Home to 4 x 1st International winners,
plus 2 x 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th,10th,12th, 16th, International positions,
8 x 1st National, 75 provincial (section) wins.
Geoff and Catherine Cooper live at Peasedown St John in the South West of the UK. They have been at the top of UK International and National racing for over thirty years. Very little club racing takes place, they prefer the greater challenge of International and National racing which are all overseas and enjoy competing against fanciers from countries like Belgium, Holland, France and Germany. The only club racing they compete in is for preparation for an International or National.
racing overseas into the South West of the UK is very hard due to predominately west winds.
These hard conditions have not stopped Geoff and Catherine’s love of overseas racing and they have developed a family which is recognised as one of the top families in the Europe for racing at speed across the seas in the hard International and Nationals.
Copy the link to a short video of Farmer George. https://fb.watch/g-ziD-UX1n/
Farm Darkie and lady of the Night are two top racers, now retired to stock
The last few years have been far from normal for UK pigeon fanciers, Brexit, Covid and bird flu meant that racing was either postponed or restricted to racing within the UK.
For Geoff and Catherine Cooper, whose main aim is the International races, where they have won 4 x 1st International, this was a huge disappointment.
In 2021 the old birds, yearlings and young birds were flown North, with the final races from Scotland. Although this was a turn around in the opposite direction, the birds adapted well and scored many top positions including 2nd Classic, 3rd National and the Best Average for the two longest Classic Races.
Only one International old bird race could be entered in 2022, this was from Tarbes where the birds won 1st, 2nd, 4th Provincial 7th, 10th and 32nd National.
This year the young birds had only one sea race where they won 1st, 3rd, 4th, 8th, 9th,10th, 11th, 12th and 14th Provincial in the Classic
To add further interest they once again entered some birds in the Victoria Falls One loft Race. Although the birds as a family are not expirienced in One Loft Racing they put up some excellent performances, with only small teams entered.
Following on from 2020 Victoria Falls series of races, where they won 5th in the very hard Hotspot 4 and 3rd, 49th positions in the final, and 2021 where in the final Enduro race a grandchild of Farmer George and Wollongong won 8th, and the nestmate won 60th Super Ace Bird. This year they had another good result with 55th final and 46th Super Ace.
The dam of Cooper BK winner of 6th final for Pipa Breeding was the hen that won 3rd final 2021 and is 100% Cooper blood.
The photo shows 1st and 7th Open BICC Perpignan International for Paul Basham, 1st and 2nd CS Perpignan 2022.
Having both been raced on roundabout all season on the north, they were turned south into St Philbert, followed by Poitiers with the BICC after which all birds were left to run together. These two chose one another and were both sent sitting 10 days. The 1st bird is the cheq hen now named ‘Lioness’. She has the heart of a Lion! Clocked at 10:53, Flying 607 miles on a very tough day and recording 849 ypm and well placed in the International result. Her sire is a grandchild of Geoff and Catherine Cooper’s Farmer George x Farm Ivy and also Mark Gilbert’s Southfield Darkie. A full brother to the dam of Burseldene Brian, who was 1st Classic, 1st National BICC Poitiers. Her Dam is a dgt of Pennine Heights.
Paul timed his second bird at 13:33 and the sire of this cock is bred by Jelle Jellema. The dam is a direct daughter of G&C Coopers base breeder ‘George’.
A video of Geoff talking about the birds.
Copy the link https://fb.watch/g-y3LLSlPu/
Armando, Wollongong and their two children.
2019 national racing.
Geoff and Catherine Cooper compete in a series of national races as a prelude to the international race programme. Starting at distances of 300 km through to 500 km these races are vital to give the international team the hours on the wing necessary to fly the international races which are all over 800 km. Other winners 2019 with Cooper birds. The winner of the Cholet national was J and D Staddon who timed a grandson of Wollongong. Paul Basham was the sixth fancier to clock in this national race and he timed a grandson of Farmer George and Ivy. This success of other lofts with Cooper birds follows on from last seasons Grand national winner from Tarbes for J Wearn who timed a grandchild of George.
The results for 2019.
2019 section results.
BICC National Falaise. 2,4,6,7,8.
BICC National Alencon. 1,10,12.
