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Sun City Million Dollar Race 2009

We ( Jana, my wife & myself ) left Belgium Wednesday 28th of January in the evening.
Zandy Meyer was one of the first people we met in the Super Bowl when basketting was about to finish.
Not including Zandy, 17 people are working full time for the Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race ( SCMDPR ).
This year a new record is broken, 3082 pigeons are basketted for the final out of 29 different countries !! There are 19 pigeons in each basket.
Pictures after the basketting.
Sun City Million Dollar Race 2009
Sun City Million Dollar Race 2009
On completion of basketting the baskets were put on the stage with restricted access to loft staff only, who fed and watered the pigeons.
A close-up of the pigeons in the baskets before the loading.
While talking to Zandy, I was introduced to Mr Jakkie van Niekerk ( see picture ), senior partner of the auditing company that is in charge of the SCMDPR ( name of the company : E Coetzee & Co )
On the left Robert Swanepoel, the Benzing Importer to Za, and the person next to him is Juilius Urtell, his racing partner from Cape Town. They race under the name Team Benzing.
The basketting took place in the impressive Super Bowl.
The first day we arrived, we got a lot of explanation about the race from Zandy Meyer, a fantastic person, the 2 people on the right are Paul Santens and Geert MunniK.
Geert Munnik, Paul Santens & Zandy Meyer.
The truck for the transportation of pigeons to the liberation places.
Birgit & Gerhard Lucking from Germany. A few years ago they had the best average pigeon in the Sun City Million Dollar race with Lucky Hope, a grandchild of the legendary Aladin, now in the lofts of Jung & Seelbach in Germany.
Loading started about half an hour after the last pigeons had an opportunity to eat and drink. Baskets were put on the transporter by placing the first completed baskets first to make sure all had a drink.
One of the loft helpers is loading the baskets into the truck.
The loading is done swiftly without any unnecessary delays.
Frank Daelemans ( coordinator for the SCMDPR for Belgium, together with his father August ), Zandy Meyer ( race director and the brains behind this Sun City race & Nikolaas.
Nikolaas and Saville Penkin. Saville lives in Cape Town and has contributed significantly to the organisation of the SCMDPR.
Special rope wire seals.
Once loaded the release mechanism was sealed with special rope wire seals ensuring that no person could have access to the pigeons.
Pigeons will leave Sun City tomorrow morning at about 4h30am, the pigeons will arrive in Bloemfontein, Free State province, about midday, where they will be watered. About three and a half hour later, pigeons will arrived in the small town of Trompsburg, Free State, where they will be watered and fed, and where they will be overnight. When the weather circumstances are OK, the next day ( saturday ) at around 4am, the pigeons will be taken to the liberation point, about 30 kms oustide Trompsburg
Ex-international president of the FCI ( international pigeon federation ) Guy Barrett from United Kingdom, having dinner with friends.
From left to right : Philippe Branteghem, Nikolaas, Norbert De Schrijver ( De Schrijver-Van Branteghem ), Mark Gilbert and his father from United Kingdom. De Schrijver-Van Branteghem is a partnership that participates already for many years in the SCMDPR at with success. In 2009 they have won 2 pigeons in TOP 44 in the final and they had not entered a lot.
This picture is taken in the bar outside the Cascades Hotel.
Pigeon fancier friends gathering in the lobby of the Cascades hotel.
Splendid view from the windows of the Cascades hotel.
Mr. & Mrs. Kreutzfeldt from Germany. Owners of the Taubenmarkt-magazine in Germany and also organisers of the biggest pigeon fair in the world : the Kassel Taubenmarkt.
Nikolaas together with Martin & Ivana Kodl. They are the coordinators for Czech Republic and Slovakia for the SCMDPR. This is their 6th time in Sun City. In their every day life they own an prestigious auction home for Czech & Slovak art.
Dr. Alfred Piaget and his wife from USA. They live in Wayne, New Jersey.
Friday, 30th of January, the day before the big final.
The lofts have a wonderful African setting, with baboons and vervet monkeys walking around the Sun City grounds, bee eaters and ibis swooping from tree to tree, and the bushveld undulating away...
View of the entrance into the pigeon loft from the outside
View of the entrance into the pigeon loft from the inside.
A loft just needs to meet some criteria, like good ventilation, dry floors, etc… and that has nothing to do with big and fancy. We also had the honour to meet Andre ( in the middle on the picture ) , one of the 2 loft managers and 8 helpers, he showed us around. For him after the final race, it will be a little more quiet, until May 2009, when new pigeons will come in for the next race.
Inside the pigeon loft.
The trap of the pigeon loft, where pigeons have to pass through in order to get into their loft.
Another view of one of the 5 loft buildings.
One of the loft buildings with the view pigeons wake up to every morning. On the right side you can see the tower where the camera is located on the day of the arrival of the pigeons from the final race, so that thousands of people present in the Super Bowl can closely follow the arrivals.
View of the lofts.
Wolfgang Zimmerman and Nikolaas Gyselbrecht
In the evening all the fanciers present gathered for a welcome dinner.
Patries and Erik Reijnen. They were very satisfied with the organisation of the race and intend to come back next year.
