The big one is here!

Well, this is the race I have set my sights on all year. All the racing and preparation has been geared up to this race from Reims (378 miles). Off the 21 birds, I started the season with, (9 were untrained latebreds), 2 were killed by a hawk so that left me 19. I currently have 6 left in the loft and 3 of these have made up the team that are heading to Reims! The first bird is a Dark Cheq Pied cock who was a later bred pigeon last year and rushed into training. A hawk strike on his first toss resulted in 10 later bred pigeons being lost from 18 miles. I had the bird reported in Burnham on Sea, not far from Western Super Mare. The pigeon was returned via courier and he remained in the loft until this season. He is off my No.1 Stock hen, who was 24th Open, 754 birds, and 9th Ace Bird in the Europa Classic in 2009. He has had 11 races this year being my first bird home 3 times this season, including Folkestone (200 miles) and Lilliers (272 miles). My second pigeon is another I bred in the stock shed. A little Cheq hen, being out of the Alistair Hogg pigeon when paired with the Janssen Hen that was sitting 5th in the Ace Bird Standing after 5 races in the Europa Classic in 2009. She has had 10 races this season being my first bird home once. She went off the boil mid season but is looking good again. My final pigeon is a Breeder Buyer from Bobby Thomas in the Gurnos club who is flying very well at present. He has topped the fed this season and won the combine last year. He is a Cheq cock, is a small type and has had 11 races in total this season. He has been my first bird home the last 2 weeks but his refusal to trap is a major concern! He stayed out for 5 minutes last week :-(

So that is my team and I am hoping they put in a good effort for the loft on Friday. I hope they do themselves justice and return safely! Good luck to all that are in the race!