# Sun City



## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Anyone following the Sun City race and want to make a prediction on the winner?


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

I have a little. We have a club member Ken Easley who was 8th overall last time I checked.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Congratulations to Chris Rounds 1st time entering South Africa Million Dollar Race. His bird Cloud Buster 3/4 Van Loon 1/4 Red Fox Janssen 100% Christopher Loft Bloodlines. After all 5 car races are in the books his bird is 2nd USA 14th World for the 5 race car race series. She is also one of only 7 USA birds and 84 birds for the World still standing in the Knockout Competition, and is 64th in the Grand Average. 6052 birds started this series. Good Luck on the big one Chris and Way to go so far!

And this man is in raftree3 club, I got this off Ipigeon, from Ken Christopher.
Dave


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## Ashby Loft (Aug 31, 2007)

I'd really like to see a US Bird win this. If you go by the averages, then you have to like RMC Loft. 

So many birds, I don't know how you could pick the winner.

My pick is Bb 31 the previous Car Race Winner.


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Crazy Pete said:


> Congratulations to Chris Rounds 1st time entering South Africa Million Dollar Race. His bird Cloud Buster 3/4 Van Loon 1/4 Red Fox Janssen 100% Christopher Loft Bloodlines. After all 5 car races are in the books his bird is 2nd USA 14th World for the 5 race car race series. She is also one of only 7 USA birds and 84 birds for the World still standing in the Knockout Competition, and is 64th in the Grand Average. 6052 birds started this series. Good Luck on the big one Chris and Way to go so far!
> 
> And this man is in raftree3 club, I got this off Ipigeon, from Ken Christopher.
> Dave


As Dave said Chris is a member of our club....Cornhusker Invitational Racing Pigeon Club. He's a real good flyer, there's also a guy near by that also had birds in the race but hasn't had good luck. Makes it more fun to follow the race when you actually know people with birds entered. Don't know that Chris will see this but good luck next week Chris!


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

I looked at the wed site but can't find the bird list. I see the main race is the 28th. I know a few guys that have birds in that race and wish everyone good luck.


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## koukoukou (May 12, 2011)

How is goldwings doing Eric? For the U.S. I'd pick Ganus,Joe Nemelka, Rmc Loft, Scott Mcalister to win......And Clausing. Any bird that makes the final regardless of grand averages ect. Will have a chance and it is prove those results of averages or training flights do not make a difference a bird outta no where will win! Only Birdy and Color of water was ever consistant to place or win in a high position.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

ERIC K said:


> I looked at the wed site but can't find the bird list. I see the main race is the 28th. I know a few guys that have birds in that race and wish everyone good luck.



Go to the web site and on the left side click on results & listings, then you can go to general results ro grand averages. From there you should be able to find every body.
Dave


I hope Alex Bieche wins, I own part of his bird.


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

I see there is some birds available . One from Fahys Fabry Loft is still up for grabs. He did good a few years back. 

I cant remember the name of his bird , so I'll call him tomorrow. I know Rick Nanez had a few in the race too.


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

I found two of Ricks birds in the 5th car race were 162 and 202 place out of 3856 birds on Jan. 7th. and one at 358 place.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Thats btter than my bird is doing.
Dave


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Dave: Is "Crowen Jewels" your bird? Looks like every other week he does well so this week should be his race. Hope he does well so I can claim I know somebody famous!


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

raftree3 said:


> Dave: Is "Crowen Jewels" your bird? Looks like every other week he does well so this week should be his race. Hope he does well so I can claim I know somebody famous!


Yes she is, and I hope so to. She has done better than last years winner. I think luck has more to do than any thing else.
Dave


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## Jamax99 (Dec 17, 2011)

how does auction work for birds avaible , you can bid on them , then enter then in final or is the bid part of the entry for final race ?


