I was talking with another French fancier (he will recognize himself) the week before the race, he told me that seeing the weather forecasts given for the weekend (warm weather and north wind), the Margris loft was the great favourite for the final victory. He didn't know he was totally right! Margris was indeed the strongest in the race. And not only thanks to his victory. Because it was a real demonstration done by Alexandre. The maestro showed once again what he was able to do, with this a five star performance, moreover in very tough flying conditions. It was a little bit before three o'clock that Alexandre experienced the joy of seeing the arrival of his champion christened Real de Lou'. Seeing the flying conditions and seeing the fact that it was his best pigeon coming home first, Alexandre directly knew he was in with a chance of victory. Clocked at 14h59'01, Real de Lou had an advancage of more than five minutes over his closest opponent, another pigeon from the loft clocked at 15h04'06. What a great performance!
30/05 St Junien (493 km) - 6,815 old birds: 1, 2, 26, 67, 118, 139, 141, 194, 255, 275, 313, 454, 486, (13/15) 30/05 St Junien (493 km) - 3,314 yearlings: 10, 11, 12, 24, 80, 138, 161, 176, 434, 481, 612, 717, (12/23) 30/05 St Junien (493 km) - 1,211 hens: 1, 3, 4, 7, 52, 55, 59, 95, 170, 190, 248, 267, 289, 295 (14/18)
The tenth
In France, it's in the north of the country, next to the Belgian borders, that most of the fanciers are living. It's not uncommon to see some races with several thousands of pigeons for an area as large as Belgium. The best example of this is the race we are talking about now, St Junien, with a total amount of 10,129 pigeons. And in these competitions, Alexandre Margris is the best of all. His federal victory from St Junien is the tenth of his career. Truly exceptional. The record of the country. In France, nobody has ever done better and nobody will probably do better. With his ten federal victories and his numerous titles of national champion in France, Alexandre Margris exerts a real supremacy on the French pigeon sport, the right reward for his hard work, 365 days out of 365. Truly deserved.
1st Poitiers 10,980 youngsters'11 (449 km)
1st St Junien 8,415 old birds '14 (493 km & highest speed from 11,972 pigeons)
1st Poitiers 7,174 old birds '14
1st Poitiers 6,984 old birds '13 (highest speed from 10,180 pigeons)
1st St Junien 6,815 old birds '15 (highest speed from 10,129 pigeons)
1st Poitiers 3,689 youngsters'14
1st Poitiers 3,541 yearlings '14 (highest speed from 10,715 pigeons)
1st St Junien 3,087 yearlings '12
1st Limoges 2,920 olds '10 (489 km & highest speed from 9,127 pigeons)
1st St Junien 2,434 youngsters'12 (highest speed from 9,399 pigeons)
It's even more impressive to know that these 10 victories were won in only six years since 2010. What could we add?
The winner, Real De Lou (FR12-306658)
It's a pigeon with an impressive performance list that won the race from St Junien. In fact, at the beginning of the 2015 season, Real de Lou represented his country during the Olympiad in Budapest in the All Round category. What a pigeon!
2nd Olympic Pigeon France Cat All Round Budapest 2015 2nd National Ace Pigeon + 400 km 2013 2nd Europa Cup Yearlings Brno 2013 4th National Ace Pigeon + 400 km 2014 1st St Junien 6,815 pigeons (493 km) 2nd Jarnac 5,082 pigeons (529 km) 2nd Poitiers 3,206 pigeons (497 km) 2nd Bergerac 1,227 pigeons (612 km) 2nd Limoges 756 pigeons (489 km) 3rd Blois 968 pigeons (302 km) 3rd Angoulême 606 pigeons (541 km) 4th Le Mans 591 pigeons (284 km) 5th Tulle 539 pigeons (556 km)
Click here to check the pedigree of the winner.
Click here to check the whole performance list of the winner.
When the flying conditions are tough (hot weather and north wind), the Margris pigeons are almost unbeatable in this kind of race. It was proven again the following week with an exceptional demonstration done by the old pigeons and a small team of yearlings in the race from Bourges:
07/06 Bourges (352 km) - 1,031 old birds: 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 15, 30, 41, 74, 150, 213, 242 (14/18) 07/06 Bourges (352 km) - 765 yearlings: 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 33, 104 (7/8)
Here again, the winner is not a stranger as it is currently one of the best pigeons in the racing team.
Click here to check his pedigree.
Alexandre, congratulations on this awesome double victory and your tenth victory, probably the most beautiful of all.You are at the top of your game, we are convinced that the next victory is only a question of time! Good luck for the rest of the season.