The awards which were presented during the welcome banquet to the people or companies who contributed to the organisation of the race.
Everyone enjoyed the delicious barbecue called braai in South Africa.
Rita (left - wife of Geert Munnik) and Bieke (right - wife of Paul Santens) give us a peak of what was on the menu.
Hall of Treasures where the welcome banquet took place.
Hundreds of pigeon fanciers and their colleagues, family members and friends gathered at Sun Citys Hall of Treasures this evening to toast the official opening of the 2009 SCMDPR.
Sun City Million Dollar Race 2009
Some of the country coordinators receiving awards.
Some of the country coordinators receiving awards.
Awards were presented, not only to the SCMDPRs many sponsors, but also to the key organisers from around the world who make the race possible - the cream of the fancier crop, who hail from places as diverse as China and Denmark.
Britta and an english fancier.
Hermie and Jan Uijen from Unikon from Enschede - The Netherlands. They liked it a lot in Sun City and told us they will come back ! Acknowledgement of Merit to Unikon in recognition of their outstanding effort and excellence to the success of the 2009 Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race.
Hans-Peter & Britta Brockamp.
A group of Belgian friends.
Darren Steven Peters from United Kingdom (racing under Fenland Stud), Nikolaas and Gerard Koopman.
Nikolaas and Celestine Donough, a pigeon fancier from Capetown, who is a real genius. He runs an IT-company and many other businesses. We had many interesting conversations together.
Some of the belgians...
Some of the belgians...
Some of the belgians...
More fanciers having a good time.
More fanciers having a good time.
Joe Strydom on the right. He lives close to Johannesburg and has a company called Pigeon Institute of South Africa for Africa. Nikolaas and Joe got in touch thanks to the total auction PiPa organised for Rik Van Laere. Joe was looking for Norbert Sierens pigeons. The last 8 years he bred 5 organisation winners on the extreme long distance in South Africa. In his area Joe has been in the last 5 years at least 3 times overall champion from middle to long distance.
Many fanciers want to pool on Saturday morning. It is the only time you can pool on other fanciers pigeons.
Saturday, 31st of January, the big day ! The pigeons were liberated at 6h00 am in the morning in good weather circumstances. However there is a light head wind from the north-east. Today between 9h00 and 13h00 am it is possible to bet on all pigeons in the race. Anybody can bet on anyone’s pigeon. From the morning on the bookers have been very busy. It seems like everybody is speculating on the possible winner.
This morning it was also still possible to activate pigeons which have not been activated yet. A little anecdote : a few years ago in the final race, the pigeon that arrived first, had not been activated, so it did not win any prize. It got only the honour. The prize money was therefore given to the next pigeon that arrived.
Waiting for the arrival of the first pigeons in the Super Bowl.
Pigeon fancier friends, waiting for the arrival of the first pigeons in the Super Bowl.
A huge crowd waiting for the arrival of the first pigeons...
Dr. Henk De Weerd and Nikolaas...Any pigeons arriving already ??
Waiting for the first pigeons to arrive.
Henk Jurriens and Gino Clicque, The Netherlands and Belgium united.
Regular visitors to the race coming from China
Dirk and Pascale Jaubin-Jähne from Overijse, Belgium. They started pigeon racing in 2005, helped by Beulens Roger and Raoul, Heverlee and Adrien Demunter & Sons, Zarlardinge. This year reinforced with pigeons from Gerard & Bas Verkerk. An unactivated pigeon arrived after the 55th in the final. Their activated pigeon was 928th in the final. Dirk and Pascale were very satisfied with the organisation and would like to thank August and Frank Daelemans for their work they have done !
A lot of excitement...
The Belgian table with on the right Jacky Martens, owner of a company that takes care of transport of pigeons.
Rik Cools and Filip Norman, the winner of the SCMDPR 2008 !
Ben, on the right, asking Nikolaas questions about PiPa, for his blog on the SCMDPR website (News-section).
Mrs. Filip Norman and Mrs. Rik Cools.
A delegation from Belgium.
Another delegation from Belgium.
Saville & Denise Penkin from Cape Town.
Gerard Koopman and Nikolaas.
Vincent Ellenbroek and Jan Uijen from the Netherlands. It was great they said, we will come back !
Delegation from the Netherlands.
From left to the right: Rolf Berger (8 pigeons in the final race) & Martin Hetzel (4 pigeons in the final race), both fanciers from Germany.
Annette Renner, Elke Marasch & Andreas Marasch from Club Südpfalz Herxheim, Germany.
Peter Meyer & Franz Rieser from Long Distance Club Südpfalz Herxheim, in Germany. This club had in total 47 pigeons participating in the final race!
German fanciers.
African Olive Travel are specialists who are passionate about creating memorable events. They have extensive experience in successfully delivering international & local incentive, conference and special interest group events and we understand the demands associated to it. They helped the SCMDPR with the organisation of the event.
Mr. & Mrs. Dave Clausing. Dave is a legend in the pigeon sport. He was very close on several occasions in the SCMDPR ; in a partnership in 1997 he won 2nd place, then on his own, 3rd place in 2002, first ace pigeon in 1998, two times 2nd overall ACE pigeon, and a country challenge winner for Team USA in 2001, all at Sun City !
