# AU Convention Race Results Are In ..



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

These are preliminary: http://2006auconvention.com/race_results.htm

Looks like RELOFTS (Ellen) has gotten a #24 position winner .. talked to her earlier today. Anyone else here on Pigeon-Talk have birds in this race? 

Terry


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

Congratulations Ellen !


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

*Congratulations All Around!*

Yes, yes, congratulations Ellen that is fantastic! We have recently found that there is at least one more world class flyer in our midst. Seem Mr. Warren Smith has scored in a big way in his own right. Earlier this week he scored in the money for the second time with one of his outstanding birds at the Flamingo International Challenge one loft race in Florida! The same bird (AU 06 SFL 139) was third in the 200 mile race and equal first in the 350 mile race. We all know what a tremendous accomplishment this represents as this race included birds from the finest breeders of racing pigeons in this hemisphere if not the world.

I am sure I can speak for all of the members here...

*WAY TO GO ELLEN AND WARREN!!!!!!!*  

You can view the results at www.flamingoic.com


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

*SQUEAKS AND I ARE FLYING BY TO SAY CONGRATULATIONS TO ELLEN AND WARREN !!*


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Woo hoo!!! That is awesome! Congratulations to both of you! Way to go!


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## Happy (Dec 19, 2004)

Way to go Ellen & Warren. Warren I notice your birds did Super at 1,200ypm and 1,700. & that you had many back-ups. Way to go!!!..... Hap


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Ellen and Warren*

Congratulations on your winning birds!


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

*Winning is the game.......*



Happy said:


> Way to go Ellen & Warren. Warren I notice your birds did Super at 1,200ypm and 1,700. & that you had many back-ups. Way to go!!!..... Hap


How sweet of you to notice Hap !....

I personally raised a small number of YB's from a special group of 10 pairs in 2006 of which I sent some teams to the Flamingo in order to test them against some of the best breeders in the country. There was also another half dozen which were entered into the East Coast Challenge in New Jersey, the other two dozen or so I raced locally against lofts in the United Pigeon Combine (Of Fred Smeltzer Fame). It is all part of my testing program.

In my defense and that of my poor birds, I was not content to simply beat the Junior members and Old Timers in my Club and Combine. I wanted to race against birds that the real professionals would be willing to put up some serious money to fly with. 

Concerning the Flamingo successes, you are so correct in that I had a couple of the early birds into the trap, but I also had dead last place on that particular day !!! And, as you pointed out, I had what you call "many" back ups. I never spared any expense in the acquisition and importation of some important members of the SFL breeding team, so why go cheap on the testing ?

I wanted to figure out who really was World Class racing stock and who was not. If you go back and study the training and race results you will find that on one training toss I had the 1st Place Bird, winning againest hundreds of YB's from the best lofts in the USA !!! Only to have that very same bird finish dead last on the 350 mile race that you mention, and giving me one of the fastest and also the slowest speeds. Perhaps the one saving grace is another 75+ birds were never clocked and so never made it home that day.  I can imagine this poor bird, when all the other birds gave up, he plowed on untill he made it home ! That is exactly the kind of "Guts" that I like to see in a pigeon, even if he had a bad day, he didn't quit. Quite possible that this particular bird could go on to win another day ? 

I think part of the reason I ended up with more birds in the Flamingo races was due to the fact that I lost fewer birds in training, and partly perhaps I may have had more confidence in my birds then some of my competitors. I don't know if it was true or not, but the rumor I am sticking with is that some of the other fliers reduced their numbers and/or pulled out completely when they found out I was entering birds !  At any rate locally, I often sent less then ten birds in local and combine races, only to beat the so called "Mob" fliers. I guess it is only fair that if someone lost to me in this particular race, they can always point to the fact that they had fewer birds entered. 

From the looks of the loft inventory, perhaps some of the BIG BOYS moved over to the World Challenge, where you can enter as many birds you want at $1000 a pop !! See : http://worldacechallenge.com/race_entries/entries.php

At any rate the offspring of some of my breeders were tested againest some pretty good competition in 2006, which can only make my 2007 teams all that much stronger !! I expect to see in 2007 more SFLUSA banded birds showing up in more race results in more places all over the country, at least that is my thinking and story, and I am sticking with it !!


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> ...That is exactly the kind of "Guts" that I like to see in a pigeon, even if he had a bad day, he didn't quit. Quite possible that this particular bird could go on to win another day ? ...


You make an excellent point - there's more to consider than just winning.


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

Ellen and Warren,

Congratulations to both of you!

Linda


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

TerriB said:


> You make an excellent point - there's more to consider than just winning.


Well.....let us at least agree that there is a lot to consider besides a bird's particular position. There is a lot of wisdom in the saying that the best bird may not have placed first on any particular day. But, let us not forget, the winner takes home the BIG CHECK !!  

I am reminded however, of a particular fancier in this part of the country who "won" all kinds of awards for a number of years.....untill he moved. Once he moved off the line of flight, the AU Hall of Fame, and Champion Bird, Average Speed Awards, etc., all vanished......of course, all advertizing and marketing for at least the last decade still points towards past glories., never to be realized again. So was it the quality of the birds or the quality of the past loft position all along ?

On the day of any particular "Big Race" perhaps the best bird dropped a flight the day before and caused a less then perfect performance. If you are simply in it to win the money, then it may not make any difference in your view. If you are there to test the best you have, then perhaps you take comfort in other stats like the average speed. At any rate, we can always take some comfort from the fact that good ole Lady Luck will always play a role in this game. 

If it was simply a matter of who owned the biggest and "best" breeding stock, then the owner of the Breeding Farm with the Million dollar or perhaps Multi-Million Dollar inventory of National Aces would always be winning. But as was the case in this particular race, some small family loft, carried the day !


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Warren
I am still thinking you are smiling when you deposit that check. Was your bird a Ludo or one of your Janssens? You are right that luck and chance play a big part in this sport. I think good birds play a bigger one. 
Congrats
Randy


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

*Laughing all the way to bank !!*

Randy,

Thank you for the kind words, and yes the THREE (3rd, 8th and 17th ) checks will make this holiday season just all that more sweeter !!


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Cpngratulations to both Rena and Warren.

Warren, you mentioned 75+ birds didn't make it home that day. Did they finally make it?


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

Lady Tarheel said:


> Cpngratulations to both Rena and Warren.
> 
> Warren, you mentioned 75+ birds didn't make it home that day. Did they finally make it?



I am sure they did, in most cases they show up the next morning. If they do this more then a couple of times, then they are often referred to as "Homers" as compared to the previous set which are "Racers". Sometimes these Homers will just come home when the mood suits them. They will be taking a complete inventory sometime today I think, so that the breeders can make arrangements for their trip home. Most will be shipped home in care of the USPS, and a few lucky ones will have Limo's dispatched and/or private planes dispatched to pick up team members.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Thanks, Warren.


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