Steve Slade
First and second open, first and second section C went to S Slade of Calne on 1646.8ypm and 1464.4ypm respectively. Steve started racing with his father when he was sixteen years old and since 1980 he has raced on his own, although his dad still races at the age of ninety-two. Steve's main family of birds are Janssen and Busschaert based, which have performed well at the sprint and middle distances. Steve's first on the clock was Curtis, which was bred in the race loft from Stevie G, the Central Southern Classic Flying Club's champion old bird in 2015. Stevie G was paired to Maegan, which won first section, tenth open BBC and first section, eighth open CSCFC, both from Messac. Second to time was Charlie, bred in the stock loft, the sire of which came from Paul Stephens of Radstock and the dam from Frank Quinn.
Dean & Tracy Peart
Mr and Mrs Dean Peart from Gloucester had two come together and took third and fourth section C, third and sixth open on 1425ypm and 1392ypm. Dean and Tracy had ten out of the eighteen they sent within the hour. First on the clock was a chequer cock which will probably be in the top ten of the Central Southern Classic Flying Club open result from Guernsey the week before Countances. The sire of this cock won first club, second combine and came from J Whitaker of Brambly Lofts. The dam came from a grandson of M and D Evans' Shadow.
John Hallam's hen
John Hallam of Dukinfield timed on 1409.5ypm to take first section E and fourth open. John timed a youngster raced on the darkness sytem and bred from a Bruggeman crossed with his old family of birds.
Paul & Charlie Beckett
Second section E and fifth open was timed on 1409ypm for Mr and Mrs Beckett and Sons from Dunston. The partners timed a Soontjen hen bred from birds they obtained from A Roper of Penkridge. This hen was raced up to 150 miles in preparation for Countances.
D Harris of Newport was third section E and seventh open on 1385ypm.
Graham Clift from Tirley was fifth section C and eighth open on 1379ypm.
Joe Deville's hen
J Deville of Camberley timed on 1374ypm to take first section D and ninth open. Joe timed a youngster containing Van Dyck x Huybrecgts bloodlines and sent sitting day old squeakers. All the youngsters are put on the darkness sytem until the second week in June, when they are then allowed three weeks of exercise around the loft prior to training. The maximum training toss is around 25 miles and they are then kept at that distance until the first race.
Brian & Dick Chitty
Completing the top ten and in second section D on 1365ypm are the Chitty Brothers from Kings Langley. The brothers started racing with their father back in 1954 and have been in their current partnership since 1986, the year they switched from north road to south road racing. Brian and Dick's timer was sent to the Spelthorne open race on the Wednesday and then sent to Countances with the BBC the following day. It was purchased on one of Brian's trips to Holland and came from Lelieveld van der Locht.
Around the sections
James Fulford with Ben & Katie
J Fulford of Salisbury was first and third section A on 1397.8ypm and 1293ypm. Having recently moved house, James is starting to breed a new team of pigeons. The birds he timed from Countances were Michael Van Lint x A E Shepherd x Gaby Vandenabeele.
Darling & Ede
Darling and Ede from Southampton were second section A on 1297.4ypm. Tony and Darren clocked an Andreas Drapa hen bred from birds they purchased at his 2013 auction through Les Green.
Nick Smith
Mr and Mrs N Smith of Salisbury timed on 1285ypm to take first section B. Nicholas and Christine clocked a chequer hen sent sitting twelve day eggs. The sire was a gift bird from Andy Parsons of Salisbury and came from his Nethercott lines. The dam came from Mark Gilbert and is a granddaughter of Southfield Supreme, the Dax international winner.
Mark & Julie Gower
Second section B was clocked by Mr and Mrs Mark Gower of Fordingbridge on 1266ypm. Mark and Julie timed a hen bred from a Noel Perein cock that is closely related to Noel's Barcelona national winner this season. This cock was paired to a hen from Joe Murphy's fourth open Scottish national Alençon winner. Flown on the natural system, flying back to her perch, this was this hen's first competitive race having only been trained previously this season.
M Ward of Blandford was third section B on 1263ypm.
Third section D was won by Mr and Mrs Ken Hine of Hayes on 1330ypm.
Khan Brothers' hen
Khan Brothers from New Malden were first section G on 1250ypm. The brothers timed a dark hen sent showing to her cock, both parents being bred by Ace Lofts out of their L ring bloodlines.
Tony Welch
Mr and Mrs T Welch from Chichester were second section G on 1133ypm. Tony clocked a chequer hen bred to fly the middle distance and on its third channel race of the season. Previously this hen was third federation from Guernsey, with eight hundred and seventy-one pigeons competing.
Clocking his youngster on 1091ypm, Mike Armitage of Ash took third section G.
That concludes the report on the provisional result of the British Barcelona Club young bird race from Coutances.