News

LEAD-UP TO THE FINAL RACE

Basketing for the final race is scheduled for this coming Wednesday the 12^th and the Final for Friday 14^th. The pigeons have not had any road training after Race 9 but are flying well around the loft. Some groups are flying for a few hours without being forced to do so. This is not what we want at this stage because they are exposed to hawk attacks whilst ranging but believe it better for them to fly rather than sit in the loft without any exercise.

The pigeons are in superb condition for the final, but we believe it will not be an easy race. We have looked at the long-term weather forecast and think that the planned race day of Friday 14th is the most suitable.

The first 200 km of the race should have an assisting wind. The second 200 km is expected to be dry and arid with rising temperatures and a reduction of wind. The last 200 km passes over the Hwange National Game Reserve where there are numerous watering points for wild animals. At these points the pigeons will be able to drink but the temperature is expected to be over 30 degrees Celsius. During the final stages there is expected to be a slight cross and headwind.

We plan to export all the pigeons that return in race time to be auctioned to international buyers. We wish to remind participants that have not yet provided pedigrees that these must be provided to qualify for any payment of proceeds from the sale. The deadline for providing pedigrees is 4 days after the Final. Please send copies by email to admin@victoriafallswcpr.com

During the basketing on Wednesday afternoon and on Friday 14^th from 11am you can follow the proceedings on YouTube. We will have various invited panellists discussing some interesting topics. Questions can also be sent in by message to be answered by the panel.

We will send out more details of the coverage in due course.

A current loft listing will be posted tomorrow (on Monday 10^th). Please check the status of your pigeons and let us know urgently if you see any errors.

We wish you an enjoyable and rewarding final race.

There are a few Reserve birds available for anyone to activate before the Race. Please look at the most recent Race 9 result and type Reserve in the search box; https://www.victoriafallswcpr.com/results.php?opt=1&id=326

You can then click View Pigeon to see the bird’s performance over the season. Kindly send us a request by email for any birds you wish to activate, which we will then confirm.

Best Regards,

The Victoria Falls Team