FOUR FIRSTS IN INTERNATIONAL RACES (1)

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ON ACHIEVING THE GRAND SLAM – TWICE

A loft report on Geoff & Catherine Cooper

1st Open BICC, 1st International Bordeaux 22,029 birds 2011.

1st Open BICC 1st International Pau 8,500 birds 2013.

by Gareth Watkins

The Grand slam! This is exactly what Geoff and Catherine Cooper achieved in June 2011 when they clocked their Dark Chequer cock to win 1st Open BICC and 1st Open International Bordeaux / Agen from a total field of 22,029 pigeons entered by the best fanciers in Europe. The partners had previously won 1st Open in BICC races and the King’s Cup with the NFC when they won 1st Open Tarbes a few years back. Add to these wins at National level, scores of Club, Federation and Combine wins then the winning of 1st Open in an International race completes a terrific record of wins at all levels of competition within the sport – thus the title of this article THE GRAND SLAM.

That would be enough for most fanciers, who, in all probability, would have “hung up their scrapers” and taken a well earned retirement from the sport. Not so Geoff Cooper who then set about further refining this amazing team of pigeons with the aim of winning another International race. This second “Everest” was achieved in June 2013 when their good hen “Woolongong” raced directly out of the south to beat 8,547 birds entered by some of the best fanciers in Europe to win 1st Open Pau International.

Catherine & Geoff

I first met Geoff some 25 years ago when he was flying a highly successful team of pigeons to his then home at High Littleton a few miles from Geoff and Catherine’s present home at Peasedown St John. At that time, the late 1980s, Geoff had a superb team of widowhood cocks bred around imports from Andre Vermote and Emiel Deweerdt & Sons. On the first and many subsequent visits I made to High Littleton, I handled all the loft’s big winners – pigeons such as “John”, “Silver”, “Stumpy”, “Bernard”, “Little” and the incomparable “Bulldog” – one of the finest pigeons I have ever handled and with performances at National level to match.

The lofts at that time were built into the stone outhouses at the rear of Geoff’s home and business premises and a deep litter of dry droppings was employed in all lofts. Since those days, a move has been made to Peasedown St John and a brand new purpose built breeze block loft built to accommodate the race birds and stock team. Despite the move and the change in home environment the winning of races at the highest level has continued without a hiccup.

That covers a little of the background to the present success story but what of the man himself?

Geoff is now retired from his butcher’s business and had from an early age a love of birds, having pet jackdaws, owls and kestrels as a boy.  He started in the sport at the young age of 13 when he used to clock his uncle’s racers on their return on a Saturday. That’s when the racing bug really bit deep. Geoff’s first major influence was therefore his uncle, who, although he never enjoyed much success, “did the deed” and introduced Geoff to the sport of racing pigeons. Another fancier from the West of England who had a major influence on not only Geoff, but also many other fanciers in the area, was the great Reg Venner from Street. Reg and his wife Myrtle raced their team of birds with great success on both the north routes through to Lerwick at more than 600 miles as well as the south road through to Pau. However, probably the greatest influence on Geoff’s development as a fancier was Emiel Deweerdt from Kortemark in Belgium. Geoff first visited the Deweerdt lofts in the early 1980s and was impressed both with the birds and just as importantly the man himself. On subsequent visits to Kortemark, Emiel and Geoff spent many evenings together talking about racing the birds and he told Geoff that the secret to racing pigeons was that there is no secret.  There were certain “do’s and don’ts” but no secrets. Even now Geoff still races his birds to the same principles as Emiel recommended all those years ago.

Home to 1st International

Geoff’s first loft was a far cry from the present purpose built loft. It had an open front and was raised a couple of feet off the ground. There was honeysuckle planted at the front of the loft and as the honeysuckle grew and covered the loft front Geoff noticed that the birds’ performances improved.  He let it cover more of the front of the loft and Geoff realised that the protection from the draughts was why his birds were performing better. It wasn’t long before he had the front of the loft completely covered so no air could blow directly in onto the birds. This was in the late sixties, so in all probability he had one of the first closed in lofts in the West of England. The stone built lofts at High Littleton were also designed on the same lines with minimal ventilation and the birds raced out of their skins.

The first birds raced were a mixture of top local birds, Fred Channing of Bristol and Reg and Myrtle Venner from Street. These formed the base of a successful family which won 2nd BBC National Palamos and 6th BBC National Palamos at 701 miles. Geoff raced the birds on the natural system in the 1970s, turning to widowhood in the early 1980s when he raced so successfully to High Littleton.

 

THE MOVE TO PEASEDOWN ST JOHN

 

Geoff has raced with his wife Catherine at his present location since 1994.  The present loft is a block built structure, 32 m long and 2.5 m wide. This houses 60 widowhood boxes in four sections. The two young bird sections are fitted with 140 perches – 70 in each section. There is also a section for racing 18 hens plus a stock section with aviary attached. The loft faces due south so attracts the full benefits from whatever sun there may be in the West of England. All sections have hardwood grid floors which have loft granules underneath and this is replaced as needed. The boxes and perches are cleaned every day and the corridor running along the front of the internal sections is also vacuumed daily.

 

THE RACING SYSTEM

 

This year Geoff and Catherine have the biggest team of race birds they have ever had as they are racing 27 hens on widowhood as well as 55 cocks. They rear a large young bird team each season, as they like to race as many of the inland races as possible with the young cocks whilst the young hens go to as many channel races as they can manage if fit and well.

All the old birds, both cocks and hens, are raced on widowhood, the cocks racing to their hens and the hens racing to their cocks. Geoff doesn’t like racing roundabout as on too many occasions the birds can return and find an empty box. He doesn’t have many hard and fast rules but one of them is that when the birds are raced widowhood, their mate must always be waiting for them in their box when they return.

