janssens top breeders including, Kweeker 12, White Bandit, Grey Ghost etc, also grand daughters of Kweeker 11, By Jingo, Thundercloud etc. Terry has put these together to form a family with severe selection taking place. The pigeon at 2 nd Open is a yearling red grizzle cock. The sire of this cock is a grandson of By Jingo and the dam is out of a son of Kweeker 12. Terry s 6 th Open pigeon, a black pied yearling cock is a grandson of White Bandit and the dam is a grand daughter of Kweeker11. A full brother of the 6 th Open bird was 1 st club IHU NFC National in 2009. M Driscoll Wexford North & South 3 rd South section---3rd Open--- Vel 1880 winning 625 flying 130 miles Michael s 3 rd Open bird is a yearling cheq pied hen. It was a gift bird from his great friends Robin and Mary Hillis who are previous INFC National winners. This hen has been in the results many times this season and last season. Michael was expecting this pigeon to do the business and she was carrying all pools and Nom to win 624.67. Earlier this season Michael finished 6 th IHU NFC from Barleycove Old Bird National. Michael is flying his birds on a new system that he has perfected himself. This system hasn t been published yet in any magazine. Michael understandably doesn t want to let his secret out yet, as he wants to stay ahead of the competition. Willie Hore, who very kindly provided the details on the Wexford birds, was more than impressed with the set up and predicts that he will have more success in the future. B Smith Wexford North & South, 4 th, 5 th and 7 th South section---4 th, 5 th and 7 th Open--- Vels 1876, 1876, 1867 winning 448, flying 131miles This is another loft with a proven record at National level, as we will see when we look at the birds timed here. All three birds were bred by Brendan s brother Robbie and are all Dean Pallett Staf Van Reet yearling cocks, raced on the widowhood. Brendan s first bird was 3 rd club on the Saturday after the Skibbereen National from Barleycove. It is a full brother of a cock that has won 5 x 1sts. The bird at 5 th Open is a full brother to Blue Power Ranger, winner of 1 st Open INFC Young Bird National in 2004 for Robbie.
The third bird timed by Brendan in this year s Old Bird National is a brother of his 3 rd Open INFC Young Bird National in 2010. These Van Reets are certainly doing the business for both Brendan and Robbie and Brendan won the IHU Young Bird National from Barleycove last year with another one of these birds North Section Cromie, Magee & Son Dromara 1 st North Section ---109 th Open --- Vel 1735 winning 660 and the Gerald Delaney Cup, Flying 243 miles. This is one of the top Skibbereen lofts in the country. Not only are they previous winners of this race in 2009 with Marie s Dream, they have a host of other top prizes in both the Young and Old bird Nationals. The previous week this loft was 4 th Open NIPA Rosscarbery National. The partnership sent 11 to this year s National and had another bird at 16 th North section with another two taking 66 th and 74 th North section. The winning pigeon is a longish cast blue cock with the first flight just coming up. He was bred out of the widowhood loft from Joe s own Soontjens lines. He was paired just after Blackpool and was allowed to rear one young bird then on to the widowhood. In preparation for the race he had only a couple of races and hadn t been away for three weeks prior to the National. The team was flown an hour morning and evening, plus two tosses a week from Newry (20 miles) weather permitting. The birds are fed Marimans French petite plus a seed trapping mix. On basketing evening the bowls are turned over and the cocks are closed in this half of the box for 15 minutes before the hens are introduced. Normally the cocks have the hens for 20 minutes but for the National they had them for an hour and a half. McComb Bros ---Killyleagh Central 2 nd North Section ---119 th Open --- vel 1725 winning 435 Flying 247miles Racing as McComb Bros this Killyleagh partnership of Bobby, and Bobby s brother s son Paddy are having a super year s Old Bird racing both with the East Down Combine and the NIPA. In the last few weeks the loft has been in top form having on the weekend before the Skibbereen National won 1 st and 3 rd club 5 th and 10 th open EDC Fermoy. This follows on directly from winning 8 th and 14 th open, 1 st and 6 th Section F from the NIPA Rosscarbery National. The pigeon at 14 th open being a blue cock a son of the cock, which has just won them 2 nd North Section INFC