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

There are birds that have not been paid for, you can buy them and put them in the final race. Then they have an auction after the race you can buy birds and have them shiped to you.
Dave


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## Ashby Loft (Aug 31, 2007)

I have a new favorite in the race. Caribean Blue from Nanez Lofts. Just heard that one of the birds in my beginner kit from the Nanez Family is a half sibling of Caribean Blue. That bird has done pretty well and is one of only 7 US birds left in the knockout.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

12 Volt Man said:


> I have a new favorite in the race. Caribean Blue from Nanez Lofts. Just heard that one of the birds in my beginner kit from the Nanez Family is a half sibling of Caribean Blue. That bird has done pretty well and is one of only 7 US birds left in the knockout.


Thats not just pretty good thats great, are yours the Houben side or the Janssen side?
Dave


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## Ashby Loft (Aug 31, 2007)

Crazy Pete said:


> Thats not just pretty good thats great, are yours the Houben side or the Janssen side?
> Dave


Won't know till tomorrow (Thursday) when they show up. Kind of hoping the Houben side


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

The Sun City birds are in the air, released at 6:30, good luck to all that have birds in the race.
Dave


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## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

Crazy Pete said:


> The Sun City birds are in the air, released at 6:30, good luck to all that have birds in the race.
> Dave


GOOD LUCK DAVE!!!!!


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Looks like Denmark is ruling the roost !! Haven't seen a US bird listed yet. Top 300 still pays so maybe some will at least be in that range.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Well so far there are 120 birds back 12 of them are American, so thats not to bad. I went in with Alex Bieche hope our bird makes it in the top 300 so we will have shiping paid for for next year.
Dave


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Crazy Pete said:


> Well so far there are 120 birds back 12 of them are American, so thats not to bad. I went in with Alex Bieche hope our bird makes it in the top 300 so we will have shiping paid for for next year.
> Dave


Is that what top 300 pays?


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

raftree3 said:


> Looks like Denmark is ruling the roost !! Haven't seen a US bird listed yet. Top 300 still pays so maybe some will at least be in that range.


Top US bird is 32nd. And I think Dave was right when he said luck has a lot to do with it in these races. Look at the results of the winner the best it ever finished on a toss or race was 299 and a bunch of times it was 3000th or worse. But it won today.


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

Pigeon0446 said:


> Top US bird is 32nd. And I think Dave was right when he said luck has a lot to do with it in these races. Look at the results of the winner the best it ever finished on a toss or race was 299 and a bunch of times it was 3000th or worse. But it won today.


Makes you wonder!!!!!


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## ssyyb2 (Sep 4, 2011)

Sounds like when when it counted that bird knew what to do I would take a slow trainer that wins on race day


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## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

Koopman's stock sure is rising after today isnt it?


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

I guess DE stands for Germany not Denmark. Either way DE is dominating.


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

Ssyybfamloft said:


> Sounds like when when it counted that bird knew what to do I would take a slow trainer that wins on race day


It'll be nice to win the race but I wouldn't want that bird in my breeding loft. Why would you want to breed a bird that only does good once in 20 something tries and most of the time being in the back half of the pack unless I was a seller then I'd want it to make money. But I'm not and I'm trying to breed consitently competitive birds so I'd rather breed out of the bird that was good all year and had a bad race then the bird who did crappy all year and had a good race. I know from experience that a bird who wins one race but never did anything else usually doesn't breed well. But a bird who is consitently near the top maybe not a winner but always there normally breeds good. To me almost any bird can win on any given day but the special birds can do it almost everyday. I want the special bird not the one hit wonders.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

SouthTown Racers said:


> Koopman's stock sure is rising after today isnt it?


It sure is, and ganus doesn't have much to brag about only 1 bird back so far. Yes they only pay 300 places.
Dave


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

Ther top 4 birds are from Germany

Gremany has 186 birds clocked in already.


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

The second bird is a Koopman cross to H Meir Rahaden.

The winnen is a Hofkens / Janssen/ Roodhooft Andre bird what ever that means


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Koopman didn't do that good at $1025 a bird and he had 74 birds, he was just playing the odds.
Dave


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## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

Crazy Pete said:


> Koopman didn't do that good at $1025 a bird and he had 74 birds, he was just playing the odds.
> Dave


Wow...he had 74 entries??