The young birds are raced on the sliding door system, whereby the cocks and hens exercise and live separated in adjoining compartments during the week and then run together on basketting day. When they return from a race they can spend the race day and night together before being separated once again until the following basketting day.

The birds are paired any time between the beginning of December and the end of January. Whenever the birds are mated they are all mated at the same time both stock and racers. The cocks rear one round of young birds as do the racing hens.  All the hens are removed from the cocks section before they lay a second round of eggs and the cocks then finish rearing the young birds by themselves.

At this time all the birds, cocks and hens are exercised separately, once a day. Once the young are reared and the cocks are on their own they are on widowhood, exercised twice a day for an hour, as are the hens.  If the birds are reluctant to exercise Geoff will put up a flag  for the hour.  All the birds are used to this routine as the young birds are flagged during the young bird season, so it is all part of the daily routine for them.

Prior to old bird racing the cocks will have two or three trainings tosses up to 25 miles, with five days minimum between each toss.  Once racing starts, no more basket training takes place.

 

YOUNG BIRDS

 

The young birds have between eight and twelve training tosses prior to the young bird season and then no training once racing starts. The only exception is if they are going to a race from a different direction, then instead of going to a race the week before they will have a training toss on line for the next race. The young hens have every inland club race until the National and Classic channel races start and are entered in as many channel races as possible if they are fit and well. The young cocks normally race the inland club programme, occasionally having a channel race.  This is because Geoff has found that the hens usually mature faster then the cocks. All young bird are raced on the darkness system, and Geoff has used this system with great success every year since 1994.The youngsters are separated as soon as they show signs of pairing and are then raced on a sliding door system, as outlined earlier.

 

FEEDING

 

All the birds are hopper fed and the stock birds have food in front of them at all the times. The race birds have 40grms [just under 1 ½ ounces] per day of Verse Laga widowhood mix, more if they need it. This is fed in two meals, morning and evening after exercise. Geoff always adds 5% barley to the mix – if they eat all the barley they are hungry and he feeds a little more, if they leave the barley they have had enough. Before each National (channel) race the fat content is increased for the last seven feeds prior to basketing.

 

MEDICATION AND THE USE OF SUPPLEMENTS

 

Geoff does not routinely treat for canker, worms or cocci, he only ever treats if there is a problem. He always vaccinates for paramyxo at the start of the year and does not like to see the misuse of antibiotics as bacteria soon become resistant to antibiotics if they are misused. Geoff controls problems like worms with good hygiene in the loft. Once you break the cycle the birds do not become re- infected. Nevertheless, he always keeps medication in the cupboard because problems can and do arise during the racing season and must be dealt with immediately if the season is not to be disrupted.

Supplements are used in the form of natural oils [ground nut and oregano], plus hemp, peanuts and the usual grit and minerals. No vitamins are fed, as the Versele Laga corn mixtures have all the vitamins the birds require. If Geoff could only use one supplement it would be natural oils, usually bought at the supermarket.

 

Three International race winners at the BICC Prize Dinner – Bullen & Son, G & C Cooper and Mark Gilbert

 

BLOODLINES HOUSED

 

The main bloodlines housed can now be termed the “Cooper” family. These are largely based on the Deweerdts from Kortemark, Belgium. As mentioned in the opening paragraphs, Geoff first visited Emiel Deweerdt in the early 1980s and purchased children of his top racers. Many more visits were made to the Deweerdt family over the following twenty years and Geoff introduced more children from the top performers. The children of these introductions were tested and the best racers were then retired to stock and from these the “Cooper” family has developed and grown in strength. Geoff gifted birds to Gordon Harding of Harding Bros who won the Pau Grand National with the progeny of these gift birds. He then had children back from these successful racers to pair to his own stock birds, thus increasing the strength of the stock loft.  This has proved an excellent method for keeping the good bloodlines prominent within the loft.

Over the last thirty years many other birds have been introduced to try as a cross. If any of the young birds from these introductions prove good enough, they are then paired back to the original Cooper family. Not many have past the test but one notable exception was the fast flying Serge Van Elsacker birds.  This pairing bred “Day Break” who scored four times from Pau 560 miles, winning a coveted National Flying Club Merit award. A Van Elsacker hen bred and raced successfully by Geoff was gifted to his very good friend and fellow International winner, Mark Gilbert, and bred Mark his 1st International Dax winner “Southfield Supreme”. Interestingly, the sire of “Southfield Supreme” was a brother to the sire of “Day Break”. Some of the multi International winning family of Heinz and Peter Brockamp have also been introduced to good effect!! As the sire of Woolongong the 2013 Pau International winner is a pure Brockamp bred by Clive Lister and Grand son of Euro Diamond and Marseille King.

The 2013 Pau International Triumph.

The Coopers have developed a team of pigeons that will fly in all winds and weather and the 2013 Pau International was a good example of racing in all winds. The birds were liberated in a north east headwind, turning east on route, a side wind, then southerly, a tail wind and finally in the UK south westerly. Their chequer white flight hen, called Wollongong, landed a few minutes before Geoff’s expected arrival time and they knew then they had a good bird. They clocked two more hens, Georgia Jean and Carla Page to be provisionally 5th & 6th Open BICC and 8^th and 16^th Open International. Last year Georgia Jean was 1^st Section 27^th National BICC Pau International.

Prior to basketing for the Pau International, Wollongong and the other hens had four consecutive channel races then two weekends off before going to Pau.