BICC National Cholet. 1,7.
NFC National Messac. 6,17.
BICC National Poitiers. 4,5,7,8,9,12.
BICC National Pau Int. 1,2,5.
BICC National Agen Int. 3,8,10.
BICC National St Vincent Int. 2
BICC National Perpignan Int. 2.
2019 National results
BICC National Poitiers. 4,8,13,14,19,23.
BICC National Pau Int. 31,36,60.
BICC National Agen Int. 8,49,53.
BICC National St Vincent Int 19.
Geoff holding Farm Darkie, 3rd BICC national St Vincent Int. and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, section in national racing.
3 x 1st section in national racing.
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Co-breeding with Wollongong at Hugo Battenburg’s
Geoff and I set off to Holland to visit Hugo Batenburg and take with us Wollongong our 1st International Pau winner to co breed with the Special One 1st Int and other top Barcelona International winners plus Armando.
George the most influential breeder in our loft and in lofts all over the world.
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Super breeding pair 1st International x 1st International
Farmer George fastest of 22,029 birds Bordeaux Int by 47 minutes, a grandson of George
Wollongong 1st Pau Int 8576 birds by 32 minutes, bred from a sister to George.
Another Super breeding pair!
Farmer Gong, a 2014 son of Farmer George and Wollongong, and Forrest Queen, both bred from 1st International winners, have already proved to a super breeding pair! Their first year of breeding they bred Farmer Forrest,1st Classic Countances 230kms and in their second year they bred Farm Lady of the Night,1st section (provincial) 3rd National St Vincent International 850+ kms, the St Vincent race was flown in a strong west wind and this yearling hen was the only bird in the section on the day flying against the wind and arriving in the dark!!
Two years breeding, producing two top pigeons!!!
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Georgeson, a son of George has bred many top performers.
Including Scotty 3 x 1st national section, The Pau Cock 2017 won 1st section, 3rd National from Pau International and 8th National Falaise plus many more.
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Darkie a top breeding son of George.
Darkie is a son of George and has bred 2nd International Bordeaux yearlings for Mark Gilbert, and has produced many top birds, including Farm Darkie 3rd National section, 31st National from Pau International, 1st National section and 3rd National St Vincent International.
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Below are six top International and National winning birds, all in the breeding loft,
all bred and raced by Geoff and Catherine Cooper.
2018 Racing
Info courtesy of the British International Club press reports.
Falaise National
This is a wind map for the Falaise National, showing how hard the racing over the Channel can be. The red dot shows our loft. This wind pattern was repeated many times in the 2018 season.
With the wind against them, it was always going to be a tough day out into the West of the club, and so it proved with just the first 4 verifications breaking 1100YPM. Four birds all landed together, racing well to the loft, to be 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th section. Of the four birds, two were grandsons of “Farmer George” 1st International Bordeaux and two were grandsons of “George” 1st NFC Tarbes.
Anyone of them could have been first but only one can be and the first clocked was a two year-old cock whose sire is a son of “Farmer George”, 1st International Bordeaux when paired to a daughter of “George” 1st NFC Tarbes. His dam is a half-sister to Farm Boomerang who is an excellent racer.
The second bird on the clock is another two-year-old cock, the sire is a son of Marseille 09, 1st International Marseille, the dam is a daughter of “George” 1st NFC Tarbes she is also a half-sister to “Carla Page” 16th International Pau.
Third on the clock is a four-year-old cock called “Farm Boomerang”. He has been a consistent racer, being in the top few of the section many times from the International races and twice having won the Greater Distance Single Bird nomination race from Agen International. Boomerang’s sire is “Euro Star” and his dam is a daughter of “George” 1st NFC Tarbes.
Fourth timed was a three-year-old cock, his sire is son of “Farmer George” 1st International Bordeaux and his dam is a daughter of “Misty”, another top racer winning several top 10 National prizes including 1st Section St Vincent.
To summerise, two grandchildren of George and two grandchildren of Farmer George scored in this race.
Alencon National
The Cooper team came out on top, scoring 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th Section.
The first bird clocked to be 1st section was actually the second bird home, two arrived together, the cock, slightly ahead of the hen but unfortunately a stray on the roof took his fancy so the hen was first through the trap!!
