The Algarve Golden Race has developed into arguably the best one loft race in Europe. Prior to the race we had hoped for a top 100 finish in the final race and a top 100 finish in the Overall Ace Bird Award.

Now after the final it has been very well documented regarding the difficulty of the final flight with nothing home on the day of liberation and less than 900 home on the second day leaving around 2500 birds still missing out of the 3400 birds liberated. I attended the final race and the heat was incredible touching 40 degrees en route. A big ask for youngsters flying over 500 km with no help whatsoever from the wind.

We are very dissapointed not to have achieved a top 100 finish in the final however Tulip a son of Blue Spider and Maggy Murphy entered in our Fergusson Fox team finished 543rd and just out of the prizes. Upon reflection after the event, the dissapointment has now subsided and it is now a realisation that we could have done no more as it was just one of those very tricky days and it is impossible to breed for such a race.

We are however very pleased with Comrade Yuri in our Hermans Fox team as he finished 72nd Ace Pigeon Overall from an original entry of 7307 birds entered by 1453 fanciers. He was 40th Overall Ace Pigeon going into the final. He was also 4th UK Ace Pigeon from an intitial entry of 620 birds. He also won 13th in the Semi Final from 300km against 3941 birds so had a bit of previous.

It is clear to me that altough he was clocked on the third morning and around one day after the acutaul winner, he finished quite high up overall in the Ace Bird Award as the leaders going into the race struggled even more. This is usual in these kinds of races when the distance and conditions of the final including two nights in the basket changes greatly the outcome of the final.

I am also delighted to have been able to buy Comrade Yuri back for our breeding lofts. He stuck at it and did his best, showed some balls, so that is enough for me to want to breed that into my future Algarve Golden Race entries.

YURI a top young breeding cock currently in our breeding loft and sire of COMRADE YURI. He also bred many other top performers including his first raced youngster SWEET WILLIAM our winner of 50 in the Algarve Golden Race final in 2021.

NORMA JEAN dam of COMRADE YURI and a daughter of Willem de Bruijn’s super couple SECRATARIAT and MURPHYS JANNEKE.