Wollongong, is a 2010 hen bred from Gina, a half sister to George, the 1^st Grand National winner and sire/g.Sire to many top birds, when paired to a grandson of Euro Diamond and Marseille King from Clive Lister. She has been an excellent racer, winning 4^th High Littleton Open Tours as a young bird, not raced as a yearling then raced through to Pau International as a two year old where she won 3^rd section, 35^th BICC Pau International.

As mentioned earlier in this article, all birds at the Cooper loft are raced on widowhood. The hens are raced exactly the same as the cocks, paired up in the early spring, some reared, some only sat eggs, then exercised twice a day when racing starts. They all see the cocks before basketing and they always have their cocks waiting for them when they get home. The racing hens are paired to cocks bred from the stock loft or retired racers. The widowhood cocks are raced the same, always seeing their hen before they go to the race and always their hen waiting for their return. Geoff and Catherine started this season with 55 cocks and 27 hens in the race team.

George the 1^st Grand National winner has bred three different children which have bred 1^st International Bordeaux Old Birds, 2^nd International Bordeaux Yearlings for Mark Gilbert, and Scotty 3 x 1^st National Section plus many other top performers.

Geoff and Catherine’s two other hens clocked on the day in the Pau International this year were ,as mentioned above, a three year old hen called Georgia Jean which wins 2^nd WS 5^th National and provisionally 8^th International. In last year’s Pau International race Georgia Jean was 1^st West Section. She was raced widowhood, not roundabout, coming back to the cocks just as widowhood cocks are raced.

She is very well bred, her sire is Blue Legend, a son of Legend 1^st International Dax 2003 for Brian Sheppard and her dam is a daughter of George, winner of 1^st Grand National Tarbes and g/sire to Farmer George 1^st International Bordeaux. She is called Georgia Jean in memory of Brian’s wife Jean who was a good friend of Geoff and Catherine.

The next pigeon clocked was a two year old hen called Carla Page who won 3^rd West Section, 6^th National and provisionally 16^th International. She is called Carla Page because she was bred by Alan and Carla Hudson, before Carla and Alan were married, hence Carla Page, and given to Geoff and Catherine to race. She was also raced widowhood.

Her Sire was a son of Mistral an exceptional racer for HP Brockamp when paired to a hen Carla and Alan bought from Geoff called Miss Magnus, who is a daughter of Magnus, a top International racer for Deweerdt.

Geoff’s ideal pigeon is a light handling bird with long flights and good feather quality, anything else, size, shape, the back, is irrelevant. He has seen too many winning pigeons of all shapes and sizes to look for just one ideal shape.

Breeding loft

SOME WINNING PIGEONS

 

The Cooper family have bred birds to win from 45 miles through to 649 miles. Geoff and Catherine were 86th International from Perpignan with a seven year old widowhood cock called “Flipper”. Some of the founding birds were:-

“Bulldog”, 1st National section G Pau, 18th Nantes National plus many other prizes.

“John” twice 6th Nantes National, 2nd Nantes National and 12th Pau National.

“August”, who was 5th Nantes National, 1st Plymouth etc. 

The above three birds were the foundation birds of the current Cooper family.  Other super racers included :-

“Farm Boy” 12 th International Dax 3rd National Dax, 475th International Dax and 3rd National Dax. He is the sire of “Farmer George” who won 1st International Bordeaux OB by over an hour against 10,061 birds and fastest of 22,029 birds by 45 minutes.

 

Another super star is “George” who won 1st Grand National Tarbes and is responsible for many top pigeons including breeding three individual birds to win 1st International Bordeaux, 2nd International Bordeaux yearlings for Mark Gilbert and 1st National Section Fougeres.

Wollongong

 

PERFORMANCES

In the last ten years Geoff and Catherine have won 2 x 1st International, 2nd International, 8th,12th &16th International, 475th International – PLUS 4 x 1st Nationals,  2 x 3rd National and over 50 FIRSTS SECTION in National and Classic races, including 5 x 1sts section with the BICC in 2012 alone.

“Farmer George”, winner of 1st International Bordeaux. was bred “in the purple” as his sire was “Farm Boy”, who won 12th International Dax, 475th International Dax plus 2 x 3rd National Dax, and his dam was a daughter of “George”, the winner of 1st Grand National Tarbes.

The sire of “Shiraz” the winner of 2nd International Bordeaux , was “PD”, who was twice placed 2nd  in the section of National races.

Performances in the 2012/13 RACING SEASONS.

The last few years highlights.

1^st International Bordeaux 22.029 birds

1^st International Old birds 10.661 birds (check number)

2^nd International Bordeaux Old Birds

3^rd International Bordeaux 22,029

12^th International Dax

35^th International Dax

86^th International Perpignan

1^st Grand National Tarbes

1^st National Falaise

1^st National Falaise

1st, 8th &16th International Pau. 8,547 birds.

plus many top ten National positions and as mentioned above over 50 x 1st National and Classic wins at section level[Provincial].

The 2012 season was another amazing year for the Cooper pigeons. Flying to the West of the UK, where the strong west winds are favouring the east of the country, the Cooper pigeons won six x 1st section. In the International races where the majority of the birds are heading east to Belgium, Holland and Germany, what the Cooper’s achieved was remarkable.The birds have got to be tough as well as fast to keep doing this.

Some of the present day superstars still racing at the Cooper loft are:-

“Misty” won 1st CHS, 5th Combine Lyndhurst, the first race of the season, inland and only 70km. Six weeks later he won 1st CHS, 5th Combine Saintes 630 kms and three weeks after that he won 1st West Section (prov.) BICC, 10th BICC St Vincent International, the only bird on the day in the section. “Misty” is a son of “Blue Legend” a top breeding son of “Legend” the first ever International winner in the UK.