On the right Derek Nicholls, organiser of the Europa Classic One Loft Race in United Kingdom and a pigeon fancier friend on the left.
A huge crowd in the Super Bowl.
Gerhard Lucking, Mr. & Mrs. David Lam and Birgit Lucking.
Czech and Slovak delegation.
The first pigeons arrive at the SCMDPR lofts at about 3h17 pm! They were liberated at 6h00 am, so the first pigeon has flown over 9 hours !
The first 3 pigeons arrived...
The first pigeon is entering the loft. Who will be the winner ??
Gerard Koopman is very happy with his 3rd place ! Last year he won the 2nd place. He is starting to be a legend, if he wasnt yet.
Gerard Koopman and on the left his loft manager Kjeld Spithoven.
Geert Munnik and Paul Santens.
TOP 10 of arrivals in the final on the big screen in the Super Bowl.
Gerard Koopman, Fred Harris, David Waterhouse, Steve Harris and Alan Jordaan. Alan Jordaan interviewed two of the top five winners shortly after their pigeons came home. Fred Harris, David Waterhouse and Steve Harris, of the Pompey Boys group, were thrilled by their second place finish, while Gerard Koopman took the third place finish with the pigeon called Good Aim. Father is original De Rauw-Sablon and the mother originates from Mighty Man ( full brother of Kleine Dirk ).
Alan Jordaan on the right interviewing the first South African fancier who had a pigeon home in the final race, Gigi Gaddin.
Gerard Koopman congratulating Norbert De Schrijver and Philippe Brantegem (De Schrijver-Brantegem) who won 34th and 44th place in the final.
This is the Kitchenbrand family with on the left Johan De Beer, business partner of Mark. From left to right : Johan, Mark, father Bill, Billy, Kevin. Father Bill has been flying since 1966. Kevin and Billy since 1998 and Mark since 2003. Mark bought last year the most expensive pigeon ever sold in a one loft race in the world when he bought Birdy for 90,000 euro. As a family the Kitchenbrands have succesfully been flying pigeons since 1907, that means over a 100 years.
Zandy Meyer, the race director, welcomes all the people on the evening of the price award giving.
Award giving dinner.
Boris Bornman, Director of Operations, Sun City.
Trophees
Trophees
On the left loft trainer Andre van Wyk and in the middle Jacques Payne. They are the men responsible for ensuring that the pigeons in the SCMDPR are in top condition. They pracitcally live with their three-thousand-plus fine feathered friends, working on site every day to coax the avian athletes into their best form.
Handing out of awards...
Sun City Million Dollar Race 2009
Sun City Million Dollar Race 2009
Handing out of awards...
From left to right : Micheal Holt, Peter Saayman, Marion Branford & Joane Holt - the SCMDPR organisational team.
Timo Wagner (Germany) accepted fifth prize on behalf of Markus Soellner and his Rising Sun Team.
Enthousiastic UK fanciers, after their victory in the SCMDPR.
Fred Harris, Steve Harris and David Waterhouse (UK ; The Pompey Boys accepting second prize.
For the first time in thirteen years, a pigeon from the United Kingdom has taken the top prize - and the second prize as well, as if that werent enough - leaving rivals Germany with nothing to do but applaud the English effort, along with everyone else. Paul Smith, representing the winners, who were not present, and on the right Zandy Meyer with the cheque of 200,000 US $.
Henk Jurriens, Uwe Fritz, Kjeld Spithoven, Gerard Koopman, Werner Waldo, Paul Smith, Timo Wagner, Fred Harris, David Waterhouse, Steve Harris, Al Piaget and Frank Daelemens.
Frank and August Daelemans did an excellent job ! They are for many years already the coordinators for Belgium for the SCMDPR.
Mark King, a south african fancier.
Britta and Nikolaas. Britta won 71st place in the final with her team ! Congratulations Britta !
Koopmans Good Aim.
The wing of Good Aim.
Before handling the pigeons before the auction, you need to powder your hands.
Nikolaas, Erik Brown ( from Cape Town ) and Geert Munnik.
The man with the microphone is auctioneer Alan Jordaan.
The Super Bowl...the auction is going to start! A lot of people are present.
The winning pigeon !
Chinese fancier Li Zhongjin scooped up four of the first five pigeons to come home in yesterdays race, paying R60 000 ( at this moment 12 rand equals approximately 1 euro, but the exchange rate fluctuates a lot )for East of Eden, the blue bar cock with pearl eyes that won the $200 000 first prize.
Mark Kitchenbrand just bought Good Aim of Koopman Racing Team, who finished 3rd in the final race.
David Lam from Hong Kong and his wife. David is bidding one of the pigeons in the TOP 100 of the final race. These first 100 are auctioned the first day after arrival. The other pigeons are auctioned in different ways.
Houben Family won 6th place in the final and became 1st belgian, congratulations Luc & Cindy !
Daughter of the auctioneer Tarryn Jordaan.
pipaadmin - 03/02/2009
Tags: million dollar race