The hen timed is a two-year-old raced widowhood, called Farm Solo she is bred from a son of George 1st National Tarbes when he was paired to a sister of Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux. Her dam is a daughter of Starlight 2nd International Tarbes. So far this year she has had every race, this being her second channel race of the season. Last year as a yearling she flew through to St Vincent International 535 miles.
The cock, raced widowhood, is also a two-year-old, his sire is a son of the Marseille cock, 1st National Marseille and his dam is Jazz, a daughter of George and a full sister to the dam of Farmer George.
This cock had the same preparation as the hen, this being his second channel race. Last year he won 1st Fougeres and flew through to Poitiers National 360 miles.
Both clocked are grandchildren of George.
Cholet National
We were sat in the garden with good friend Baz Nicol when at just over 55 mph a two-year old dark cock landed on the trap. We clocked a son of “Farmer George”, 1st International Bordeaux and “Wollongong”, 1st International Pau. He was very wet when he landed, yet we clocked a second pigeon, a hen 28 seconds later which was completely dry! The second pigeon clocked was a two-year-old granddaughter of “George”, 1st Grand National Tarbes and “Misty”, a multiple top prize winner.”
One a son of Farmer George x Wollongong, the other a granddaughter of George.
Agen National flown with the International
More big-hitters are in 3rd Section, also claiming 16th National, Geoff and Catherine Cooper. Geoff and Catherine clocked a two-year-old chequer white flight cock who is a full brother to Farm Solo, the hen which won 2nd section Pau International last week. The sire is a son of the Marseille cock and the dam is very good breeding daughter of George 1st Grand National Tarbes who is responsible for many top winners. Flown widowhood he has had all BICC National races where he has always been consistent. Catherine tells me he has previously won club and combine positions.
Another success for a grandchild of George.
Pau National flown with the International
Taking 2nd, 27th and 31st National and 1st, 2nd, 3rd West Section are the Cooper partnership.
Once again, from these long-distance race points in the west of France, Geoff and Catherine have come to the fore! Superb flying once again and excellent information provided by Catherine.
We knew we were in for a hard race when we saw the wind had turned north westerly over our side of the channel but still we were hopeful of a day bird. It wasn’t to be, but after an early start at 4am, Geoff, Paul Weems, Baz Nichol and myself were thrilled to see a two-year-old chequer hen called Farm Solo drop onto the landing board from Pau, 561 miles. She must have crossed the channel the night before but not enough daylight left for her to make the journey up to us. A few weeks ago, this game little hen was also 1st section from Alencon with the BICC, so 2 x 1st sections this year!! As a yearling she flew the programme through to St Vincent International 533 miles. Her sire is a son of George, 1st National Tarbes and a great breeder when George was paired to a sister of Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux. Her dam is a daughter of Starlight 2nd International Tarbes.
2nd bird home and second section was another 2-year-old chequer hen, her sire is a son of 1st National Marseille. The dam is a daughter of George, a full sister to the dam of Farmer George. She also flew through to St Vincent last year.
The third pigeon to drop and also third section was a three-year-old chequer cock called Farm Darkie, his sire is Darkie, a son of George who also bred Mark Gilbert’s 2nd International winner from Agen.
Darkie was paired to the dam of Stellar another great racer. Again, this cock flew St.Vincent International as a yearling. We timed 7 of our 11 entries on the winning day, and all flew St Vincent International last year.
The first three in the section were grandchildren of George.
St Vincent National flown with the International
Geoff and Catherine Cooper clocked for 1st West Section, 3rd Open and clocked a 2nd pigeon for 2nd West Section, 24th Open. Catherine has sent me the following information on two great birds to be clocked.
“We timed a three-year-old chequer cock called Farm Darkie to win 1st section, 3rd National St Vincent International. The cock was flown widowhood, as are all the birds, cocks and hens.
The sire of this bird is Darkie, a son of George who won 1st Grand National Tarbes and has been a super breeder, responsible for many top performers. Darkie also bred 2nd International Agen for Mark Gilbert. His dam is also the dam of Stellar who had won 3rd National Agen. This cocks last race was Pau International 561 miles, 904 kms where he was 3rd Section.