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Each teem is 3 birds and if you loose all 3 you get a free entry next year, so some are probably from last years paid entry or even 2 years ago.
Dave


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## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

Crazy Pete said:


> Each teem is 3 birds and if you loose all 3 you get a free entry next year, so some are probably from last years paid entry or even 2 years ago.
> Dave


I guess I will have to go and read all the rules


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## Ashby Loft (Aug 31, 2007)

The Germans dominated. Wow.


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

If you look the that bird that isn't in there at 9th place is an American bird that the guy who entered didn't pay. Because if you go under United States the 1st bird is a bird that wasn't paid for and isn't listed and the only bird ahead of 32nd in the results that wasn't paid for is the bird that would have 9th place.


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Scott McCallister was 69th not bad. I have a bird down from his Snow Bird Winner. He spends time between Durango Co. and Phoenix. He has some very nice birds. Did not see Ken Easley's bird in the toppers.


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

How many of you watch the video of the race liberation . If your birds were in the bottom baskets they got smashed to the ground. They blured out part of the video so you could see it all that clear. I think luck has a lot to do with this race. 

The winning bird did fly 40.16 MPH (1178.29 ypm) not bad for head winds.


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Dave: Looks like your bird was 492...something to be proud of I'd say. Not far off the top 300.


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Just looked at the auction of the top 100 birds. First place went for 250.00 Rand, 2nd 360.00 and 59th place bird went for 290.00. Not sure how the currency converts to dollars. Someone must have know something about the 59th place bird? I didn't see an average posted but I'd guess around 20 maybe.


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## Ashby Loft (Aug 31, 2007)

Impressive. That's 250,000 Rand for the first bird. 360,000 for the second place bird. 1 South African Rand is equal to .1289 US Dollars. So the most expensive bird went for around 46,000 US. 

I'm not clear on something though... do the proceeds from the auction go straight back to the race? Or does the breeder get any part of it?


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

I was told that Houben didn't care if he lost money, he wanted the publicity, and I would be willing to bet that is the story with most of the big name fliers.


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Not much publicity if your birds do lousy.


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

The bird owner gets half of the auction amount.


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

hillfamilyloft said:


> Not much publicity if your birds do lousy.


There goal is to have a few of them stick in the upper part of the winning list.


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

The race nets out $2 million to the owners of the race.


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## Jamax99 (Dec 17, 2011)

we should do some time of raffle on here , and the winner would get there birds sent to next years race . im sure if we got about 30 people in , say for 100 bucks or 60 for 50 we could send 2 birds. or maybe someone on her would be willing to hold a one loft race for the few guys on here and the top 2 winners get a bird in the following years race . or maybe we send to a race that doesn't cost much and we see who wins out of the guys on this site and want to do it . or we all cheap in and send acouple of birds and everyone who chips in gets a part of the winning . would be great to root for just a thought.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Having a bird there this year kept me glued to the PC with hopes of a good finish. Our bird didn't make the $$ so I guess this was just a training toss for the next race. We have 2 paid entry's for next year plus Alex is going to send another. And the I'm giong in with another guy in my combine and we will send 2 more teams. I'll probably worry myself sick during the 2013 race.
Dave


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

I see they pulled the video of the release off the front page. Was it 11 mile per hour head wind on race day? 362 day birds? not real good returns with the birds being the best in the world? If I wanted to spend $1000 on racing I'd put birds in 5 or 6 races in the US first.


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## johnnyksspeedshop (Oct 12, 2007)

ERIC K said:


> I see they pulled the video of the release off the front page. Was it 11 mile per hour head wind on race day? 362 day birds? not real good returns with the birds being the best in the world? If I wanted to spend $1000 on racing I'd put birds in 5 or 6 races in the US first.


You would think with the kind of money involved in this race they could afford a decent camera for their youtube videos, none the less it is an amazing race!