Another star in the racing loft is “Scotty” who has previously won 1st WS provincial Falaise BICC and 12th National Fougeres BBC.

In 2012 “Scotty” has won 2 x 1st Section[ provincials], 1st WS (prov.) 5th BICC Bordeaux/Agen International approx. 840 kms then four weeks later he went to Bordeaux National BBC winning 1st Section 9th National. In both these races he was flying into strong west winds, racing against pigeons flying 250+ kms to the east.

A top racing hen is “Georgia Jean” who won 1st West Section (prov.) BICC, 22nd BICC Pau International. She was raced as a young bird, not raced as a yearling, then raced as a two year old. She is also bred from the very best of the Cooper pigeons. Her sire is “Blue Legend” a son of “Legend” 1st International Dax and her Dam is “777” a daughter of “George” 1st National Tarbes and G.Sire of 1st International Bordeaux.

Another top racer is “Scar” who won 1st West Section Le Mans BICC National. His sire is a nest brother to “Stroller” who was 2nd West Section St Vincent BICC International a couple of weeks before.

“Bro. Farm Boy”” won 1st West Sectionfrom Tours and then four weeks later was 6th West Sect Barcelona BICC International. He is a full bother to “Farm Boy” a top racer and sire of “Farmer George” 1st International Bordeaux.

“Daybreak Junior” won 2nd West Sect BICC Barcelona International.

Readers should be aware of the fact that the West Section[ provincial] within the British International Championship Club is nearly as big in area as the whole of Belgium! Living in the West of England, in order to win top National prizes in an International race the birds have to fly on their own from liberation to home, they cannot follow the main drag of the birds or they win nothing..

The Cooper family of pigeons are a true family of pigeons, all the top racers and breeders are related, there are winners or good breeders in every generation on the pedigrees. Geoff inbreeds to all his top birds and then looks for a good cross to maintain the vigour. He tries many crosses and very few have stayed. The crosses that are successful are crossed back into the family to ensure the winning genes are not lost.

Not only do these birds win for Geoff and Catherine, many fabciers throughout the UK have enjoyed success at Classic and National level with birds bred down from this family.

Birds from Geoff and Catherine have produced:

1st International Dax, 2nd International Yearlings Bordeaux for Mark Gilbert.
1st Grand National Pau for Harding Bros
“Morning Glory” 2 x 2nd Grand National Pau for Paul Kendal
1st National Saintes for Stan Dangerfield
1st Classic Pau for Witney and Reed
2 x 2nd National for Richard boylin
1st Grand National Tarbes for Paul Kendal
7th Grand National Tarbes for Paul Kendal

1^st Classic Messac for A. S. Thompson

1^st National Carentan for J & D Staddon

Some of the Coopers’ wins in 2012 are:-

4th Classic with a son of George

5th BICC Agen National/International with Scotty a grandson of George

1st BICC West Section(prov.) Agen National /International with Scotty a grandson of George.

1st BICC West Section Pau National/International with Georgia Jean, a grand daughter of George

14th National Fougeres with a grand daughter of JW

2 x 5th West of England SR Combine

1st West Section BICC Tours with Bro. Farm Boy

22nd BICC National/International Barcelona, 2nd West Section Barcelona National/International with Daybreak Junior

39th BICC National/International Barcelona, 6th BICC West Sect Barcelona National International with Bro. Farm Boy.

3rd BICC West Sect Pau National/International

1st CHS Lyndhurst, 1st CHS Saintes down from Farm Boy and Legend 1st International Dax for Brian Sheppard.

3rd Section BBC Niort

2 x 1st HLFC

1st CHS Carentan

Perhaps at this point I should highlight the immense influence that the great racer/breeder George has had on the winning lines within the Cooper loft as well as others.

‘George’ the Grand National winner raced up to 2008 and has only been in the breeding loft for three years . In that short time children from him are showing great potential as long distance champions, this year winning 4th Classic with George Junior and children of George are proving themselves as breeders of National and International winners.

‘‘George’ is sire of ‘Pearl’ – mother to amazing ‘Farmer George’

1st. Int. Bordeaux 2011 – 10,622 birds

1st. Int. Bordeaux 2011 overall – 22,029 birds

3rd West Section Tours

135th Open NFC Saintes – 3,484 birds

150th Open Fougeres – 2,161 birds

‘George’ is also sire of ‘Georgeson’ –sire of ‘Scotty’

1st West Sect British International. Championship Club Falaise,

5th BICC Pau National/International

1st BICC WestSect (prov) Pau National/International

4th Section Fougeres,15th Nat. Fougeres

‘George’ is sire of “Double 7” mother of :

“Georgia Jean”

8^th International Pau 2013

1^st BICC West Sect Pau International/National

l22^nd BICC International CC Pau

‘George” is sire of Darkie’ – sire of
2nd Int. Bordeaux yearlings
3rd Int. Bordeaux hens

A sister to ‘George’ is breeder of ‘Wollongong’

1^st International Pau 2013

10th section St. Malo young birds

3rd Sect BICC Pau International/National

4th Open HL Tours .

1^st Exeter .

A half sister to ‘George’ won

4^th section young birds St Malo .

A half brother to George bred

1st National Falaise for J & D Staddon

.

2013 Performances to date.

1^st West Section BICC Falaise with Scar

8^th Section G 26^th NFC Carentan with Carla Page

1^st West of England SR Combine Truro with Farmer Fox

4^th, 5^th, 6^th West Section BICC Alencon

6^th, 7^th, 8^{th, 15th} National BICC Alencon

1^st International Pau with Wollongong

8^th International Pau with Georgia Jean

16^th International Pau with Carla Page

It is always a hard decision to retire a good racer but most of Geoff and Catherine’s top race birds have been bred from retired top racers or daughters of these top birds.

