THE Great Gulargambone Pigeon Cup was back this year with the Calcutta held at Gular Bowling Club on Friday night 7 October and a rain-delayed release of the pigeons at 6.45am on Monday morning in a shortened course from Gilgandra.

The event is made possible by the Canberra Racing Pigeon Combine whose members transported 17 ‘lofts’ to take part in the race.

“Our numbers were down at the Calcutta, due to the wet weather, but the crowd made the most of it,” said Bowling Club Manager Gary Ferguson. “We ended up with a $1570 prize pool, including $300 to be donated to this year’s charity the Gulargambone RTC (Rural Transaction Centre).”

A draw was held, followed by an informative and spirited auction of the lofts, with Steve Colwell as auctioneer well-briefed thanks to a detailed form guide and rankings supplied by Peter D’Arcy of Canberra.

The top-selling flyers were drawn by Johnson’s Butchery from Simon Piedrafita’s loft, bringing $300; second-highest earner was Pete D’Arcy’s loft at $270 also drawn by Johnson’s Butchery and the Hill Billy Farmers drew Pete D’Arcy’s loft for $220.

ABOVE: Linda Ah-See, Porscha, Charlotte Banks Raigen Carter, Tasha Banks, Jasmine Mackney.

The actual race back to the birds’ home bases around Canberra usually takes around six hours from Gulargambone but the shorter distance saw the first bird arrive after 5 hours and 25 minutes and the final flyer in 6hrs 45minutes so all were home and basketed by 12.10pm.

This year’s top bird in the Great Gulargambone Pigeon Cup was from Doug McKerrow’s loft.

It was not one of the top picks but still one of the fancied runners for the Cup, showing plenty of desire to win.

The form guide described Doug’s loft as “overdue for success”.

ABOVE: Sharon and Brian (Pud) Knee, Dwayne Hammond and Willy Redington (hiding).

“Ready to run a big race. Had just been behind the placegetters in the previous race and ready to go one better.”

Doug’s loft proved them right, making good time and delivering a nice prize to the lucky buyer at the Gular calcutta.

The winning loft was drawn by local fencing contractor Warren Lees who paid just $75 to reap the first prize pool of $1070.

“We want to thank the Canberra Pigeon Racing Combine for their continued support of our community over the years,” Mr Ferguson said. “Credit to the locals who turned out to support the RTC.

“The event is for the community and even though it’s a little it all helps.”