Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race: Loft Report - Hot Spot Car Race 4

After a very rainy week, which brought about some training flights where the pigeon encountered rain, a no longer strange phenomena for our team of pigeons, Dave van der Merve put the pigeons up as 05:30 in clear weather. Whether the river in full flow on the outskirts of the sleepy town of Christiana influenced the orientation of the the pigeons is anyone’s guess. He reported that in perfect conditions the pigeons were set free with the bulk breaking in the direction of Sun City but that a group of about a thousand headed directly south, exactly the opposite direction of home. As they were packing up, he kept an eye in the direction that the misguided had taken and after 40 minutes a group of approximately 200 were seen going hell for leather back to Sun City.

As the sun rose in the sky so did the temperature. The winds remained a light steady North Easterly putting the wind on their noses which, added to the 344km, would be ideal for the stamina building needed for the final.

Back at the lofts overcast weather conditions provided a pleasant morning for the many that had gathered to await the arrival of the pigeons. Local fancier, Jan Venter, who has flown Christiana on many occasions at this time of the year, forecast that the pigeons would do well to exceed 70kph and that it was not uncommon for the young pigeons to take between six and seven hours.

At 10:11 a small batch doing 73kph (45 miles per hour) using the east in the wind made a perfect landing without a turn, completing the journey in well under five hours. The fanciers present were expressing hope that the pronking cock ushering the pigeons over the traps was not theirs, as his antics put him out of the running for the motor car. They need not have fretted as 29 December turned out to be a red letter day for the inhabitants of the land of stars and stripes.

Winner of the car with the unlikely name BB31 of Team Elite from the USA scooped the first prize. This pigeon is clearly worthy of a longer calibre as that of the BB pellet gun, if indeed this is the derivative of its name. Hot on its heels was countryman RMC Lofts with their Double Delight. Germany’s Heinz Wilms’ Sergent Diable in third position prevented the USA taking the top 3 by edging out entry Replacement of Gallo and Placeta Lofts into fourth place. This race was spectacular for the USA as they placed seven pigeons in the top 20. Czech Republic announced their intentions with a fifth, 16th and 19th position, aptly lead by the Kubacek Kodl team as martin Kodl on a previous occasion placed all three his entries in the top 250 on a final. Australia lead the Southern Hemisphere challenge with two in the top 20. The nice mix of countries in the result indicates that 2012 will certainly not be a one horse race.

Were it not for a minute we could very well have seen a remarkable double in that previous car winners N + A Evans from the UK needed this small margin to see this happen. UK’s Manchester Maestro continues to sparkle with their magnificent Plutology continuing to excel winning a Hot Spot as well as dominating in the nomination races.

What a pity the bad weather conditions at Sun City in the late afternoon changed and just before 19:00 the drizzle and intermittent rain progressed into a full bloom Highveld storm with thunder and lightning.

With the vast majority of the pigeons getting 450km (281 miles) plus under their belts, Hot Spot Car Race 5 should be an exciting eventful spectacle.

We wish all a very healthy, peaceful and successful New Year.