2nd section was another three-year-old cock. His sire is a son of George and his dam is a daughter of Farmer George. His last race was also Pau International. This is the fourth year in a row that we have won 1st section from St Vincent International.
Once again, both birds are grandsons of George.
Young bird racing.
Not many races were flown but still we managed to take the first four in the Federation and 1st club prizes. In the young bird National we were 2nd section from Coutances in France.
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George’s children’s success as breeder in other lofts continues.
In 2018 the winner of the Tarbes Grand National was a grandchild of George.
In 2017 2nd Tarbes Grand National was a grandchild of George.
In 2016 4th Tarbes Grand National was also a grandchild of George.
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2017 racing
Pau International with the British International Championship Club. 1st, 2nd and 3rd section, the only three in the section on the day.
Winning third National on 1089 mpm and topping the West section is another three year old racing all the way into the West Country 562 miles, against the prevailing west wind to the loft of multiple National and International winners, Geoff and Catherine Cooper of Peasedown St John, a truly outstanding performance given the prevailing conditions, the two birds beating it were both flying over 100 miles to the east. Geoff and Catherine had timed at 19.21 to win 1st section Pau 2017.
The first bird timed was a three year old son of Georgeson, son of George and Gina, dam of Wollongong, making him a half brother to Wollongong 1st International Pau and a Grandson of George 1st Grand National Tarbes. He has previously won 8th National Falaise and 17th Classic Coutances.
The second bird was a 2 year old Blue hen, a daughter of EuroStar, a son of Euro Diamond and Dark Cathay who is a daughter of George 1st Grand National Tarbes. She is a sister to many good pigeons including 1st Ace bird Europe Wuhan Golden Sands Derby and 1st Greater Distance club Agen.
The third bird was a three year old hen, she is a grand daughter of Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux and George 1st Open NFC and King’s Cup from Tarbes. She raced well as a young bird but hadn’t been raced again until this year. The sire was a son of George and the dam is out of Farmer George. All the birds are flown widowhood and all are grandchildren of George.
Agen International.
The winner in the West section and taking 4th National on 998 mpm for the 512 mile course was a 5 year old widowhood cock racing to the Peasedown St John lofts of the multi National and International winning partnership of Geoff and Catherine Cooper. This one must have broken away from the main drag of International pigeons very early on, as he is way out on his own to the West of the early UK timers. Geoff and Catherine timed a five year old chequer widowhood cock, named Farmer Sparey, after Mark Sparey of Wales who fancied this bird when he visited a couple of years ago. The Cooper’s were waiting with friend Baz Nicol who wanted to watch the International birds home, thankfully he didn’t have a wasted journey. The cock was paired at the beginning of February and reared one young bird. Prior to racing he and the rest of the birds had two training tosses of 20 miles, then just loft exercise twice a day. He was going to go to Pau International but the day before basketting he was bleeding badly from a cut on the front of his neck so he was rested and sent to Agen instead. He has won many prizes including 1st Combine Bordeaux and 2nd section Poitiers National earlier this year. Farmer Sparey is a grandson son of George 1st NFC Tarbes. The Dam of Farmer Sparey was bred by Clive Lister and is a grand daughter of Brockamp’s George
St Vincent International
A truly remarkable pigeon, racing far into the West Country against the wind and rain to the Peasedown St John, Bath loft of Geoff and Catherine Cooper is Farm Lady of the Night, she was 1st west section [only bird on day] and 3rd National. The hen arrived as the light was rapidly fading.
“We were waiting in the rain and beginning to think we wouldn’t be timing on the day as it was getting dark when a yearling hen dropped onto the roof, we didn’t see her approach the loft as the light wasn’t good enough. She is a granddaughter of three different International winners, Farmer George, Wollongong and Forest Junior. She is a full sister to last year’s Classic winner Farmer Forest. She is now named Farm Lady of the Night as it was so dark when she arrived. She was flown widowhood. As a young bird she only had five races to 89 miles and as a yearling she had some club and BICC races including Poitiers 359 miles then an inland race of 89 miles and two weeks off and into St Vincent.” The sire of this hen is called Farmer Gong as he is out of Farmer George and Wollongong.