 

THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT

Many fanciers are leaving the sport for a variety of reasons and are not being replaced by new ones. Geoff feels many of these problems could quite easily be addressed. He often hears fanciers complain about clubs voting to exclude good flyers, yet they forget they are only as good as the fanciers they fly against. Back biting is also causing fanciers to give up, as many are disillusioned by the lack of sportsmanship. Add to this family break ups and fanciers having to relocate then the numbers leaving the sport grow each year. Although Geoff does not take part in One loft Races, he feels they are a good way of getting the general public interested, especially now several schools are getting involved.

They would also like to wish every one a good season for 2014. Who knows, the next winner of an International race could be you. One thing is certain though – you have to be in it to win it so join the BICC the home of International pigeon racing in the U.K.

Can these performances achieved by Geoff and Catherine and those fanciers fortunate to obtain birds from the Coopers be bettered? Only time will tell.

It only leaves me to wish Geoff and Catherine the very best of luck for the future Geoff was winning top prizes long before I first met him in 1988 and I’m sure he will continue to excel well into the future – his mantra being “Keep it simple”.

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The Cooper’s Garden Party

Pau Garden Party 2013
1st, 2nd ad 3rd International Pau

TO CELEBRATE THE GREAT PAU INTERNATIONAL    PERFORMANCE OF UK FANCIERS.

On a lovely summer’s day in mid August the “great and the good” of the British pigeon racing fraternity made their way from all over England and Wales to the small Somerset village of Peasedown St John and the home of Geoff and Catherine Cooper. This gathering was a gesture to celebrate the outstanding performance of UK fanciers and BICC members in particular, in the Pau International race flown on Friday 14th June 2013 when BICC members took the FIRST FOUR Open positions in the INTERNATIONAL against a field of  8,576 hand picked pigeons from the best lofts in Europe.
Perhaps the following passage, taken from my report on the race ,will give readers a reminder of the events surrounding the race itself.
“The first International race of the season for members of the BICC took place from Pau in the foothills of the Pyrennes on schedule on Friday 14th June. The BICC entry was 313 pigeons entered by 92 to compete against each other for the first UK pigeon home in this prestigious race and 8,527 other pigeons entered by the best fanciers throughout mainland Europe. The weather forecasts throughout the week, predicted good weather at the race point in south west France with a light north easterly breeze cooling the birds as they raced north along the length of the country. As it transpired, the wind in south west France at time of liberation i.e. 5.45 am[BST] was reported as light northerly changing to east north east around the Bordeaux area and south, south east at Angers with a southerly breeze helping the birds on once they reached the French coast. The BBC shipping forecast gave south westerly force 4/5 in the channel early in the day turning to southerly force 5/6 later on. The race was on and with the hope that the British contingent would have a better than evens chance of success given the easterly influence in the wind direction in the early part of the race.
The race turned out to be an absolute triumph for the small British contingent as not only was the overall International winner clocked in the UK but British pigeons took the following positions in the Open result:-
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th,16th, 24th,34th,63rd & 68th. A truly remarkable set of performances put up by the seven fanciers concerned. Congratulations to you one and all – you have made the British fancy extremely proud. The seven British fanciers who enjoyed great success that day were:-
Geoff & Catherine Cooper.
Darren McFadden.
Mark Gilbert.
Colin Draper.
Derek Doyle.
David Hales.
Mr & Mrs Terry Gardner.

So much for the race, let’s get back to the celebratory gathering at the Cooper’s home, that took place some two months after the race itself was flown. Those present amounted to 63 fanciers along with family and friends. The weather on the day was marvellous, in great contrast to the previous day when high winds and heavy rain prevailed.

group of friends at our garden party

Present on the Sunday, were several local fanciers and their wives, some of whom help with the BICC marking  for example, Terry Preddy  and Tony Barressi. A few had travelled from continental Europe to be present including Henk DeWeerd and Thomas Gyselbrecht plus Pieter Oberholster,  David Coward Talbot and Holly from the DeWeerd veterinary clinic in Colchester. Gordon Clark and Lee Percival, travelled all the way down from Hartlepool in the North East to join the celebrations.
It was good to see the BICC treasurer Russell Bradford and his wife Clare in attendance and Russell said a few words on behalf of the BICC, congratulating Geoff and Catherine, along with Darran McFadden and Mark Gilbert on their Pau International performances.  John Clements, a long time supporter of International racing made the journey down from Stockport.  Carol Francis the BICC secretary was also there.  Albi Deacon, John Tyerman  and Mike Bunney sent their apologies as they were unable to attend the party As did yours truly who was unable to get a lift over to the West Country. However, two men of Gwent, namely  Henry Preece and Mark Sparey  from Abertillery flew the flag for the Welsh fanciers, several of whom could not attend due to racing being held over from Saturday.
Bill Harris and his wife Julie were there. Bill an ex President of the NFC, was instrumental in getting the NFC to race the Dax International in 2003 which was won by local legend Brian Sheppard and his pigeon aptly named “The Legend”.
BICC photographer Chris Sutton and his wife Denise were travelled down from their home in Leicestershire to attend the party.  Chris presented Geoff and Catherine with a superb framed photo of their two International winners, Farmer George (1st Bordeaux International 2011) and Wollongong (1st Open Pau International 2013).
Ian Crammond and Nigel Langstaff enjoyed chatting with Roger Lowe ,Pete Wilcox, Mark Gilbert and Henk DeWeerd.
A long time friend of Geoff and Catherine’s, namely John Wright from Hull was there, catching up with many friends.
 Alen Gibb the Secretary of the West of England Combine , along with his better half Val were there with Stan Dangerfield, both hard workers for the sport, and Roger Phillips flew in from Guernsey. Roger keeps many fanciers up to date with weather forecasts from Guernsey.
Tony Miesnner and his wife Karly were present with Karly only having three weeks to go before her baby was due.  However, after the excitement of the party, the following Saturday in fact, Lily May Miessner was born.

friends at our Pau garden party

It was good to see everyone enjoying the food and drink in the sunshine, Geoff and Catherine’s daughter Stacey and her husband Gary did an excellent job running the bar and their sons Daryl and Chris were at hand to do the cooking. A real family effort by the Cooper clan.  

