Diaz One Loft: Smith Fourie OLR Claims Qumbu 3 - Gavin Rous Tops the Stats
At Diaz One Loft's Race 9 Qumbu, Smith Fourie OLR took the race win, while Gavin Rous swept the stats, topping both the Velocity News Fancier of the Race and the Follow Up Ranking. Rous also takes Pigeon of the Week, and Henry Quirk leads the Ace Pigeon Ranking to round out the week.
Qumbu 3 Race 9
Diaz One Loft's Qumbu 3 sent 298 pigeons to the sky from Qumbu on 6 August, with 95 fanciers competing across the 352km course.
At liberation from Qumbu, conditions were coolish under a north-westerly breeze, pigeons meeting a stiff crosswind as they turned onto the homeward line. Temperatures climbed steadily through the morning toward the low twenties as the wind swung west and then south-west, holding firm and stiff along the coastal stretch while easing further inland, where the going proved comparatively kinder. As the leading pigeons closed in on the loft, skies had turned partly cloudy, with rain forecast to move in later in the evening and again the following morning, adding a further test to an already demanding penultimate race.
Top 10 Arrivals
Smith Fourie OLR claimed the win at 1247.02 m/min with 'Make Me Laugh', leading Diaz One Loft's Qumbu 3 home. Willie Munnik followed in 2nd with 0569 SA 2026. Hendrik & Daniel Moller claimed 3rd with 'Vivienne', with Gavin Rous close behind in 4th with 'Peek A Roni'. Natie & Tommie took 5th with 'Amur Tapa', with Kasouga following in 6th with 'Step-By-Step'. Benn & Bailie came home in 7th with 'Stompie', with Roodt & Van Onselen in 8th with 'Beeldskoon'. Phillips & Engelbrecht claimed 9th with 'Progress', and Gavin Rous completed the top 10 with 'Velvet' — the entire top 10 arriving within 26 seconds of the winner.
Genetics Behind The Podium
1st Place - ZA26-EC-KWUG-427 Bred by Smith Fourie One Loft (Lourens Fourie). The father ZA23-BPFD-1616, 14th Final Smith Fourie OLR. Bred from the lines of JJJ van der Linde's 'STORM CHASER' & 'OCEAN BREEZE' legendary 1st & 2nd Dinokeng Final race win with 4 minutes break-away on the father side and the mother side is 'CRUIZER' 3rd Ace Diaz Velocity 2023, scoring 14th Race 7, 7th Race 8 and 6th Final! The mother of the Diaz Race 9 winner is bred from the Kannibaal/Koopman/G.Prange lines out of 149th Victoria Falls OLR Final x 129th CPL OLR Final.
2nd Place - ZA26-0569 Bred by Willie Munnik. The father ZA22-42350 won 3rd Final Diaz OLR 2023 (equal winner on the drop) bred from Hardy Kruger/Houben/SAMDPR lines, the same family that produced 3rd Ace Victoria Falls OLR for Willie Munnik, brought by Hardy Kruger (DE) and went on to produce one of the best yearlings in Germany!
Velocity News Fancier of the Race
In Diaz One Loft's Ninth Race Qumbu 3, 28 out of 95 competing fanciers qualified for this ranking by meeting the minimum requirement of basketing at least 4 pigeons.
Rankings are based on the percentage of a fancier's basketed pigeons placing within the top 5% of the race (the top 14 out of 298 total entries), with ties broken by the highest average velocity of those positions.
GAVIN ROUS is named Velocity News Fancier of the Race, topping the ranking with 40.00% of their participating pigeons inside the Top 5%.
Please note: This log scrolls from left to right*
The Follow Up Ranking
The Top 10% Follow Up Ranking measures fanciers with the highest percentage of their basketed birds finishing in the top 10% of the race, which means the leading 29 out of 298 pigeons. In Diaz One Loft's Ninth Race Qumbu 3, 28 of 95 participating fanciers qualified by basketing at least 4 pigeons. Ties are resolved using highest average velocity across their arrivals.