Geoff and Catherine timed a second pigeon next morning to finish at 3 rd west section 28th National on the provisional result. This one is a two year old dark chequer cock which was 11th West of England SR Combine Saintes 394 miles three weeks before St Vincent. Once again he was flown widowhood. His sire is Darkie a top breeding son of George 1st Grand National Tarbes. Darkie also bred 2nd International Bordeaux for Mark Gilbert. The dam is also the dam of Farm Stellar who won 2nd national Falaise and 3rd National 328th Agen International. The Cooper production line of top class long distance racers goes on and on and on and……
1st Greater Distance Single Bird
Agen International is a popular race for the BICC and the Greater Distance single bird, this year again had a good entry.
In first postion was Geoff and Catherine Cooper from Peasedown St John, with a three year old pigeon called Farm Boomerang, flying 512 miles.
He is called Boomerang because one of Catherine’s good friends Lesley had a pigeon called Boomerang, what her father Tony Herrington, who used to race in the UNC gifted her when she was a young girl, so to help keep the memory of Boomerang alive, Farm Boomerang was named after Lesley’s bird.
This is the second time Farm Boomerang has won this race, winning it last year as a two year old. He was sent to the race on widowhood as are all the Cooper’s race birds.
He has scored as a young bird right through to a three year old. As a young bird he was 6th National Falaise, as a yearling 2nd section National Flying Club Saintes, 11th West of England SR Combine Fougeres, as a two year old he won the GDSB from Agen International and 2nd section in the same race.
His a grandson of Euro Diamond and a grandson of George, 1st Grand National Tarbes. His full sister was clocked this year from Mont de marsan (Pau) International 2nd section beaten by a loft mate and clocked on the night.
2016 racing.
Farmer Forrest1st Classic Coutances.
1st Classic Coutances 2016
A report from the secretary of the Classic
Warmest congratulations go to our winners who need no introduction Geoff & Catherine Cooper from Peasedown St John who lead the winning velocities by 63 yards. They were waiting in the garden, sat out in the sun instead of sheltering from the cold and rain in the loft, not sure when the birds would arrive. It was one of those days that was hard to predict. They thought 55 mph was the fastest they could do but wouldn’t have been surprised if it was much longer as it was a warm hazy day. Suddenly just before the three hours two birds swooped down from high up, doing a couple of laps of honour around the loft, one for Geoff and Catherine and a stray hen. After what seemed like an age, though in reality it wasn’t, the cock dropped onto the trap. They knew it was a good time as it was clocked just a touch faster than their estimate. It was a yearling widowhood cock on his first ever channel race. He was only lightly raced as a young bird, having five inland races furthest being Littlehampton 89 miles. He has now been named Farmer Forrest, he is bred from the stock loft, his sire is a son of Farmer George 1st Int. Bordeaux x Wollongong 1st Int. Pau and his dam is a daughter of Forrest Junior of Freialdenhofen 1st Int. Pau. Three of his four grandparents have won 1st International! This was his fourth race of the season, the other three being 1 x 45miles, 2 x 69 miles.
This year Catherine and Geoff Cooper once again had a super series of results, all flown across the sea from 250 km through to over 1100 km, winning:-
1st Classic with a grandson of Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux and Wollongong 1st International Pau,
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4t, 5t, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th provincial 356b, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 26th, 29th, 46th, 51st National 3695b from Falaise National
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th provincial BICC St Vincent International,
3rd, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th provincial Alencon National
2nd, 3rd, 6th provincial 16th, 34th, 50th BICC Pau International,
2nd, 4th, 7th,11th, 12th, 14th, 16th provincial BICC Agen International
3rd provincial BICC Perpignan International.
2nd and 4th provincial BICC Agen International
1st and 2nd provincial BICC National St Vincent International
Rob Brooks 1st provincial (Geoff and Catherine 2nd and 3rd provincial BICC Pau International
Perhaps the best way to judge a family of pigeons is by the results that other fancier achieve with the Cooper family of birds.
The results below are just from 2016 and are all flown over the sea from France to the UK
Tarbes National.
