The 4th Hot Spot Car Race of the South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race took place on 8th January, a race of 309km into a headwind. A group of 3,100 pigeons were released, and the fastest bird completed the race in five hours with a velocity of barely 60 km/h. It was in this particularly demanding race that Team Hooymans claimed a preliminary title of 1st Ace Pigeon Grand Average.
Jan Hooymans, all set for another triumph in the Million Dollar Pigeon Race
The pigeons of Team Hooymans have been gradually finishing higher up in the results over the past few weeks. It appears the 50 Hooymans pigeons get fitter as their training schedule gets more intense and more demanding. You can tell from the two ace pigeon rankings up to now: the Grand Average (ace pigeons across all Hot Spot Races and training flights) and the Hot Spot Average (ace pigeons across all Hot Spot Races).
In the Grand Average ranking Team Hooymans holds a 1st and 40th place. They did even better in the ranking for the Dutch pigeons in the race (257 pigeons), holding a 1st, 3rd, 6th and 10th place. Jan Hooymans’s racing bird De Wassert has now taken the first place in the ace pigeon championship. He was the fastest pigeon in the pack in all 11 training races and in four Hot Spot Races. In the last three Hot Spot Races he finished in 126th, 16th, and 35th place in a field of more than 3,000 pigeons.
De Wassert gets high marks in the Hot Spot Average ranking as well, as 5th Ace Pigeon overall. Racing bird Sylt Tribun made it into the top-10 as well, currently holding a ninth place.
Other Hooymans pigeons finish in 35th, 45th, 48th, 52nd and 85th place, good for seven top 100 placings in the Hot Spot Race Ace Pigeon rankings! As far as the ranking for Dutch pigeons goes, team Hooymans holds a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th and 11th place. They made some big steps forward in the demanding fourth Hot Spot Race. Like we said, the best Dutch pigeon in the Hot Spot races is Wassert, closely followed by Sylt Tribun, Speurneus II and Goodnicht Goodiez.
De Wassert was bred from a son of Geeloger x Dollar Lady, from a joint breeding with Koen Minderhoud. Dollar Lady is a full sister of Harry and the dam of the winner of 100,000 USD in South Africa. The dam of Wassert is a direct daughter of Harry paired to the line of Kannibaal (through Herman Pouw). Wassert’s pedigree can be found here.
Sylt Tribun stems from a crossing of Sunny Boy (brother Harry) paired to Dentist Lady, a direct hen of Willem de Bruijn (Reeuwijk, NL). Click here for the pedigree of Sylt Tribun.
Speurneus II is an inbred pigeon to stock pair Jonge Bliksem x Dirkje, bred from Brother Harry 910 paired to Beauty Laatje (from Dolce Beauty x Laatje 56 – a sister Harry). The 10th Knock Out winner in last year’s Million Dollar Race stems from that same Brother Harry 910 as well. The pedigree of Speurneus II can be found here.
The fourth best Dutch pigeon and 45th Ace Pigeon Hot Spot Average is Goodnight Goodiez. This ace pigeon has the same parents as Afgekeurde, winner of a 7th prize in the demanding final race of the Million Dollar Race. These parents are Brother Harry 507 and Dochter Harry. Click here for the full pedigree of Goodnicht Goodiez.
Afgekeurde, 7th final Million Dollar Race 2016 for Team Hooymans
The fifth and final Hot Spot Race takes place on 21st of January, with the big finale following two weeks later on 4th of February. Will Team Hooymans be able to jump a few places still? We will find out next month!