Carnival Winter Series 2026 Kicks Off in Style: Derick and Jakkals Claim Race 1 Victory
Carnival Winter One Loft's Race 1 is in the books — clear winter skies, a stacked Top 10 Arrivals list, a new Velocity News Fancier of the Race, a Follow Up Ranking shake-up, this week's Pigeon of the Week podium, and what it all means for the fanciers Looking Ahead. Full breakdown inside.
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Race Overview
For Race 1 of the Carnival Winter One Loft, 551 pigeons from 112 fanciers were released at The Barn Guest Farm in Ventersburg for a 186km flight to Heidelberg.
The flight began under clear, frosty 4°C conditions with a light 5–8 km/h NW tailwind pushing north-east toward Gauteng. Midway over Kroonstad and Heilbron, a stronger 12–15 km/h NW quartering tailwind maintained high velocities under clear 10°C skies. The birds dropped cleanly to register final clockings in Heidelberg under clear skies with light winter haze, temperatures above 15°C, and a steady 12–18 km/h NW breeze.
The Podium
Derick & Jakkals set the pace from the front, clocking 1379.13 m/min to take the win outright. Pennington Lofts followed in second with 'Griz Penni', with JRTB-90 completing the podium in third.
Fancier of the Race
Out of 112 competing fanciers in Race 1, 54 qualified for this ranking by meeting the minimum requirement of basketing at least 4 pigeons. Fanciers who basketed fewer than 4 entries were excluded from consideration.
The ranking is determined by the percentage of a fancier's basketed pigeons that placed within the top 5% of the race, which equates to the top 27 positions out of 551 total basketed pigeons. In the event of a tie, the position is decided by the average velocity of the fancier's top 5% finishing entries.
By placing 25.00% of his basketed pigeons in the Top 5% of the race, Wynand Steenkamp was named Velocity News Fancier of the Race.
By raw count, Andre & Juan placed the most pigeons inside the top 5% cutoff of any fancier — three, against a top-10 field where most managed one or two.
*Please Note: This log scrolls from left to right.
Follow Up Ranking
The Top 10% Follow Up Ranking measures the percentage of a fancier's basketed birds finishing in the top 10%, which means the leading 55 out of 551 pigeons. In Race 1, 54 of 112 participating fanciers qualified by basketing at least four pigeons. Ties are resolved using average velocity, and this measurement does not determine the Velocity News Fancier of the Race.
André & Juan led the Follow Up Ranking by placing 31.25% of their basketed pigeons in the Top 10% of the race.
Wynand Steenkamp broke a 25.00% four-way tie with Susarra Swanepoel, Kruger & Haasbroek, and Paul De Jesus by maintaining the highest average velocity.
*Please Note: This log scrolls from left to right.
Pigeon of the Week
Velocity News introduced Pigeon of the Week to identify which pigeons are in form week by week. It is awarded to the pigeon with the smallest average margin behind the winner across two consecutive races. For Letties and Race 1, Hillcrest Stud's HILLCREST 25 120 won, followed by GVR's OERF 25 10701 and Martin & Ernie's GPU 25 1000.
In Summary
Race 1 featured outstanding achievements from several competitors. Derick & Jakkals took first place with OERF 25 9438, and Wynand Steenkamp was recognized as the Velocity News fancier of the race. Meanwhile, Andre & Juan showed impressive depth, leading the Follow Up Ranking and securing the highest number of top 5% and 10% finishes.
Additionally, HILLCREST 25 120 from Hillcrest Stud earned the Pigeon of the Week honor. This distinction was awarded for achieving the lowest average margin behind the winners across two separate races.
As the next Carnival Winter One Loft race approaches, the continued strong performances from Andre & Juan, Wynand Steenkamp, and Hillcrest Stud will likely bring further clarity to the competition.
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