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

I thought about doing races in the US but by the time you pay for them you still have over a $1000 payed out and the pay out for them is not even close to what the Sun City pays. If luck happened to be on my side I could brag that I beat Ganus, Koopman, and all the greats. Not that money isn't a big part, just seeing your name on top of a list like that would be great.
Dave


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## ssyyb2 (Sep 4, 2011)

I really think pt should do a for real one loft race


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

I was going to send 1 or 2 birds this year, but I was made aware of some disturbing facts about what goes on over there.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

I'v ben told they don't treat American birds as good as others during Quarintine, but that that will all change next year, well this year. They are supposed to get a new vet that will make sure all birds are treated the same. But that could be just a rumor.
Dave


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

Dave you did beat one Ganus bird for sure "mike likes this one" 1998 place , and that bird has Mona Lisa blood in the pedigree which he sayes she is his best all time hen. It took that bird almost two whole day to clock in. Second day clocking in at few minutes past 6pm.


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## Kastle Loft (May 7, 2008)

Whose American bird was ninth but was DQ'd??


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Kastle Loft said:


> Whose American bird was ninth but was DQ'd??


Wonder what would disqualify one?


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Maybe we could figure out how to form a syndicate with some one's
birds like Dave(Crazy Pete) and his friends did. Maybe the PT Syndicate could help sponsor Zeppelin's birds or anyone with birds they think could cut the mustard. I knew a couple of guys that had birds in this year and I really enjoyed following them.


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

raftree3 said:


> Wonder what would disqualify one?


Maybe from not paying your race fees.


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## irishsyndicate (Sep 19, 2008)

ERIC K said:


> Dave you did beat one Ganus bird for sure "mike likes this one" 1998 place , and that bird has Mona Lisa blood in the pedigree which he sayes she is his best all time hen. It took that bird almost two whole day to clock in. Second day clocking in at few minutes past 6pm.


Mona Lisa was not smiling for sure - seems like all his entries had Mona Lisa in them? Bottom line is the USA got our butts kicked in this race. Somehow it is setup for the Germans to win. I won't elaborate because last thing I want is a lawyer's letter from SCMDPR legal team.

I had two entries left on my team - and both showed up next day at Noon.

Mark Kitchenbrand (the guy who bought the winner again) buys the TOP birds at MDPR every year. He entered a ton of entries as well and nothing to show -


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Kastle Loft said:


> Whose American bird was ninth but was DQ'd??


This was on McLaughlin's web site
Dave

It has been bothering me all night that the top US pigeon at 9th place was a defaulter. The person entering this pigeon never paid the initial $1025. There was another defaulter at 50th. The 9th Place pigeon not only lost out on the prize money, the 1/2 ounce of gold and the trophy, the person lost out on the once in a lifetime opportunity to score in the top ten at Sun City. What a pity. All this work and the US result looks just OK because of the lost 9th place. This morning the organizers will cut off the band of the 9th place pigeon and the bird will be given to a very lucky Junior member here in South Africa..

USA beat Belgium and the Netherlands along with most other countries but received no credit for this. Frank


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## Lavender Hill Lofts (Dec 1, 2011)

American Ahsan Khan took 44th place with a bird bred from two Mountain View Lofts (Eric Houchin, Washington State). Khan’s bird sire is down from a top Gaby cock for Eric and the mother is a daughter of Eric’s Vegas Classic winner which is mainly Verbree blood.

Birds from Eric have won 4 times in the Vegas races, 53 in the AIC 2011, and they have placed in the $ in the GHC Classic and many other races. No Mona Lisa blood in any of his stuff.


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## Lavender Hill Lofts (Dec 1, 2011)

irishsyndicate said:


> Somehow it is setup for the Germans to win.QUOTE]
> 
> The reason the Germans do so well in the SAMDR is not because there is favoritism, it boils down to their knack of sending their best birds. Let me explain.
> 
> ...


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

You mean that they train them to short distances and then ship them. Wow, I thought it was a real threat to losing them by resettling the birds.


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## johnnyksspeedshop (Oct 12, 2007)

New liberation video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SPLFt8Ilf0&feature=g-all-u&context=G22a70c3FAAAAAAAAMAA


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## Lavender Hill Lofts (Dec 1, 2011)

Crazy Pete said:


> Koopman didn't do that good at $1025 a bird


Koopman doesn't really need to win to make money. He sends so many pigeons because he sells them to China after the race for 5x the entry.