GAVIN ROUS led the Velocity News Follow Up ranking with 40.00% of their pigeons placing inside the top 10% arrivals.
Please note: This log scrolls from left to right*
Ace Pigeon Ranking Week 9
Henry Quirk secured the top spot on the Ace rankings with 362 DIAZ 2025, achieving a coefficient of 3.2568. Following closely in second was Benn & Bailie with 590 CB - RVS 2025 at 3.3803, while Billy Kruger completed the top three with 906 CPL 2026 at 3.4953.
Bloodlines:
1st Ace Week 9 - ZA25-DIAZ-362 bred by Henry Quirk. The father was a super racing pigeon at Diaz OLR, won the Diaz final in 2021 - bred by Amston Lofts out of Hooymans x Jan Morsink lines. The dam to the current Ace is '282' , super racer once again at Diaz. Won 1st.KO Ace, 1st Ace Velocity, 2nd Final, 3rd Long Distance Ace, 3rd Ixopo Race at Diaz OLR. The '282' is a Houben x Clausing from Nico Dreyer, Bloemfontein.
2nd Ace Week 9 - 590 CB-RVS 2025 - Bred by Benn & Bailie. Bred from 'NEW BLIKSEM' a Gaby Vandenabeele cock that won Hanover combine 470km 1182mpm against 680p out of a son 'KROMME' mated to a g/daughter 'GOLDEN EYE'! The dam to the 2nd Ace is 'BULLETS FEVER' , top racing hen out of 'BOW TIE' x 'JONGE CHICPEA', Benn Generation / De Zutter lines.
3rd Ace Week 9 - ZA26-CPL-906 Bred by Billie Kruger. The father is a '810' De-Rauw-Sablon x 410/Nokutee/Dana Clausing cross. The Mother is again a 410 /Nokutee/Dana Clausing from Anthony Hayland's Clausings (Vicksburg).
Pigeon of the Week
Velocity News introduced Pigeon of the Week to identify the best pigeons week by week. It is awarded to the pigeon with the smallest average margin behind the winner across two consecutive races.
Comparing Race 8 Ixopo 2 against Race 9 Qumbu 3, GAVIN ROUS's 733 NOKCAS 2025 earns Pigeon of the Week, averaging 7 minutes and 19.800 seconds behind the winner with a 1st-place finish at Race 8 and 87th at Race 9. ANTON THEO SCHONKEN 2's 0915 SA 2026 follows closely at 10 minutes and 22.370 seconds (6th at Race 8, 35th at Race 9), while SAIPR LOFT's 5147 KPU 2026 completes the podium at 11 minutes and 18.410 seconds (18th at Race 8, 13th at Race 9).
'PECKTACULAR': Gavin Rous's Pigeon of the week Winner
The father ZA24-CAS-421 'THE FRILL', direct son to 'BRUTUS BOSS' when mated to his own daughter 'MEGA IMPACT' 8th Ace Pigeon Dinokeng 2023. 'BRUTUS BOSS' 26th Final Afrikapro 2022,direct son to one of South Africa's top OLR breeding Pairs 'THE BOSS X BREAKING NEWS' of Webster Lofts.
The dam to 'PECKTACULAR' ZA20-STRW-060 3rd Bakkie Karoo Million OLR 820km is a direct daughter to a Tomlock cock mated to a daughter of 'MISS BLISS' top Painter Putterie hen.
Looking Ahead
Smith Fourie OLR's win with 'Make Me Laugh' sets the tone for Diaz One Loft's Ninth Race Qumbu 3, but it's Gavin Rous who leaves the strongest mark on the week, topping both the Velocity News Fancier of the Race and the Follow Up Ranking. Rous's Pigeon of the Week form across Race 8 Ixopo 2 and Race 9 Qumbu 3 points to real consistency building in that loft, while Henry Quirk's Ace Pigeon Ranking lead adds another name to watch. Whether any of them can carry that momentum into the Final Race remains to be seen.
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