Skibbereen. The 2 nd North Section pigeon is a 3-year-old blue cheq cock, which was racing widowhood. As a yearling in 2009 he was 8 th Open in the East Down Combine Skibbereen Derby. Injury prevented him being raced in 2010 and he was put back on the road again this year where the patience of Bobby and Paddy has paid off handsomely. Well bred for the task, his grandmother, a cheq hen is from the Sandyhill stud and his sire has 4x1 st club including having a 1 st section F with the NIPA.On the dam s side the dam was a Lefebre Dhaenens bought at Lockie Brennan s sale. Last year McComb Bros finished 69 th North section so are delighted with this year s result. I should add that Paddy has taken over as Race Controller for the East Down Combine where he has settled well into the job. McCartan & Woodsides ---Crossgar 3 rd & 4 th North Section --122 nd &123 rd Open --- vel 1724 winning 954 Flying 244 miles
The next two pigeons in the North section were just a few miles down the road from Killyleagh to the lofts of McCartan & Woodsides of Crossgar who had two birds together. A three man partnership of Paul McCartan, and Liam and son Darren Woodside, this partnership race with great consistency and were 50 th North section last year from this race. This is another loft successful in both the EDC where they race through the Crossgar club and the NIPA through the Killyleagh Central club. The first of their two birds was a blue chequer Busschaert cock and as with all their race team he was racing roundabout. This cock was a gift from Tom & Colm Kilpatrick of Killyleagh being bred off two open winners of theirs - the winner of Talbenny paired to the winner of the 5 bird Mallow. Paul, Liam & Darren would like to take this opportunity to record their thanks to Tom & Colm. This chequer cock is no stranger to success for just 10 days prior to the Skibbereen National he had won 5 th open 5 th section F NIPA Rosscrea from 12,355 birds in a race which saw Killyleagh & Dist fanciers take the top 6 in the open and Killyleagh Central members (NIPA) the next three. This cock has always raced consistently for McCartan & Woodsides and so was well pooled for the INFC race. Their 2 nd bird also on 1724ypm was a two-year-old blue hen, which had previously won 3 races for the partnership. Again she was well pooled because of her previous record, having already won the club from Mullingar, the first race of this year, as well as winning as a young bird and is a most consistent racer. Again she was on Roundabout. The breeding of this hen is ½ Soontjen and ½ Lefebre Dhaenens. D & J Campbell & Bigger Glengormley 5 th North section--- 124 th Open--- Vel 1722 winning 109 flying 256 miles This partnership is made up of Davy Campbell and Hugh Bigger from the Glengormley club. They are the longest fliers in the top ten of the north section. Davy and Hugh got two birds together but one of them hit wires on the way in and went to ground. It was stunned but they were able to time it to take 27 th section, 161 st Open. They followed this with another 4 making the result at 104 th, 106 th 108 th and 162 nd section to gave them an excellent race. The pigeon at 5 th north section is a yearling cock that was 3 rd open NIPA from Roscrea as a young bird and this year it has been timed a few times in the section result. The sire is from John Greenaway, Bondhill and is a grandson of Iron Lady. The grand dam is a Soontjens also from the Greenaway loft. The dam is a Janssen x Roland Kint. Donnelly Bros Newry 6 th North section---127 th Open--- Vel 1721 winning 197 flying 221 miles. Former National winners John and Richard Donnelly are 6 th north section here and are no strangers to national results. Indeed I had the pleasure of reporting on them in last years Friendship National. The pigeon timed here is a yearling blue cheq cock racing on widowhood. This pigeon has been racing well all year, having previously been 2 nd section, 73 rd Open NIPA from Clonmel competing against 30,335 birds and beaten for the section win by a loftmate. He was also 15 th section, 41 st Open Roscrea with 31,000 birds racing. This sire of this yearling cock won the NIPA Open from the 5 bird Mallow plus a number of other prizes. The dam is a daughter of Scarecrow. This pigeon is a ½ brother of their Bude winner and a full brother of the pigeon that was 5 th north section, 9 th Open Friendship National last year from St Malo. They had another three birds in the result at 45 th section 187 th Open, 46 th section 189 th Open and 198 th section.