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## irishsyndicate (Sep 19, 2008)

Lavender Hill Lofts said:


> Koopman doesn't really need to win to make money. He sends so many pigeons because he sells them to China after the race for 5x the entry.


In your opinion, why does MDPR advise against training out birds before shipping to SA?


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## Lavender Hill Lofts (Dec 1, 2011)

irishsyndicate said:


> In your opinion, why does MDPR advise against training out birds before shipping to SA?


The organizers have a stated policy against this to discourage fanciers from doing what I’ve outlined above. If they didn’t then when the majority of participants realize what the key is to win then they will lose interest and the race will decline.

Have you ever seen or heard any evidence of the organizers refusing birds that arrived to their race that were/are obviously older, trained and with pulled flights?


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Joe Nemelka sent 22 birds this year and posts a pretty extensive report on his birds on his web site. Of the number , he flew the 12 early youngsters at home (Jan. - early Mar.)
His best bird in the final race which I think was 168th was a later hatch and hadn't been flown. 
Sun City requires that you not send birds with cut flights.
In Joe's final blog from the race he mentions"Yesterday (Sunday, the 29th), I did get the opportunity to help again with photographing the Top 10 birds. I also got to help handle and pull the wings on the Top 100 birds as the SCMDPR Race Director - Zandy Meyer wants to prove to the world that the gamesmanship about making sure your pigeon has a full wing is much ado about nothing. I was there when he was giving Leon Petzer, the photographer, the instructions and he specifically said, "The best birds are the best birds and they do not need a full wing to prove it. This *&$% about having a full wing has to end." I may not have it word for word, but it is close. They also wanted to provide the photographs to the animal rights critics who are now pushing to pull from the race any pigeon who doesn't have a full wing as they believe they do not have a chance to come home without a full wing."
Interesting stuff!


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## Lavender Hill Lofts (Dec 1, 2011)

raftree3 said:


> Sun City requires that you not send birds with cut flights.


However, they have no policy on flights that are pulled before and allowed to grow 2/3 of the way back before they are shipped.


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## Fencer (Feb 1, 2012)

*Flights*

This flight deal makes you wonder . We sent a hen that had 9 flights on a 300 mile race and she won . Her 10 th flight had been pulled in may and never grew in .


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## Lavender Hill Lofts (Dec 1, 2011)

Welcome to the board Fencer. Where in Maryland do you live?


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## Fencer (Feb 1, 2012)

Hello Thanks Close to Hagerstown


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## Lavender Hill Lofts (Dec 1, 2011)

Fencer said:


> Hello Thanks Close to Hagerstown


Lot of strong flyers there. You and you son are among top for sure! Lots of really good birds and you'll know how to race.


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Here's some interesting thoughts from Frank Mclaughlin..........




Sun City Weekend 2012 



Greatest Pigeon Race in the World 
Hello Everyone,

We have returned home from South Africa and I must say that we had an incredible trip! I will focus on pigeons in this update but wanted you to know that my wife thought I was exaggerating about South Africa in the past. Robin had such a great time she is already making plans with the other women on the trip to return in 2013. I will write an article on the entire trip very soon and post it on my website. Now I will stick to pigeon related events. I will do a separate update when the race is official to give accolades to the winners and top average pigeons.

Sun City is the only true International pigeon event we have in the sport. Nothing compares to it and no race comes even close. Competing on the world stage at this level is not for everyone but it is certainly for me and thousands of others. Having the very best pigeons from top fanciers from 30 plus countries under identical challenging conditions is the core of Sun City. Winning a single 50 mile training toss at Sun City is the highlight of some fanciers’ entire racing career. Thousands have the guts to enter and hundreds of thousands watch the results. One cannot have stage fright if you enter Sun City. The pigeon world stage is what I am talking about. 