The party proved to be a terrific success and an opportunity for friends and fanciers from far and wide to get together and enjoy a special moment in the history of British pigeon racing – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th International Pau. Unfortunately,  Colin Draper who was 4th Int. Pau and others who were in the BICC top ten were invited but couldn’t make it.

I’m sure all present and also those who were unable to make it “on the day” so to speak, would like to thank Geoff and Catherine for organising such a pleasant function to honour those seven fanciers who tasted success at the highest level possible in the sport on that great day in June.

Gareth Watkins

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2013 BICC press reports

Falaise National.

 The National birds in the West Section had it all to do in this race with the wind in the west at 10 – 15 mph here in Wales accompanied by heavy drizzle from mid morning which blanked out the Welsh Valleys.

 Yet again the west section winner could be found 50 miles to the east at the Peasedown St John loft of Geoff and Catherine Cooper. Catherine writes:-

 

“We started the 2013 old bird season in the BICC the same as we finished the 2012 old bird season– with a 1^st section win.  The section winner from Falaise is “Scar”, who won 1^st section in the last old bird race in 2012 with the BICC from Le Mans. Scar is a three year old widowhood cock named Scar because he came back badly hawked from a race last year.  Last week, Scar won 1^st Poole a distance of 48 miles with Paulton HS with 660 birds competing.  He had three training tosses prior to racing of 20 miles and then three inland races of approximately 50 – 60 miles. His sire is a nest brother to Stroller who won 2^nd section from St Vincent International with the BICC last year.  These are all down from the best of our family known for excelling when the wind and conditions are against them.

Once again the birds arrived home in very good condition after a one day holdover, going straight to their hens, not looking at the drinkers, at the time of writing we have six home from eight sent.”

BICC National Alencon 2013

G & C Cooper’s with good friend Peter Miessner holding their timers in the BICC Alencon race including 4th sect 6th Open

 Geoff and Catherine Cooper timed a two year old widowhood cock flying 228 miles to win probable 4^th West Section, 6^th open.  Their first bird is called Wriggleson, as his sire is Wriggler who won 1^st BICC Falaise National and 5^th National Dax.  Wriggleson’s dam is a daughter of George, 1^st National Tarbes and sire/g.sire of many top National and International winning pigeons.  Geoff and Catherine also clocked two other birds within a couple of minutes which will figure high up in the result, their velocities are 1186 and 1184.  The second pigeon clocked was Misty who has won many top National prizes and the third one clocked was out of a sister to Misty.

The photo that accompanies this article shows Geoff holding Wriggleson, Catherine holding Misty and good friend Tony Miessner holding the cock out of the sister to Misty.

Pau International .

 The race turned out to be an absolute triumph for the small British contingent as not only was the overall International winner clocked in the UK but British pigeons took the following positions in the Open result:-
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th,16th, 24th,34th,63rd & 68th. A truly remarkable set of performances put up by the seven fanciers concerned. Congratulations to you one and all – you have made the British fancy extremely proud.
First in the clock and taking 1st,8th & 15th Open International was the West Country partnership, and now double International winners, Geoff and Catherine Cooper of Peasedown St John, a small village situated near the historic city of Bath. Geoff and Catherine had a marvellous weekend also winning 1st ,5th,6th,47th & 65th Open BICC.  as mentioned above, this is the second International win for the Coopers as they also won 1st International Bordeaux (Agen) in 2011.
The Coopers have developed a team of pigeons that will fly in all winds and weather and the 2013 Pau International was a good example of racing in all winds.  The birds were liberated in a north east headwind, turning east on route, a side wind, then southerly, a tail wind and finally in the UK south westerly. Their chequer white flight hen, called Wollongong, landed a few minutes before Geoff’s expected arrival time and they knew then they had a good bird.  They  clocked two more hens, Georgia Jean and Carla Page to be provisionally 5th & 6th Open BICC and 8th and 16th Open International.  Last year Georgia Jean was 1st Section 27th National BICC Pau International.
Prior to basketing for the Pau International, Wollongong and the other hens had four consecutive channel races then two weekends off before going to Pau.
Wollongong, is a 2010 hen bred from Gina, a half sister to George, the 1st Grand National winner and sire/g.Sire to many top birds, when paired to a grandson of Euro Diamond and Marseille King from Clive Lister.  She has been an excellent racer, winning 4th High Littleton Open Tours as a young bird, not raced as a yearling then raced through to Pau International as a two year old where she won 3rd  section, 35th  BICC Pau International.
All birds at the Cooper loft are raced on widowhood.  The hens are raced exactly the same as the cocks, paired up in the early spring, some reared, some only sat eggs,  then exercised twice a day when racing starts.  They all see the cocks before basketing and they always have their cocks waiting for them when they get home.  The racing hens are paired to cocks bred from the stock loft or retired racers.  The widowhood cocks are raced the same, always seeing their hen before they go to the race and always their hen waiting for their return.They started this season with about 55 cocks and 27 hens in the race team.
The Cooper family is based on the Deweerdts of Kortemark Belgium.  Geoff and Catherine visited in the 80’s and 90’s and purchased from Deweerdt’s best.  These were the foundation of their present day family, with a small number of top winning pigeons introduced over the last 30 years.   This family has bred a record number of top winning pigeons for other fanciers as well as for themselves.
George the 1st Grand National winner has bred three different children which have bred 1st International Bordeaux Old Birds, 2nd International Bordeaux Yearlings for Mark Gilbert, and Scotty 3 x 1st National Section plus many other top performers.

