Lee & Kevin Buddle (photo courtesy of Chris Sutton)
First section G and first open was won by Lee and Kevin Buddle of Dover. The Buddle's timed a second bird to take fourth section G and seventeenth open. The Buddle's winner is a four year old cock that they call Triple 2. After being paired early in February and raising a pair of babies his hen was taken away after sitting between five and eight days on their second round. He was then flown on the partner's widowhood x roundabout system where the cocks and hens only get to see each other for an hour or two in returning from races. They are only put together before basketing for the international races. Triple 2 is a direct son of Mike and Amoy, both previous prolific racers for the partners as you can see below.
Mike (photo courtesy of Chris Sutton)
Amoy (photo courtesy of Chris Sutton)
Take a look at the pedigree of Triple 2 here...
Mark Gilbert (photo courtesy of Chris Sutton)
Mark Gilbert of Windsor timed four pigeons to take first, second, third and fourth section D and second, third, fourth and fifth open. Mark timed a further pigeons to also take fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth and tenth section D and ninth, tenth, sixteenth, nineteenth and twentieth open. Mark's first arrival was a three year old cock that has been a consistent racer and is a half brother to last year's Barcelona winner Southfield Hugo. His sire is a son of New Witenbuk, and the dam is from New Laureaat. Second to time for Mark was a four year old hen that has never failed in an international race having flown well from St Vincent, Perpignan, Pau and Barcelona in past seasons.
Tony Stephens' hen
A Stephens of Poole clocked to take first section B and sixth open. Tony is a previous Blue Riband winner and the bird he timed from Barcelona was the only one he sent, a chequer hen that as a yearling was fifty-second open from Pau withb the Central Southern Classic Flying Club. Her last race before Barcelona was the BBC Cholet race where she finished 208th open. This hen was bred from birds purchased from the House of Aarden stud.
Simon Knowles
F Knowles and Son of Canterbury were seventh open and second section G. They also clocked a second pigeon to also take second section G and thirteenth open. Simon's first bird was a chequer hen flying celibate. It was a grnd-daughter of Elsid (third, sevententh, twenty-eighth and forty-fifth open Barcelona) and Foxy Lady (fourth, fifth, and ninth open Perpignan) Simon's second pigeon was a blue cock, also flying celibate and a grandson of 32 which was ninth open from Barcelona in 2010 and 33, a blue hen that was third open from Marseille.
The Etherington Family
J R Etherington of Waterlooville was eighth open and first section A. He also timed another two pigeons to take second and third section A and twelfth and twenty-first open. Both of his first two timers have the same dam, but different sires and all were hens. The parents of all his winning hens came from George Burgess of Wraysbury for which Jim sends his thanks.
Jim Etherington's hens
Around the sections
Stewart & Janet Guys' hens
Mr and Mrs S Guy of Tadley were seventh section D and fourteenth open with a four year old, blue bar hen. Stewart and Janet purchased several birds from an auction sale which included the Jim Biss, Fear Brothers and Ken Hine bloodlines back in 2011 as they were looking to fly the distance. Their winning hen was bred down from these purchases and has had numerous races inland and from the continent in preparation for Barcelona.
Rob Brooks
Brooks Brothers and Wilcox of High Littleton were first section C and fifteenth open.The Partners timed Mendip Mo, who was previously third section and twenty-third open from Barcelona last year. The sire was fifth open from Pau and the dam is a sister to two section winners from Pau.
Richard Mauger
R Mauger of Guernsey was first section H and eleventh open. Richard clocked a Deweerdt x, the sire of which was purchased from a D & D McFadden sale. This hen flew the race programme as far as Bordeaux last season and this year she has flown St Malo, Rennes and Cholet. She was raced on the roundabout system.
That concludes the report on the British Barcelona Club race from Barcelona, held in conjunction with the international.