Hello everyone. Id like to bring our racing system closer to everyone atleast to the best of my ability. How things work over here and what certain things mean.
All of The Distances, Pigeons basketed Etc Are from Our Combined And Regional Group There are way bigger ones There are smaller ones this is just a sample size of ours.
General Rule
- The first 33% of the basketed pigeons that come home make a "Price"
- We Have Clubs (Vary from 2-9 Fanciers and about 50-300 pigeons) RV Which is the collective of clubs (About 25-35 fanciers 900-1300 pigeons) FG Which is the Flying Community (About 75-85 Fanciers And 2000~ Pigeons) RegG Which is a Regional Group If the Region is to big and needs to be seperated happens rarely but is the case in our Region (About 100 fanciers 2600~ Pigeon) Reg This is the whole Region (190~ fanciers and about 5100~ Pigeons) Nat National Races Unfortunatlly I can't provide any numbers for this because we only have a national race in our Regional group every few years
All numbers of fanciers and basketed pigeons are from the first Old+Yearling Race of the year !
- All Races Are held on an RV level. The 4th-12th Race For yearlings and Old Birds are held together with the Regional Group Where all 8 Races Count for the Regional Championship and National Championship. National Ace Bird Etc. But there will also be a list for RV and FG Since they hold their own championship and ace birds.
Old+Yearling Racing
- The Races usually start around the 20th-30th of april. (Depending on what date the saturday falls).
- Every year there are 12 Races Planned.Can vary tho sometimes they do 13 or even 14 or sometimes they do way less depending on the losses
- The Races Start of from about 125 miles And the Last Race is about 385
Youngsters
- The Races Start on the First Saturday of August
- There are 6 Races planned.
- The Races Start of from about 55 miles And the Last Race is about 200 miles
Ace Birds
Ace birds Have 3 key components.
- Prices
- Miles
- Ace Points
With their importance in set order Prices,Miles,Ace Points.
As stated Above each race only the first 33% of pigeons returning home make a "price". Where the first price recieves 100 Ace points and the Last Price recieves about 0.6~. These gradually decrease from first to last price. So a pigeon can in a normal season with exactly 12 races. Win 12/12 prices and 1200 Ace Points. The most important and crucial Variable here is The prices. A pigeon can have done 11x1st prices and have 1100 ace points but if it has 12/11 prices and another bird has 12/12 prices it would be behind that bird for ace birds even if the one with 12/12 prices only had 100 ace points. If several pigeons share the same prices for example 12/12 Then the one with the most Ace points would be the first place. For the RV Ace Bird All 12 Races matter. For the Regional and National Ace Bird The last 7 Races matter.
Championship System
This is a difficult one to explain but i give it my best shot.
Here also We have the same 3 key components that are used for ace birds
- Prices
- Miles
- Ace Points
Also in the same order of importance Prices,Miles,Ace points
There are also 3 important words i would like to describe first for a better understanding.
- Full = A pigeon that made a price every race so far. for example 7 races done and it made 7/7 prices
- Pusher = A pigeon that Is not full anymore but still counts for championship.
- Nominated = A selected pigeon.
Every race you can earn up to 5 prices for the RV championship. The importance here is that they only count if a pigeon is either still Full or a pusher.
A pigeon turns into a pusher if you do not have 5 or more Full pigeons anymore and it is the clostest in prices to the full ones
An example for this is lets assume it is Race 6. You still have 3 Full birds with 6/6 prices and 7 birds with 6/5 and 4 with 6/4.
The 7 birds with 6/5 prices because they are closer to the max than the ones with 6/4 are the pusher that count for the championship. BUT you can only win 2 prices with them out of the 5. Because the 3 Full ones have to turn. So to add 5 prices for your championship in set situation. You need all 3 full birds to return and 2 out of the 7 with 6/5 prices.
If After all 12 races done there is a draw in prices. Then the next important variable will be miles. All milles from the top 5 pigeons of the fancers that are at a draw are beeing combined and the one with the most miles wins. If even at that point there is still a draw which barely ever happens. The last variable to determin who wins the championship will be all Ace Points combined from the top 5 birds of the fanciers that draw.
This Only Applies for the RV (Combine) Championship !