Geoff and Catherine’s  two other hens clocked on the day were ,as mentioned above, a three year old hen called Georgia Jean which wins 2nd WS 5th National and provisionally 8th International. In last year’s Pau International race Georgia Jean was 1st West Section. She was raced widowhood, not roundabout, coming back to the cocks just as widowhood cocks are raced.
She is very well bred, her sire is Blue Legend, a son of Legend 1st International Dax 2003 for Brian Sheppard and her dam is a daughter of George, winner of 1st Grand National Tarbes and g/sire to Farmer George 1st International Bordeaux. She is called Georgia Jean in memory of Brian’s wife Jean who was a good friend of Geoff and Catherine.

The next pigeon clocked was a two year old hen called Carla Page who won 3rd West Section, 6th National and provisionally 16th International. She is called Carla Page because she was bred by Alan and Carla Hudson, before Carla and Alan were married, hence Carla Page, and given to Geoff and Catherine to race. She was also raced widowhood.
Her Sire was a son of Mistral an exceptional racer for HP Brockamp when paired to a hen Carla and Alan bought from Geoff called Miss Magnus, who is a daughter o Magnus, a top International racer for Deweerdt.
Finally Geoff and Catherine would like to congratulate all those other British fanciers who timed well up in the race.

 

Agen International

No result of the BICC  would be complete without the name of Cooper near the top and in this Agen race Geoff and Catherine clocked on the day yet again to take 2nd West section 8th Open vel1087 ypm. Geoff and Catherine clocked a three year old grandson of Farm Boy, who was a top National and International racer and stock cock for them.  He is called Sol, after Geoff and Catherine’s grandson, who was for the first time watching the pigeons come home. Sol arrived home just as it was getting dark, flying exactly 14 hours.  Geoff had to put the lights on in the loft to read the clock and wing stamps!
He is raced widowhood and his last race was Tours with the BICC when he was the second bird home.  His next race will be Perpignan International, a distance of abut 638 miles.  Sol has previously won 3rd Lyndhurst, 44th National Alencon, 7th section 29th National Agen and 3rd section 43rd National Bordeaux.
After being in the basket for six nights Geoff says that the birds looked very well on their return, a credit to those looking after them.

Barcelona International

Over in the west section the winner here was clocked to the ultra successful Peasedown St John loft of Geoff and Catherine Cooper – a partnership who recently won 1st Open Pau International to add to their 2011 Agen International win.  The Cooper’s Barcelona winner is a seven year old widowhood cock now named “Daybreak Junior”  was clocked at 8.34pm to win 1st section 6th Open.  He has been a good honest racer for them, 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.

St Vincent

Geoff and Catherine Cooper clocked “Wriggleson” a three year old widowhood cock to win 3rd sect. 6th National St Vincent.  His preparation for this race was a couple of inland races then in May BICC Alencon where he was 6th National. Next race for him was BICC Tours where he was 69th Open followed by Saintes with the WESRC, then two weekends off and basketed for St Vincent on the Monday. His Sire is “Wriggler” who won 1st National Falaise, 5th National Dax plus many prizes in the top 1% of National races.  His Dam is a daughter of the Cooper’s top breeder George, who won 1st Grand National Tarbes and is sire and grandsire to many top birds including 1st and 2nd International Bordeaux. Geoff and Catherine’s other timers finished at 18th,20th,26th & 30th Open.

Compiled using the BICC press reports 2012

BICC Pau International.

It’s here at last –that is the first race of the International race programme. The 368 entries from the UK were liberated along with the 8,000 plus continental pigeons at 5.45 am on Friday 22nd June.

Geoff & Catherine Cooper 1st & 3rd section BICC Pau International

Over in the West Section we have “the usual suspects” doing the damage yet again. In 1st &3rd section 27th & 35th Open we see the International winning partnership of Geoff and Catherine Cooper clocking two of their team of widowhood hens the first on the clock at 19.04 pm to win 1st west section, is  a two year old blue hen  raced  on widowhood.
Her breeding could not be better for the tough International racing, as she is a grand daughter of Geoff and Catherine’s “George” 1st National FC Tarbes and sire to many top breeders and racers, including grand sire to 1st International “Farmer George, 2^nd International Yearlings for mark Gilbert.

She is also a grand daughter of Brian Sheppard’s “Legend” 1st International Dax and has now been named Georgia Jean, in memory of Brian’s wife Jean, who sadly died last year and was a good friend to Geoff and Catherine
Georgia Jean was raced as a young bird, including two channel races winning 21st G sect. NFC St Malo and 51st Open in the High Littleton Open young bird Tours race.  As a yearling she was not raced and this year she had one inland race and four National races overseas prior to going to Pau.
The Coopers’ second timer at 19.46 pm is a chequer white flight hen called Wollongong and she takes 3rd W Section, out of only four birds clocked on the day. She is also flown widowhood.

Her sire was bred by Clive Lister, being a grandson of “Euro Diamond” and “Marseille King” and her dam is “Gina” a half sister to “George” 1st National Tarbes.
“Wollongong” was raced as a young bird and was 1st club Exeter, 1st club 4th High Littleton Open Tours, 10th G sect. NFC St Malo, not raced as a yearling and had the same race preparation as “Georgia Jean” in the lead up to Pau.
Both birds looked to be in excellent condition on return from their long fly.

