Slight twist added to 2018 pigeon racing season
The new racing season kicked off at the weekend with flights from Winburg
The Gauteng Pigeon Union (GPU) has added a slight twist to the 2018 season with the introduction of a sprint series.
There are four races each from Winburg, Verkeerdevlei and Bloemfontein respectively in the first 12 weeks of racing.
For these races, the pigeons are liberated on a Friday morning. Riverpark Pigeon Club (RPC) has 12 members participating in this series. Sky Lofts (Corrie Moller) won the race by a margin of one minute seven seconds from Beano Daschner.
The nett flying time for the winning pigeon was three hours 16 minutes and 19 seconds.
The rest of the results were: Sky Lofts 1st; Beano Daschner 2nd, 30th; Blackie Swart 3rd, 9th, 15th; Fred van Rensburg 4th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 21st; G & E Lofts (Elaine Russell & Graham Cheary) 5th, 11th, 14th, 27th, 28th; Flip van Staden 6th, 8th, 23rd, 29th; Pine Pienaar 7th, 19th, 22nd, 24th, 26th; Le Roux Lofts (Pieter le Roux) 10th, 20th; Albert Neilson 12th, 25th and Connie Coertse 17th.
The two main races, Winburg Young Birds (for yearling pigeons) and Winburg Old Birds took place on Saturday. RPC had 14 members flying 172 pigeons for the young bird race.
The winner for the first young bird race of the season was Blackie Swart by a margin of four minutes 12 seconds from G & E Lofts. The winning pigeon’s nett flying time was three hours 38 minutes and four seconds.
The rest of the club results were: Blackie Swart 1st; G & E Lofts 2nd, 4th, 6th, 10th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 30th; Flip van Staden 3rd, 16th; Beano Daschner 5th; Henry Mostert 7th, 13th, 14th, 17th; Blackie Swart 8th, 26th; Connie Coertse 9th; Fred van Rensburg 11th, 19th, 28th; Sky Lofts 12th, 18th, 20th, 27th; Doves Nest Guest House Team A (Gawie Botha) 15th; Bakgat Lofts (Danalien Snyman) 21st, 25th and 29th.
RPC had 15 members flying 195 pigeons in the old bird race. With a nett flying time of three hours 36 minutes 46 seconds, Beano Daschner’s Blue Bar cock GPU 15 09938 won by a margin of only five seconds from Pieter van den Broeck’s Red cock ZA 16 12825.
The rest of the results were: Beano Daschner 1st, 3rd, 9th; Pieter van den Broeck 2nd, 4th, 21st; Le Roux Lofts 5th, 18th, 26th; G & E Lofts 6th, 12th, 25th; Blackie Swart 7th, 13th, 15th; Connie Coertse 8th, 22nd; Pine Pienaar 10th, 29th; Fred van Rensburg 11th, 20th; Flip van Staden 14th; Albert Neilson 16th, 19th; Sky Lofts 17th; Bakgat Lofts 23rd, 30th with Doves Nest Team B 24th, 27th and 28th.
Kosmos club champ wins all first races
Kosmos Pigeon Club’s 2017 club champion, Hans de Noon, won all three opening races of the new season at the weekend.
The races took place from Winburg. The club’s results were:
Winburg (sprint series): Hans de Noon 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th; Leon and Abrie 3rd, 7th, 10th, 17th, 22nd, 25th, 28th; Jaco van der Westhuizen 4th, 14th, 18th, 20th, 23rd; Van Heerden Hokke 5th, 6th, 21st, 30th; AM Wilken 19th, 26th, 27th, 29th; Sandgawies (Dennis and Louis) 24th.
Young birds: Hans de Noon 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 30th; AM Wilken 4th, 5th, 6th, 18th; Hannes Maree 7th, 22nd; Leon and Abrie 10th, 25th; Jaco van der Westhuizen 11th, 12th, 13th, 23rd, 24th, 26th; Sandgawies 14th, 20th, 28th, 29th; Stander Lofts 17th; Pat Earle 19th; Van Heerden Hokke 21st; JK Lofts 27.
Open series: Hans de Noon 1st, 6th, 7th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 24th; AM Wilken 2nd, 4th, 29th; Stander Lofts 3rd, 16th; JK Lofts 5th, 20th, 22nd, 30th; Jaco van der Westhuizen 8th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 25th, 26th, 28th; Hannes Maree 9th, 19th, 27th; Leon and Abrie 11th, 23rd; Lucas Klopper 18th; Holtzhausen Hokke 21st.
