The Delta Classic

Thank you for making our race program a success in 2007! We purchased the Cook Siino Challenge loft from the SOC club in early spring which helped to make caring for our charges more organized and less stressful to the birds and handlers. The first race, on September 16^th, from Weed resulted in 19 birds on the drop at 12:36 PM. These birds seem to have come straight on line and reaped the benefits for their owners. It initially looked like a red letter day for the birds, but then after the large drop 10 more birds came in small drops of 2 or 3 over the next half hour. Then we waited until 4:03 PM for the next bird to show up coming from the east. A few more came in the late afternoon, all seemingly from the east. We figure these birds and the birds coming in over the next several days made their way back over the Sierras. We ended the day with 34 birds trapping in. By the 3^rd day we had 56 of 110 birds return from the race. The Capital and Calcutta payouts were divided equally among the 19 birds at $568.42 and $206.58 respectively, plus the pools for a grand payout of $23,435.00.

Over the next weeks, more birds came in, with a few taken away before the next race. After working the birds out to 100 miles over the next 4 weeks, we had 60 birds race ready for the Second Chance Race with a Mid-Valley Combine release from Klamath Falls, Oregon. The birds were shipped with the Manteca Club and released in the B race, Saturday, October 13^th, at 9:05 AM. The weather was slightly foggy, but clear and calm. The Manteca Club results show Mac & Mitch as the loft of record for the 2^nd Chance Race entries finishing respectably with 3 birds on the first drop at 3:17 PM, placing in 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th places on the Manteca club results. This drop took the capital prizes, but not all birds were pooled, so prizes continued through the 5^th bird. Six more birds hit at 3:21 PM. Then, smaller drops persisted all afternoon with 33 birds clocking on the day. The payout was 50/30/20 for $2040.00, $1224.00, and $816.00 in capital prizes and $3332.00 in pools for a total payday of $7,412.00.

After the first race, 28 birds were packed in tight contention for average speed. However, the Second Chance Race saw only two birds rise with the cream. Sunshine Loft owned by John Koehne, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, nipped Tom Jones of Stockton, CA for first and second average speed. The two birds, NRBC 637 and MAN 70227, were on the same drop in both races and only 1 second separated their times! The payout was a 60/40 split of 786.36.

The total payout this year was a record $30,847.00! Not bad for a perch fee of 3 birds for $100.00 or 5 birds for $150.00. The Greater Stockton Club thanks everyone for their participation and help. We hope to see all of you, your families and friends next year for the 2008 Delta Classic and Second Chance Races.

Yours in the sport!

John McCalmon 209-339-0260 or 209-727-3762(work) or jmccalmon00209@aol.com

Bob Mitchell 209-274-4369