BICC Bordeaux / Agen International

 The second race on the International race programme took place on Saturday 30^thJune, when the 736 British birds entered by 116 fanciers were liberated at Agen at 6 am, along with 21,651 pigeons from all over Continental Europe. Weather conditions throughout France were forecast to be excellent with a helping west south westerly breeze and broken cloud and sunshine throughout the route home from south west France turning west with rain in the UK.

Over in the west section the pigeons had quite a task to deal with the strong westerly wind and intermittent heavy showers. The eventual section winner taking 5^th Open was clocked at the Peasedown St John loft of 2011 Argen/Bordeaux International winners Geoff and Catherine Cooper.

The Coopers clocked a chequer widowhood cock named “Scotty” that was in very condition when he landed, despite all the rain and gale force west winds he had to encounter on the way home.  He has already had several good prizes to his name, including 12^th National Fougeres, 1^st West section National Falaise and 303^rd Saintes National.  He is named “Scotty” after Scott Stevens, a young fancier from Midsomer Norton.

Previous to going to Agen “Scotty” had raced three channel races with the NFC, the last one two weeks ago at Messac.

His sire is “Georgeson” a son of “George” 1^st Grand National Tarbes and sire and grandsire to many top pigeons including grandsire to “Farmer George” 1^st International Bordeaux, 2^nd International Yearling Bordeaux for Mark Gilbert.  “Georgeson” is a full brother to the dam of “Farmer George”. The dam of “Scotty” is a daughter of “Southfield Supreme” 1^st International Dax for Mark Gilbert.

Geoff and Catherine also clocked three more pigeons to win 6^th, 7^th and 8^th WS. 

Once again, all arrivals were in excellent condition..

BICC BARCELONA INTERNATIONAL

The Barcelona International race is the ultimate test in pigeon racing. With more than 25,000 pigeons competing, entered by some of the world’s finest fanciers these pigeons have to find their way back to their home lofts spread throughout Continental Europe at distances of up to 860 miles. The British contingent have the added obstacle of the English Channel to contend with in the home stretch – this is much akin to a horse race such as the Derby with the majority of horses racing the whole course on the flat but with a few having to hurdle “Beecher’s Brook” in the home straight. Nevertheless the British fanciers continue to compete on the International stage to test themselves and their pigeons against some of the best fanciers in the world.

Second west section and twenty second open was to the lofts of Geoff and Catherine Cooper of Peasdown St John. This was a six year old widowhood cock called Daybreak Junior. He flew 719 miles on a velocity of 548 ypm. He has previously scored eighteenth Tarbes BICC international and fifty fourth BICC PAU international as well as federation and National Flying Club positions.

BICC St Vincent International.

The race point of St Vincent is in the south-west corner of France close to the Atlantic coast and situated between the cities of Dax and Bayonne. At just under 600 miles it is a good test of both pigeon and the fancier’s ability to condition 16 ounces of flesh, feather and bone to race home for what could, in ideal conditions, prove to be a one-day race. The 2012 St Vincent International attracted a field of 13,085 pigeons from lofts situated throughout Europe. Amongst these were 285 British pigeons entered by 65 battle hardened and enthusiastic UK fanciers. The convoy was eventually liberated at 6am UK time and the map below shows the weather pattern over the course of the race.

Conditions in the English Channel on the first day were “difficult” to say the least, with strong winds and heavy rain showers throughout the day. Here in South Wales the weather was so bad I wouldn’t have put next doors cat out in it! Nevertheless, these British International pigeons are made of stern stuff as a number of hardy individuals crossed the channel and returned to their home lofts on day of toss with a steady stream of arrivals following on the second morning.

Given the weather conditions in the UK on the day consisting of strong west south westerly wind and heavy rain, the next pigeon on the result at 1st west section 10th Open, clocked way out west at the Peasedown St John loft of Geoff and Catherine Cooper, deserves a medal the size of a dustbin lid! It would be fair to assume that this one broke for home fairly early in the race and in all probability raced single up for the greater part of the journey. The Coopers have enjoyed a terrific season in BICC races with 4 x 1sts and a second in the west section (prov.) and here Geoff and Catherine clocked their blue widowhood cock at 18.09 to win 1st west section.  Appropriately, they have called the pigeon “Misty” to reflect the conditions on the day.

 “Misty” is an excellent racer for the Coopers.  This year he has won 1st Minstead CHS, 5th Combine Minstead 44 miles, 1st CHS Saintes, 5th Combine Saintes 394 miles and is raced on the widowhood system.

“Misty”’s sire is “Keogan” who has won many top National prizes including 20th NFC Tarbes. “Keogan” is a son of “Jayneson” another top National racer and he was out of “Court Out” 1st Classic Pau for Guy Reed when paired to “Jayne” a top racer for Geoff and Catherine. “Jayne” in turn is the grand dam of Paul Kendal’s champion racer “Morning Glory” 2 x 2nd Open NFC Pau. “Misty”’s  Dam is a daughter of “Blue Legend” a son of “Legend” 1st International Dax  for Brian Sheppard when paired to a daughter of “Farm Boy” a top International and National prize winner for the Coopers and sire of “Farmer George” 1st International Bordeaux. The Coopers clocked a second bird on the second morning to take 2nd section as well and this three year old widowhood cock is now named “Stroller”. His sire is “Ridge” a top prize winner and a son of Magnus 02 when he was paired to a daughter of Daybreak a Merit Award winner. His dam is a daughter of a brother to “JW” 1st National Falaise and the sire of “George” 1st Grand National Tarbes. He had the same preparation as their section winner going to Saintes three weeks before the St Vincent International.