John and Dave Staddon’s best performance this year, 2nd Sec G 10th Open NFC Tarbes with Johns Joy a yearling hen flying 560 miles on the day in 15 hours 21 mins only 6 day birds. Bred from a son of JW and a Daughter of George. Also 6th Sec 32nd Open Tarbes NFC from a son of Titch and 8th Sec G 48th Open NFC Tarbes another yearling cock who is bred from the last son of Farm Boy. Not to mention wining 1st open GDSBNFC YB Coutances with a full sister to Johns Joy.
Marseille International.
Lee and Kevin Buddle were 3rd National BICC Marseille International. sire is a direct G & C Cooper bird being a double grandson of their champion racer & breeder “Farm Boy” sire of Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux.
Fougeres National
Graham Clift of Tirley timed a yearling on 1353ypm to take second section (Province) C. The sire of this hen was bred from a son of Southfield Supreme (dam bred by Cooper) that has bred numerous winners for Mark Sparey, including first Welsh National, when paired to a daughter of Geoff and Catherione Cooper’s Farmer George. The dam is a direct daughter of George.
Pau International.
First west section (province) and fifteenth open was a six year old on 624mpm over 563 miles for Brooks Brothers from High Littleton. Rob timed Mendip Hope, a widowhood cock that is a full brother to Mendip Magic, first west section, second open Pau in 2014. Mendip Hope is Brooks Brothers bloodlines crossed with those of Geoff and Catherine Cooper.
Saintes National
John and David Staddon of Crewkerne were first section (province) G with a yearling hen on 1258ypm over 383 miles. The partners timed Shapway Galaxy, a widowhood hen flown on their version of the chaos system. Despite the westerly wind, Shapway Galaxy came straight on line. Its bloodlines are Geoff and Catherine Cooper’s family.
Graham Clift of Tirley was second section (province) J. The sire of this pigeon is a son of Southfield Supreme with the dam being bred from a son of Geoff and Catherine Cooper’s Farmer George.
Agen International BICC
Bob Besant and Son
7th National was the Scottish Cock, bred from a full brother of Geoff and Catherine Cooper’s Farm Boy.
St Vincent International BICC.
Mark Gilbert.
2nd National St Vincent was bred from a double grandson of Brockamp’s George with the dam coming from Geoff and Catherine Cooper’s George.
Falaise young bird National.
1st National was Preece Brothers, the dam of their winner was a gift bird fom Geoff and Catherine Cooper, a daughter of Wriggler also 1st National Falaise.
Messac National.
J and D Staddon were 3rd provincial 10th national. The sire of their winner was a son of Cooper’s Wollongong 1st International Pau,
Coutances National.
Graham Clift won 3rd provincial, the dam was a daughter of Cooper’s George.
Bordeaux National
John Halstead won 3rd provincial, the dam was a half sister to Cooper’s Wollongong 1st International Pau.
Pau Classic.
Rob Kerr won 1st provincial 4th National with a bird from their Cooper stock.
Bergerac Classic.
2nd open 2nd provincial Sherman and Wells with a bird down from Cooper’s Wollongong lines.
News from overseas.
International winner Rene Leux in France, won two races with birds off Geoff and Catherine Cooper’s Fleur with a lead of 38 meters per minute over top international flyer P Rouxel, Rene timed another one same way bred as the winner on the day. The other race was from 259km with a grandson of Farm Boy, sire of Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux.
Alfio La Pira from Italy won 1st and 2nd Best Novello 2016 with two brothers from Geoff and Catherine Cooper’s family.
Dean and Tessa Jooste in South Afica won 1st Combine with a grandchild of Cooper’s George.
Dave Buxton sends news from Australia, Buxton and Snyders win 1st Fedreation 400 miles down from a daughter of JWx sister to Farmer George.
Geoff and Catherine Cooper can look back on 2016 with pride as it has shown their family to be one of the most successful families in Europe at the moment
The 2015 International Races
The first of the International races was Pau International.
We had a very good race considering the North westerly winds. Only one bird in the centre section was fast enough to beat our first three birds.
Below is the press report of the Pau International race.
The triple International winners Geoff and Catherine Cooper timed one of their team on 618 mpm to top the West section against the wind and take 7th Open. The Coopers’ team hasn’t been out of the first three in the section in any of the five BICC races this season and at Pau they clocked seven crackers.