Thursday, January 26th was Shipping Day and everything went smooth as expected. There were four lines set up for basketing and all of us were allowed to help with the process. By working as a team we managed to see many of our own pigeons. It was still somewhat of a needle in a haystack when you consider 3500 pigeons had to be entered. The health and condition of the pigeons was outstanding. Snow white wattles, buoyancy, tight eyes and overall top form for nearly every pigeon. Of course there was a percent that did not emit quality but I am sure that they did not emit quality when they were sent to South Africa. 

One thing we all noticed was that the molt ranged from pigeons on their second and third flight to any other possible stage in the molt. I thought that I would have more answers than questions but this was not the case. I was able to see seven of my own pigeons altogether and three that I sent over at the exact same age varied from the third flight, to the sixth flight, to the ninth flight. I really thought that all my notes would provide me with answers. What I do know is that we should not try to play games with the molt before shipping pigeons to Sun City. It will probably only hurt. I kept records on all the strange things the owners did to their pigeons before shipping. Do you know how many of the pigeons that had the tails pulled, 7th to 9th flight pulled, 9th and 10th pulled, 7th to 10th clipped and the entire wings pulled scored in the top 100??? None! Not one of these altered pigeons scored. None of the pigeons kept in the dark scored, none of the pigeons not allowed outside to look around scored and none of the freaks scored. Was the sample small? Yes, the sample was small but still I expected a couple of the altered pigeons to score in the top 100. What did I learn? I learned what I already knew...send the best and hope for the best. The bottom line is that a magnificent pigeon is needed to finish in the top at Sun City. 

Saturday, January 28th was Race Day. It was perfect day in every way and exactly what we were hoping for. The race had heat with mild to moderate head winds and some side winds along the course. The liberation was beautiful and the trainers said that the pigeons left together. Not once did the truck see a pack of pigeons along the route back. The Sun City organizers goal is to have all the prizes won on the day of shipping and we had this and a few more. 

We waited in the Superbowl with several thousand others all trying to estimate the time of arrival. The food was endless and we had live entertainment. Regular weather and wind updates were given throughout the afternoon. The tension was high but the party was going full steam ahead.

At 8 hours 56 minutes a single German pigeon landed and three minutes later two more arrived. The dark cock that finished 2nd place was cooing and strutting as soon as he touched down. This was a fine indicator of the conditioning of the pigeons in the race. After a gap between the third pigeon and the next group the pigeons arrived right up until dark. A few continued to come in after dark. Sun City 2012 was in the books.

Sunday, January 29th was Auction Day. It was easy to see the high percentage of cocks in the Top 100. It seemed that there were a higher percentage of cocks in the Top 100 than the overall percentage of cocks in the race. It was also easy to notice that the size varied from small through medium with some on the larger size. This variation could be due to the entries of larger pigeons being higher so some great ones were actually on the bigger side. What did I learn from this? Again, send your best.

I also noticed that the wing molt varied but for the most part the Top 100 pigeons had a relatively full wing. If you were racing young birds in the U.S. and had young birds on the team from different rounds, without the aid of a system, you could realize the difference in the Top 100 pigeons.

Now to the Sun City Top 100 auction. Sun City had a record number of entries, pigeons going to the final race as well as surprisingly high auction totals on the most outstanding performers. Never before have so many of the top pigeons commanded incredible sales prices. Maybe because the final race was a challenging hot day with head and side winds…perfect Sun City conditions.

Until Sunday I assumed that a person goes to a pigeon auction and bids on what he/she wants in a price range that he/she can afford. On Sunday I was schooled in how to get exactly what you want at auction. What’s the strategy?? Push your competition to spend all of their money on lesser pigeons. 

Sunday’s Top 100 auction had two classes of greatness - the race winners and the elite pigeons in the race. The 1st and 2nd place pigeons were amazing pigeons but their final race performance was their only performances of the entire series. The elite pigeons in the race were the Overall Grand Average Speed Winner “Cliff Two”, Knock Out Winner “Soraia” and possibly the best pigeon of all “Sugar Shack”.

