Through the Winter I will be trying to throw some worthy spotlights on some wonderfully consistent pigeons flying with the NFC.

This first report showcases GB15N75453 flown by Andy Holland of Shipley way up in Section K, and we can see that it joined an exclusive band of only 15 pigeons that have been timed in from races with flying distances aggregating more than 5000 miles. My database of results covers all races 1998 – 2022 (25 years), and of course it’s possible that pigeons in earlier eras have flown > 5000 miles, and I’d love to hear from anyone with documented evidence of such pigeons.

You can see that GB15N75453is anything but a turner-upper, have 3 times finished in the top 10 of section K when flying > 564 miles … he’s a proper distance warrior alright. He flew Tarbes this year as a 7yo, and will put himself in line for a treasured Certificate of Merit if he can make the Top 200 in the 2023 Grand National Race.

I don’t know Andy in person, but clearly he knows the time of day when it comes to long distance racing as I note that apart from this topper he was 2^nd Section 16^th Open from Tarbes this year and in fact he timed all 3 entries within the top 16 of his section! Top flying.

Paul O'Leary
O028B