The first bird of seven clocked winning 1st section was a three year old daughter of Daybreak Junior. Daybreak Junior has won 1st and 2nd section 5th BICC & 6th BICC in the Barcelona Inernational race. Plus 3rd section Pau and 4th section Tarbes. Her Dam is a half sister to Gina, the mother of Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux. She was flown widowhood, racing back to her cock The photo that accompanies this report was taken just after she arrived home in very good condition. This year she has previously flown four channel races prior to Pau, Falaise, Alencon and Tours. Last year she won 30th National BICC Pau International. Second West section and 12th National for Geoff and Catherine Cooper was a four year old chequer cock flown widowhood. His sire is a brother to Farm Stellar, being a son of the Brother to Farm Boy. The dam of the 2nd section winner is Farm Dream, a full sister to Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux. He had three channel races prior to Pau. His main performances over the last few years include, 30th BICC Alencon, 52nd BICC Le Mans and 68th BICC Tours.
1st WS BICC Pau International
The west section (provincial) result saw the Coopers have a field day with five pigeons on the result to take 1st , 2nd, 4th,7th, 8th & 10th section and 7th, 12th,17th, 24th, 36th & 42nd Open.
The Barcelona International
As always this was a testing race for birds flying to the West of England. We only sent one, a three year old cock called Wriggleson who has won many national prizes. We clocked him to win 15th National. We were amazed that he managed to get home as he returned with a large gash across his back. He was soon up and flying around so hopefully he will be a candidate for next year’s Barcelona race.
St Vincent International
This race was a huge success for our loft, We won 3rd and 10th International 10737 birds, plus 1st and 2nd International hens.
Farm Ivy 1st International St Vincent hens
3rd International St Vincent
Below is the press report for the International St Vincent race.
Geoff and Catherine Cooper way out west at Peasedown St John clocked the first of their six timers to win 1st West section 1st National BICC plus 1st International Hens and 3rd Open International vel 1069 mpm. This makes it FOUR INTERNATIONAL WINS for Geoff and Catherine. Not only did they win the BICC but the Cooper team finished at 1st, 3rd, 11th, 55th, 57th & 63rd Open, a fantastic team performance. Congratulations both. This is what Catherine had to say about their latest International success:- “We clocked a yearling hen on the day called Farm Ivy, flying 530 miles to win 1st National BICC St Vincent International and 1st International hens and 3rd International. Farm Ivy is named after our youngest grand daughter Ivy, whose birthday was this weekend. The hens are all raced on widowhood, with the cocks not flying out. Prior to St Vincent she had four channel races, taking 3rd prize from Messac. Two weekends off with just loft flying she was then entered into the International. She is very well bred, her grand sires are Farm Boy, top racer and sire of Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux and Starlight, winner of 2nd International bred and raced by Etienne Mierlaen. The sire of Farm Ivy is a son of Farm Boy when paired to his daughter and the Dam is a son of Starlight paired to his half sister.
We clocked a second pigeon on the day to be 3rd National, 10th International. This was also a widowhood hen, a three year old called Farm Evie, after another grand daughter. Evie’s sire is a son of Legend 1st International Dax for Brian Sheppard and her dam is a daughter of Farm Boy. Our third pigeon, another widowhood yearling hen, clocked early next morning will be 11th BICC National. The third hen is a nest sister to Farm Ivy, the first hen. All three hens clocked are grand daughters of Farm Boy. A comprehensive loft report on the Coopers can be found on the BICC web site.
Farm Evie 2nd international St Vincent hens
10th International St Vincent
The map below is the radar map of the early birds from St Vincent. The Cooper’s loft is way out on its own in the West of the UK, flying against the drag of thousand of birds going the other way. To achieve the winning velocities the birds have to fly straight from the racepoint to their home. You can see that the Cooper birds have to make two sea crossings in order to get home in the quickest possible time. Then factor in the hard sea conditions where the wind is nearly always blowing into or across them, you soon realise how hard International racing is for these birds, though they make it look easy.
Euro Diamond Presentaion, click on Articles…
Celebrating at the Pau International dinner, click on Articles.
Wollongong wins 1st Pau International!!!