Everyone in the room was aware that South African businessman Mark Kitchenbrand planned to buy the top 2 pigeons as well as the other elite pigeons in the top 100. Kitchenbrand did not realize that American fancier Mike Ganus also intended to own the elite pigeons of the top 100.

In years past the winning Sun City pigeons would sell in the $18k-$25k range. This year should have been no different because no one has successfully outbid Kitchenbrand above these amounts. Mike Ganus would have been happy to own the 1st and 2nd place pigeons but his goal was to bring home the elite pigeons in the top 100. Mike was prepared to spend whatever it took to own “Cliff Two”, “Soraia” and “Sugar Shack”. Mike also knew that it would not be easy bidding against Kitchenbrand.

Now to the strategy… Ganus planned to bid on the 1st and 2nd place pigeon way beyond their actual worth. This would cause Kitchenbrand to spend all of his allotted Rand on these two pigeons. 

Ganus was least interested in owning the winner and 2nd place bird out of the five pigeons that he was focusing on. Ganus drove the price up to approximately US $33,000 on the 1st place pigeon. Kitchenbrand then realized Mike was serious and allowed Mike to bid him up to approximately US $48,000 on the 2nd place pigeon. When the gavel fell Mike knew he had just secured himself the ownership of the elite pigeons of the race that had yet to be auctioned. 

Initially I thought that Mike Ganus would be disappointed at the loss of the 1st and 2nd place pigeons to Kitchenbrand. Once the audience finished applauding after the sale of the 2nd place pigeon, Mike Ganus turned to Mark Kitchenbrand and gave him a smile and a wink. Instantly it hit me like a tsunami what I had just witnessed. Mike played a poker bluff to set up himself to own “Cliff Two”, “Soraia” and “Sugar Shack”. Here’s what followed… Mike Ganus out bid Kitchenbrand, Chinese bidders and the owners to purchase the 3 best pigeons of the 2011-2012 racing season. My lesson on getting what you want at auction was complete. I am pleased to announce that “Sugar Shack”, “Soraia” and “Cliff Two” are moving to Granger, Indiana! 

Sun City weekend was a wrap and I must give the organizers and trainers enormous credit for such a successful season. I hope that everyone had as much fun as my wife and I did. The final race is incredible but the real excitement is the three month joy ride from November to the end of January. I am already disappointed that I have no result to look at this week. 



Until the next update giving the top performers their due,



Frank McLaughlin

www.mclaughlinlofts.com


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

I just looked it up and if Mr. Ganus bought the 3 birds mentioned in the blog, he spent 335,000 Rand. Now I can't remember how many dollars that is but it's a load. Be fun to have the guts to make a purchase like that with hopes for a big return!


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## Ashby Loft (Aug 31, 2007)

Great story on the auction battle between Ganus and Kitchenbrand.


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## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

raftree3 said:


> I just looked it up and if Mr. Ganus bought the 3 birds mentioned in the blog, he spent 335,000 Rand. Now I can't remember how many dollars that is but it's a load. Be fun to have the guts to make a purchase like that with hopes for a big return!


I think its about 44,000$$


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## Formidable1 (Jan 30, 2012)

Looks like Ganus got some of Clausings strain now.


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Just heard....true or not that the truck hauling the birds in the final race broke down and had to be hauled on another truck to the release point. Has anyone else heard this? Talk about stress!


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

raftree3 said:


> Just heard....true or not that the truck hauling the birds in the final race broke down and had to be hauled on another truck to the release point. Has anyone else heard this? Talk about stress!


Here's a story on the race that talks about the truck braking down and being towed. "Being towed by a recovery vehicle meant that the valuable pigeons travelled at an angle for over seventeen hours"

They also say "Whilst the birds are being transported, the doors of the baskets were opening and NSPCA inspectors pointed out to the transporter at the time that this could lead to birds escaping."

But it's on an animal rights website so you never know if they are just making up stuff to try and ruin the race.

http://www.nspca.co.za/other.aspx?I...234&Title=Sun+City+Million+Dollar+Pigeon+Race


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

They never should have posted the video of the release eather.


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