The National And Regional Championship Works slightly Different.
As Soon as the Regional races start from the 5th race to the 12th Race. You have to nominate 6 Birds from the whole racing team that you basket. The fastest 3 out of the 6 nomiated birds that come home within the 33% of prices ! will count towards the Championship. Meaning Each week you can earn 3 prices towards the national and regional championship and 300 ace points. Here the order of importance is also the same first prices then Ace Points.
This is my try on explaining our systems and how things work. If anything is not understood properly please make sure to ask away. Its a rather complicated system in my opinion compared to other Countrys. But i tried my best to bring it a bit closer to you guys.
Spieker-Loft wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2024 5:42 am
A pigeon can have done 11x1st prices and have 1100 ace points but if it has 12/11 prices and another bird has 12/12 prices it would be behind that bird for ace birds even if the one with 12/12 prices only had 100 ace points.
Thanks for the insight Leon, that's most interesting
Fascinating to see how different mindsets work - even though we're all pigeon men bonded by one common love (pigeons)
I think if you asked 100 fanciers in the UK whih pigeon they'd rather own they'd take the one with the 11 x 1st prizes every time.
Spieker-Loft wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2024 5:42 am
A pigeon can have done 11x1st prices and have 1100 ace points but if it has 12/11 prices and another bird has 12/12 prices it would be behind that bird for ace birds even if the one with 12/12 prices only had 100 ace points.
Thanks for the insight Leon, that's most interesting
Fascinating to see how different mindsets work - even though we're all pigeon men bonded by one common love (pigeons)
I think if you asked 100 fanciers in the UK whih pigeon they'd rather own they'd take the one with the 11 x 1st prizes every time.
I personally couldn't agree more. unfortunately this system is probaly in place since many many years and i doubt there would be a change to it even tho i also think that the pigeons with the highest ace points should also be the 1.st ace bird
2023 i had a youngster that only had 6/4 prices but had 381/400 ace points with a 5th 5th 7th and 20th. And she was the only bird i kept for the breeding loft despite the fact i had several others which to our system were higher up in the ace bird list.
Will have to read that a few times to understand but interesting post
I don’t really see the value of 33 per cent gaining a prize though
Many would be just average
If my fed sent 1000 and one of mine received a prize for 330th to me it would’ve worthless
Top 3 per cent in fed races should be max
We only get a result for 15 prizes
Is the FG a single lib as in one liberation each Saturday?
This is what i would like to see, sharing of more information. On all topics, I hope there will be more new members from around Europe. Well that is my aim, for the near future.
NeilA wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2024 11:52 am
Will have to read that a few times to understand but interesting post
I don’t really see the value of 33 per cent gaining a prize though
Many would be just average
If my fed sent 1000 and one of mine received a prize for 330th to me it would’ve worthless
Top 3 per cent in fed races should be max
We only get a result for 15 prizes
Is the FG a single lib as in one liberation each Saturday?
I agree with you there Neil but it seems that this percentage is used to determine ace pigeons, which I feel actually devalues those that win ace pigeon as as Leon says it could effectively be won by a pigeon being outside the top 25% but inside 33% in every race and excluding the winners of the races if they were outside 33% just once. I must say I’ve never really understood the ace pigeon concept. Just another way of making a pigeon look good.
Back just enjoying club racing for the time being.
NeilA wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2024 11:52 am
Will have to read that a few times to understand but interesting post
I don’t really see the value of 33 per cent gaining a prize though
Many would be just average
If my fed sent 1000 and one of mine received a prize for 330th to me it would’ve worthless
Top 3 per cent in fed races should be max
We only get a result for 15 prizes
Is the FG a single lib as in one liberation each Saturday?
I understand your thought about the 33% seeming over the top and i sort of agree. But it probaly has to do with the championship system Allowing you to add 5 prices each week etc. It probaly would be hard for people to achieve those 5 week in and week out with only top 3% recieving a price.
The FG is basically a competition out of a few Combines that Do their own championship between each other and release from the same liberation point every race. This championship and list exist from the first race already. After the 4th race all the pigeons are beeing transported with the whole regional group but the price list for the FG also still exists because of the championship