Hutchinson Bros Ashfield 7th North Section--- 130 th Open--- Vel 1719 winning 203 flying 234 miles 7 th North section is another loft with a fantastic record in these races, that of Davy Hutchinson who races in Ashfield HPS just a couple of miles from Dromore. This loft has won three INFC Nationals and three NIPA Nationals. Davy had a fantastic race with a lot of birds coming in close together, taking the following other positions 13 th, 14 th, 15 th, 34 th and 68 th north section, 141 st, 142 nd, 143 rd and 172 nd Open. The pigeon taking 7 th North section was a two-year-old blue cock flown on widowhood. This bird was 7th Open Tullamore earlier in the year from 25000 birds and also 7th Open Rosscarbery 10 days previously with the NIPA. He is of Soonjten bloodlines sired by Davy's Yearling National winner when paired to his own daughter (this hen was also the NIPA Rosscarbery National winner in 2008). The blue cock had all the inland races but no extra training. Davy doesn't show the widowhood cocks their hens beforehand and always keeps the nest bowls upright. McKinstry Bros Dromara 8th North section---133 rd Open--- Vel 1718 winning 144 flying 236 miles The McKinstry Bros partnership is Albert and Stanley who live in Rathfriland. This loft is fast making a name for themselves in this type of race, having already won 2 NIPA sections this year. They are previous 5 Bird Mallow winners with the NIPA. Albert and Stanley timed a yearling blue cock this time, flown on roundabout. The breeding is Soonjten x Braspenning coming down from stock obtained from Hutchinson Bros. It has had every race plus plenty of training. The McKinstrys had a few more birds in the result taking 24 th, 38 th, 57 th, 159 th and 222 nd North section and 158 th and 177 th Open to round off a good day s racing for them.. P & J Boal Dromore 9th North Section---134 th Open--- Vel1718 winning 223 flying 236 miles This is another top loft at these races having been 1st North Section in this race last year finishing 7th Open. Their timer this year is a two-year-old blue cheq hen flown on widowhood. This hen has already won 5 th, 8th & 9th section D with the NIPA. Her breeding is Willy Van Herck and is a granddaughter of their No 1 stock pair. She was paired on Christmas day, flown once a day and has only missed one race this year, and had no extra training between races. J F McCabe Newry 10 th North section---135 th Open--- Vel 1718 winning 203 flying 219 miles. This is another loft that had a good race with four birds in the result at 10 th north section 135 th Open, 40 th section 180 th Open and 111 th, 114 th and 162 nd section. John was working on Tuesday so it was left to his good wife Rita to do the timing in and she managed to do this well.
The pigeon at 10 th north section was John s second pigeon from Roscarberry the week before but arrived without minus its ETS ring. John had got a bad trap with his first bird, which only went in after this bird arrived and it took 40 th Open. The pigeon timed is a yearling hen on the roundabout. The breeding is ¾ Soontjens from Hutchinson Bros Ashfield (see above) and ¼ Braspenning from Ron McKelvey, Newry. John got off to a great start to the season when he had 8 birds in the top ten in the club taking the first seven and then from Roscrea he was 2 nd section, 3 rd open NIPA competing against 31000 birds Thanks to all who helped in the preparation of this report, particularly Willie Hore, Davy Black and Clifford Browne. Brendan McLoughlin INFC Press Officer.