“INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE”
THE 20th SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR
“PLATINUM EDITION”
(THE RACE WITH THE PROVEN TRACK RECORD)
(THE GREATEST PIGEON RACE IN THE WORLD)
DUE TO BE HELD IN LINBRO PARK, SANDTON, JOHANNESBURG,
SOUTH AFRICA ON SATURDAY 6th FEBRUARY 2016.
ANOTHER RACE SEASON STARTS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN SUNSHINE.
THE FANTASTIC MONTECASINO COMPLEX, FOURWAYS, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA WILL
BE HOSTING THE 20th SOUTH AFRICAN MILLION DOLLAR PIGEON RACE.
RESULTS FOR TRAINING RACES 11 & 12.
The pigeons in the two race lofts a Linbro Park are now after numerous Training Races and four Hot Spot Car Races really getting used to the regular training programme and now have a great racing line back to the lofts. They are also now coping with the extremely hot and humid weather conditions this year, plus of course the regular South Africa thunderstorms.
These are the rest of the races remaining in the 2015/16 race series:- Training Race 13 from 80km (50 miles) on Wednesday 20th January, HOT SPOT CAR RACE 5 from 350km (218 miles) on Saturday 23rd January, Training Race 14 from 40km (25 miles) on Wednesday 27th January, Training Race 15 from 80km (50 miles) on Saturday 30th January, then THE FINAL RACE from 550km (342 miles) on Saturday 6th February 2016. The 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 Prize Money will only count in races of 50km (31 miles) and over.
All the United Kingdom Team fanciers/entrants and syndicate shareholders will be kept up to date with weekly “NEWSLETTERS” plus any of them or in fact anybody can log on to the state of the art The South African Million Dollar Race web site:- www.samdpr.com and get all the information they might require over the next few months.
LIVESTREAM was once again available for TRAINING RACE 11 so I duly logged on at 05.40 (GMT) or 07.40 SA time and noticed there was a blue sky and not a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze at the race lofts. All in all a perfect race day.
I thought the winning pigeons would take between 50/55 minutes to cover the 76km (47 miles). a couple of false alarms with pigeons returning from earlier tosses or races. However, I did not have to wait very long before the first gang of about 80 pigeons duly arrived at 08.22 bang on line and did a lap of honour before landing on the traps and loft 2, immediately they landed the tape recording was put on and these started to trap, within a few seconds of the arrival of the first gang another gang of about 100 plus arrived, followed by two more gangs of over 100 pigeons. All these pitched on the traps and race lofts and started to trap. Within a few minutes literally hundreds of pigeons were officially recorded by the Deister Electronic Clocking System. The pigeons did not trap very well because this short journey did not take much out of them. The tougher the race and the further the distance the pigeons always seem to trap quicker.
TRAINING RACE 11 took take place on Wednesday 13th January from 76km (47 miles). The convoy were liberated at 07.30 in overcast and conditions, with little to no wind at liberation but slightly assisting them on route and with a temperature at liberation of 18c (64f) and a fairly fast race was anticipated. The temperature was expected to rise to about 26c (80f) during the afternoon. Light rain was forecast at 11am, 13.00 and 16.00 but of course the majority of the pigeons liberated would be home and tucked up in the race lofts by the time the rain arrived.
CONGRATULATIONS for winning 1st OPEN goes to KARL-HEINZ KOCH from GERMANY with his pigeon named MARITA 1 and bred by KARL-HEINZ KOCH, which was officially clocked at 08.22.41.70 to record a winning velocity of 1560ypm (53mph). This fancier won 1st OPEN in the 19th SAMDPR. Then 2nd Mark Gilbert GB from United Kingdom, 3rd Club Ian Crammond & Nigel Langstaff from United Kingdom, 4th Reinhard Gebhardt from Germany, 5th Ron Brooks from United States Of America, 6th Guys Lofts Elite from United Kingdom, 7th Team Ellenbroek - Seelen from Netherlands,
8th Vladimir Srebotnjak from Slovakia, 9th Rivera Loft from United States Of America, 10th Team Tigerfish from Germany, 11th Hayder Hadaad from Kuwait, 12th Werner A Waldow - Silvia Thiel from Germany, 13th Wilfon - Rhodes from United States Of America, 14th Gaddin Brothers + Charl Stander from South Africa, 15th Team Lind from Denmark, 16th Partridge Family Loft from United States Of America, 17th Keeping Up With the Jones from United Kingdom, 18th Team Club Muensterland from Germany, 19th Diamond Loft from United States Of America and 20th Matthias Kossow from Germany. The top twenty in this result were separated by just 22.30 seconds and had 7 different countries represented in the top 20 and 12 different countries represented in the top 50, only 42.89 seconds away from the actual race winner.
CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st UNITED KINGDOM, 2nd OPEN went to MARK GILBERT GB from SOUTHFIELDS, WINDSOR and with pigeon named GILBERT 1, which was bred by MARK GILBERT and which was officially clocked at 08.22.42.84 just 1.14 seconds away from the 1st OPEN winner. This pigeon has been flying well and has already won 40th, 69th, 121st, 57th, 7th, 44th and now 2nd OPEN during this race series, also won 2 x 1sts, 2nd, 3rd, 2c x 4ths and a 6th UK. Then 2nd UK, 3rd Open Ian Crammond & Nigel Langstaff with pigeon bred by this partnership from Fontwell, 3rd UK, 6th Open Guys Lofts Elite with pigeon bred by Graham Guy from Wolverhampton, 4th UK, 17th Open Keeping Up With The Jones with pigeon bred by Robbie Jones from Southampton, 5th UK, 29th Open Millys Loft with pigeon bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe, this pigeon named Mr. Dundeee is flying well and has won 24th, 33rd $ 68th Open ans a 1stm 3rd & 6th UK so far, 6th UK, 61st Open Paul Smith Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet and with pigeon bred by Jimmy Richards from Laindon, 7th UK, 62nd Open Planet Brothers with pigeon bred by Garry & John Squibb from Noak Hill, 8th UK, 82nd Open Manchester Maestros with pigeon bred by John Crehan from Manchester, 9th UK, 86th Open Aylesbury Speed-Birds entered by Peter Entwistle from Aylesbury and with pigeon bred by Ronnie Reece & Redworth, 10th UK, 94th Open another for Manchester Maestros with second pigeon bred by John Crehan from Manchester, 11th UK, 109th Open a third for Manchester Maestros with a third pigeon bred by John Crehan from Manchester, 12th UK, 112th Open another for Aylesbury Speed-Birds and withn pigeon bred by Peter Entwistle from Aylesbury, 13th UK, 117th Open Lucky Devils Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet and with pigeon bred by Bob Fenech from Attleborough, 14th UK, 135th Open Shot in the Dark enter by Stewart Wight from Berwick-Upon-Tweed and with pigeon bred by Chainbridge Lofts, 15th UK, 148th Open Smith- McAllister Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet and with pigeon bred by Bruce McAllister from Furneaux Pelham, 16th UK, 159th Open another for Millys Loft with a second pigeon bred by Michael Mellor from Crewe, 17th UK, 184th Open Zandys Dream Syndicate, administered by Paul Smith from Stansted Mountfitchet and with pigeon bred by this syndicate, this pigeon is currently holding 1st UK, 1st OPEN Grand Overall Averages after 14 races, 1st UK Country Challenge Averages after 14 races and also 1st UK, 3rd OPEN Hot Spot Car Race Averages after 4 races, plus it won quite a lot of Nomination money, 18th UK, 194th Open Mr & Mrs Brian & Mavis Clayburn from Ackworth past winners of 1st OPEN in the Final Race, 19th UK, 198th Open Jurgen & Caroline Josch with pigeon bred by this great partnership from Hailsham and then 20th UK, 207th Open Willy & Ian Gray with pigeon bred by this partnership from Coldstream.
THE UNITED KINGDOM COUNTRY CHALLENGE AVERAGE WINNERS after 14 races are as follows:- 1st UK ZANDYS DREAM TEAM, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with pigeon named ZANDYS CHOICE bred by this syndicate and with a total flying time 20.13.37.82. Then 2nd UK MILLYS LOFT with pigeon named MR DUNDEEE bred by MICHAEL MELLOR from CREEW with a total flying time 20.52.11.41. Then 3rd UK LUCKY DEVILS SYNDICATE, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET and with pigeon named LUCKY BABE bred by BOB FENECH from ATTLEBOROUGH with a combined flying time of 21.17.44.93.
CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st IRELAND, 79th OPEN went to JAMES KING with his pigeon named SENAN and bred by JAMES KING, which was officially clocked at 08.23.40.84, just 59.14 seconds after the actual race winner. Then 2nd Ireland, 163rd Open Safet Duran, 3rd Ireland, 243rd Open Corn Direct, 4th Ireland, 268th Open Maurice O’Donnell, 5th Ireland, 277th Open Karl Donnelly and then 6th Ireland, 546th Open Padraig & Caoimhe.
