STEVE Almighty King was finally dethroned at the Busselton Pigeon Club’s race in Yanchep on Saturday.
King had won the last four events, but it was Rotten Ron Blackwell who claimed the victory with a two year old blue bar hen.
These birds have been a revelation for Blackwell and with the appointment of highly rated pigeon racer Jim Owen as loft manager, the form of their charges has turned around very quickly.
Owen is a much sort after loft manager and Blackwell was fortunate enough to gain his signature and the season looks bright for this duo.
Owen named the winning bird Skidz and has secured naming rights for all the winners this season.
The Brennan Clan continued their consistent season when they clocked a red hen with an impressive 1568.435 metre per minute velocity to be just 16 seconds behind the winner.
Brennan’s bird was bred down from his old Lague family crossed with a gift bird from legendary Kalgoorlie flyer Grant Densley and is in line for the upcoming Galena events.
Anthony Sharminator Sharman hasn’t been able to crack a win this season but is always close including this week when he finished third.
The clock bird was a direct son of the legendary Bronze Bullet and continue this bird’s success in the stock loft after a decorated flying career.
A two second quicker trap would have seen the bird claim second but alas that was not the case.
After dominating the last month King had to settle for fourth with a velocity of 1566.960mpm.
However, King still maintains a healthy lead in Flyer of the Year award.
King’s leading bird was a little blue check hen and in a twist of fate it was a gift bird from leading Albany flyer Ray Barrass who passed away this week after a short illness.
Dave and son Joe Chapple had the hard luck story when their front running birds were tracked by a peragrine falcon to the loft and would not trap for over 10 minutes leaving them to wonder what could have been.
No surprise to anybody was the performance of Pete Adams who again claimed the wooden spoon and although not far behind the leading birds his performances so far this season have mirrored that of the English cricket team which is mediocre at best.
Next week sees the first big test for the birds with the release point at Galena.
