And following on from their previous 1st National, provisional 121st International from Narbonne just a few days earlier, the Perpignan National winning pigeon once again flew 596 miles to the loft of Geoff and Clayton Preece in Dover, and they also put up a very impressive team performance.
Geoff & Clayton Preece (all photos courtesy of Chris Sutton)
Their 1st Open BICC winner now called “Sunny Jim”, is a blue white flight cock raced on a widowhood system. Perpignan 2019 is his second International this season and he has flown the channel six times including BICC Cholet 300 miles and Messac 270 miles with the Kent Combine two weeks before being sent to St Vincent 533 miles. He was 5th BICC National from St Vincent, returning in very good condition and rested in preparation for Perpignan. As a yearling he flew the channel ten times but only up to 250 miles and he crossed the channel twice as a young bird, so he has already completed nineteen channel crossings. The sire is a direct Bernd Morsnowski and the Dam is a direct Stoffel, which also bred their day bird from Mont De Marsan in 2017, being 10th BICC National.
Sunny Jim
I asked why there are German pigeons in the bloodlines, as most in the UK would think Holland was the place to go to acquire long distance birds. He agreed to an extent but went on to explain that in his opinion, due to the zone system in Germany, he considered zone three to be the right distance and terrain to select birds best suited for the Internationals in the UK. “You have to forget about the channel” Clayton added, “I suppose it is there and nothing can be done about that, but some fanciers talk themselves out of racing the Internationals by considering the channel to be a disadvantage when in fact, with the right conditions, it has not stopped the UK getting a day bird and many Internationals are won on the second day, into Holland and Germany flying 700 miles or more”.
They must be on the right track, because as well as winning their second BICC National of the season, within days of the first from Narbonne, they also put up a super team performance from Perpignan at 596 miles. Of the eleven pigeons they entered, they timed six on the winning day, with nine of the team in the clock when I visited them. Their second bird home being 9th BICC Perpignan is a granddaughter of “Jack Jones” and also won 6th BICC Barcelona 2019 then rested until Perpignan. Their third being 11th BICC Perpignan is a grandson of “Jack Jones” and was 107th BICC Agen 2019 was being prepared for Narbonne but held for Perpignan. FR17 310895 was 15th BICC Perpignan 2019 which is a two year old September bred pigeon from the loft of Rezenthel frères. Next home was GB17D10211, 16th BICC Perpignan 2019 also a granddaughter of “Jack Jones” and “Wiggins” was 81st BICC Agen 2019 and rested until Perpignan, she is half sister to “Nellie” 1st Open BICC Narbonne 2019. Yet another grandchild of “Jack Jones” was 20th BICC Perpignan 2019, 43rd BICC Pau 2019 and 18th BICC St Vincent 2019, he has returned in great condition from his three Internationals this year although he had some secondary’s missing from Perpignan. The 792 was the next one home, being 26th BICC Perpignan which completed his 12th International race, followed by GB17D10231 being 27th BICC Perpignan 2019 and is 100% Bernd Morsnowski, also 12th BICC Perpignan as a yearling in 2018, 39th BICC Pau 2019, 30th BICC St Vincent 2019 and then 27th BICC Perpignan 2019 which is a strong season for this 2 year old, and finally for this team FR17 310977 41st BICC Perpignan 2019 and is called “Pou-Pou” being a gift from the loft of Rezenthel Frères. This hen has also done three Internationals this year including 94th BICC Pau 2019, 2nd BICC St Vincent 2019 and 41st BICC Perpignan, a super conclusion to her 2019 race season.
The National winners