Wollongong was clocked from Pau 904 kms at 17:12:21. When her time was telephoned in and her time went on the leader board it was apparent that she may win the International. After a long couple of hours wait, it was confirmed that Wollongong had won the race. She already had a brilliant racing record, raced as a young bird, winning 1st Exeter (inland) 4th National Tours 480kms, 10th National section St Malo, unraced as a yearling, then raced as a two year old winning 35th National, 3rd WS Bicc Pau International , and raced again this year as a three year old. Now she is retired to the stock loft. Her Sire is a grandson of Euro Diamond and Marseille King and her Dam is a half sister to George 1st Grand National Tarbes. Two more pigeons were clocked, Georgia Jean winning 8th International Pau and Carla Page winning 16th International Pau.
Geoff, Catherine and Wollongong
1st. 8th, 16th International Pau 2013
1st, 4th 5th Hens International Pau 2013
Wollongong, Georgia Jean and Carla Page
complete an amazing treble.
Daybreak Junior 1st Provincial (section) Barcelona International 2013
Daybreak Junior
1st prov. Barcelona
6th National Barcelona Int.
1st prov. Barcelona
5th Nat Barcelona Int.
2nd prov Barcelona
22nd Nat Barcelona Int.
The Barcelona winner is a seven year old widowhood cock named “Daybreak Junior” , He was clocked at 8.34pm to win 1st section 6th Open. He has been a good honest racer, always in the first few to the loft.
Prior to this he has won :- 3rd Fed. Messac,
29th sect. 202nd Classic Bergerac, 211th Nat. Tarbes,338th Nat. Messac,209th Nat. Tarbes, plus 3rd west sect. 54th Nat Pau/Int., 3rd west sect. 18th Nat. Tarbes/Int.,
2nd west sect. 22nd Nat. Barcelona/Int.
His pedigree is full of top performance pigeons. His sire is Daybreak, a top racer who won a coveted National Merit Award. Daybreak Junior’s grandsire is also the grandsire of Mark Gilbert’s International winner Southfield Supreme.
Daybreak Juniors Dam is Miss Pau, who flew Pau International as a yearling. She is a daughter of Miss Somerset, winner of the NFC YB Somerset cup and Miss Somerset’s sire is “21” a top breeder and racer for the Coopers.
Georgia Jean
winner of 1st Euro Diamond Pau International
winner of 1st Euro Diamond Pau International
4th Ace pigeon Euro Diamond International ranking
‘George’ raced up to 2008 and was only been in the breeding loft for a few years … already sons to him are showing great potential as long distance champions and children of him are proving themselves as breeders of National and International winners
A daughter of George has bred 1st Ace pigeon Europe in the Golden Derby Wuhan China.
‘‘George’ is breeder of ‘Pearl’ – mother to amazing ‘Farmer George’
1. Int. Bordeaux 2011 – 10,622 birds
1. Int. Bordeaux 2011 overall – 22,029 birds
3. Nat. WS Tours
135. NFC Saintes – 3,484 birds
150. Open Fougeres – 2,161 birds
‘George’ is breeder of ‘Georgeson’ – breeder of ‘Scotty’
1. Nat. WS British InterNat. Championship Club Falaise,
10th National BBC Bordeaux
1st C Prov. BBC National Bordeaux
5th Bicc Bordeaux/Agen National/International
1st Bicc WS (prov) Bordeaux/Agen National/International
4th Nat. prov., Fougeres
12th. Nat. Fougeres
3rd National Pau International
1st section Pau
‘George’ is breeder of “Double 7” mother of “Georgia Jean”
1st Bicc WS Pau International/National
8th International Pau
1st EuroDiamond Pau International
4th Ace pigeon Euro Diamond
4th Hens International Pau
‘George” is breeder of Darkie’ – breeder of
2. Int. Bordeaux yearlings
3.Int. Bordeaux hens
3rd National St Vincent International
- 1st section St Vincent.
A sister to ‘George’ is breeder of ‘Wollongong
1st International Pau 2013
10th Nat. prov. St. Malo young birds 2010 overseas
3rd BICC prov Pau International/National
4. Nat. Tours overseas
1.Exeter inland
A half sister to ‘George’ won
4th Nat. section young birds St Malo 2010 over seas
A half sister to George bred
1st National Falaise for J & D Staddon
A daughter of George bred 1st Grand National Tarbes for Jimmy Wearn.