GLOBAL NOMINATIONS for TRAINING RACE 11 showed 132 pigeons including 18 UK pigeons and just 1 IRISH pigeon were entered with 403 Nominations and were flying for US$2,688.55c (£1,894) in Nominations. There were no UK or IRISH winners in this race.
REGIONAL UNITED KINGDOM NOMINATIONS for TRAINING RACE 11 showed no pigeons had been entered.
GRAND OVERALL AVERAGES in the OPEN after 14 races are as follows:- 1st OPEN goes to ZANDYS DREAM TEAM from UNITED KINGDOM, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with pigeon named ZANDYS CHOICE bred by this syndicate with a combined flying time of 20.13.37.82 leading by nearly 8 minutes. Then 2nd OPEN goes to BARTOSZ MOREL from POLAND with pigeon named ZOSIA bred by BARTOSZ MOREL with a combined flying tome of 20.21.11.59. Then 3rd OPEN goes to TEAM GSA from GERMANY with pigeon named RIHANA bred by HORST ZIKELI with a combined flying time of 20.23.49.76.
GRAND OVERALL AVERAGES after 14 races in the UNITED KINGDOM TEAM are as follows:- 1st UK, 1st OPEN goes to ZANDYS DREAM TEAM, administered by PAUL SMITH from STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET with pigeon named ZANDYS CHOICE bred by this syndicate with a combined flying time of 20.13.37.82, leading this category by nearly 33 minutes. Then 2nd UK, 10th OPEN goes to SYNDICATE LOFTS UK with pigeon named CREAM bred by PETER FOX from BANGOR and with combined flying time of 20.36.01.10. Then 3rd UK, 25th OPEN goes to MILLYS LOFT with pigeon named MR DUNDEEE bred by MICHAEL MELLOR from CREWE with a combined flying time of 20.52.11.41.
GRAND OVERALL AVERAGES after 14 races in the IRISH TEAM are as follows:- 1st IRELAND, 59th OPEN goes to MAURICE O’DONNELL with his pigeon named HALL and bred by MAURICE O’DONNELL with a combined flying time of 21.08.20.05. Then 2nd IRELAND, 129th OPEN goes to DYLAN & DANIEL BOYLAN with their pigeon named GLEN and bred by this partnership with a combined flying time of 21.31.38.66. Then 3rd IRELAND, 147th OPEN goes to JOE KENNEDY & SON with their pigeon named EUBANK and bred by this partnership with a combined flying time of 21.36.39.41.
More short training took place during the week giving these pigeons more confidence and experience to cope with what was in front of them.
LIVESTREAM was once again available for TRAINING RACE 12 and as I was away from home as I had been asked to judge at the annual Blackpool National Pigeon Show. I duly awoke in my hotel room on Saturday morning and logged on at 05.30 GMT or 07.30 South African time. The transmission showed a very overcast, cloudy and a very windy morning in Linbro Park with the wind picking up even more whilst I was watching. I thought the winning pigeons would arrive about 08.55 and bang on time a small gang of around 25 pigeons came bang on line and flew around the lofts having difficultly landing in the strong wind and as they flew round they were then joined by another big gang of over 100 plus pigeons. As these hit the lofts and landing board they were joined by literally hundreds of other pigeons. Then the pigeons started to trap and as usual the first ones through the traps won all the major spoils. Within a few minutes literally hundreds had been officially clocked by the Diester Electronic Clocking System.
TRAINING RACE 12 was held on Saturday 16th January 2016 from 110km (68 miles) slightly further than the listed race programme of 110km (62 miles) and the convoy were liberated at 07.30 with a light head wind at liberation and a temperature of 18c (64f) at liberation an a fairly steady race was anticipated. The weather forecast was for a good day rising to 32c (92f) as the day progressed with late afternoon rain and thunderstorms from about 17.00 onwards. Hopefully, most of the pigeons would be tucked up in the lofts by then.
CONGRATULATIONS on winning 1st OPEN goes to TEAM GERMANY - WA WALDOW - S THIEL from GERMANY with their pigeon named GOSCH bred by this partnership, which was officially clocked at 08.56.28.71 to record a winning velocity of 1376ypm (47mph). Then 2nd Fayez Q8 from Kuwait, 3rd Orlowski - Puzio from Poland, 4th Team Tigerfish from Germany, 5th Koopman Racing Team from Netherlands, 6th Jacob Poortvliet Racing Pigeons from Netherlands,
7th Mark Gilbert GB from United Kingdom, 8th Abdulla Bin Mathi from Kuwait, 9th Werner Buchloh from Germany, 10th Jochen Huenten from Germany, 11th Bader Al-Sanafi from Kuwait, 12th another for Bader Al-Sanafi from Kuwait,