Karoo Million HS 3 Delivers Victory for De Wet & Hunter as Ciske Mckaizer Walks Away With Fancier of the Race Title

Karoo Million Hotspot 3 427km Winburg. De Wet & Hunter's 'Starry Night' took the victory, just ahead of Pennington Loft and Benn & Bailie. Ciske Mckaizer claimed the Velocity News Fancier of the Race title, placing 33.33% of their basketed pigeons inside the top 5% of the race.

The Race

Karoo Million Hotspot 3 released 621 pigeons from Winburg, Free State, on 24 June 2026 at 07:45, sending the pigeons 427km south to the Karoo Million loft in Cradock, Eastern Cape. A total of 164 fanciers basketed pigeons for this leg of the One Loft Race.

Liberation & Race Conditions

Liberated into a crisp Free State morning at Winburg, 8°C to 10°C, mostly clear with isolated low-lying fog that cleared once airborne, and a light 5-10 km/h north-westerly giving a gentle quartering tailwind south. By mid-morning over the Gariep Dam, conditions were close to ideal — 13°C to 15°C, excellent visibility, and a steady 8-12 km/h west to north-westerly holding the bunch on line under partly cloudy skies. Closer to Cradock, temperatures reached 15°C-16°C under clear skies, with a gentle 8-13 km/h south-south-easterly easing the leaders in as the first birds arrived just after midday.

Top 10 Arrivals

De Wet & Hunter took the win as 'Starry Night' clocked the day's best velocity of 1572.63 m/min, edging out Pennington Loft's 'Penni Flip 68' by the narrowest of margins. Benn & Bailie's 'Vixen' completed the podium in third, just ahead of Ciske Mckaizer in fourth and Hillcrest Stud in fifth. Willie Munnik took sixth, with Kruger Familie's 'Electra' seventh. Hot Rod Racing put two pigeons inside the top ten, 'Azure Ace' in eighth and 'Red Rogue' in ninth, while Raymond Le Roux rounded out the top ten.

Karoo Million Hot Spot 3 Winburg 427km Top 10

Velocity News Fancier of the Race

This ranking is calculated only for fanciers who basketed four or more pigeons. Of the 164 fanciers in the race, 59 meet that minimum and make up the pool competing for the title.

Velocity News Fancier of the Race is a ranking based on a fancier's efficiency rate. What we mean by that is we look at all the pigeons a fancier had participating in a race, and calculate the percentage of that fancier's pigeons that managed to achieve a position within the top 5% of the race. That gives us a simple mathematical calculation: the number of pigeons inside the top 5% divided by the number of pigeons basketed. That produces a percentage, and that percentage is what we use to create the ranking. It reads simply, for example, that 29% of a fancier's pigeons placed within the top 5% of the race. That is the fancier efficiency we are talking about.

Where two fanciers tie on efficiency rate, the placing goes to whoever's qualifying pigeons flew the higher average velocity.

Ranking - Velocity News Fancier of the Race

The 10 Most Efficient Fanciers of the Day

1st Ciske Mckaizer 6 pigeons, 2 inside the top 31 (positions 4, 17) - 33.33%

2nd Hot Rod Racing 12 pigeons, 4 inside the top 31 (positions 8, 9, 13, 23) - 33.33%

3rd Mark Van Tonder 7 pigeons, 2 inside the top 31 (positions 11, 15) - 28.57%

4th Kruger Familie 4 pigeons, 1 inside the top 31 (position 7) - 25.00%

5th Ninja Lofts 9 pigeons, 2 inside the top 31 (positions 21, 27) - 22.22%

6th Willie Munnik 5 pigeons, 1 inside the top 31 (position 6) - 20.00%

7th Ronnie Huebcsh 10 pigeons, 2 inside the top 31 (positions 18, 31) - 20.00%

8th Theo - Stan & Chris 5 pigeons, 1 inside the top 31 (position 29) - 20.00%

9th B. Samuel & Moonlighters 5 pigeons, 1 inside the top 31 (position 30) - 20.00%

10th Pennington Loft 6 pigeons, 1 inside the top 31 (position 2) - 16.67%

Ciske Mckaizer tops the Velocity News Fancier of the Race ranking. They placed 33.33% of their pigeons within the top 5% of the race, edging out Hot Rod Racing on the tiebreak after both finished level on percentage.

Velocity News

Fancier of the Race

Karoo Million Hotspot 3 · Liberated from Winburg · 427km

Every pigeon a fancier basketed counts as part of their team. The Fancier Efficiency Rate is the percentage of that team that finished inside the top 5% of the race — pigeons in the top 5% ÷ pigeons basketed × 100. Calculated for the 59 fanciers who basketed 4 or more pigeons. Ties are broken by each fancier's average velocity across their qualifying finishes, with the fastest average taking the higher spot.

Ranking	Team Name	Pigeons Participated	Positions	Efficiency Rate	Avg Speed
1	Ciske Mckaizer 🇿🇦	6	4, 17	33.33%	1535.2198 m/min
2	Hot Rod Racing 🇿🇦	12	8, 9, 13, 23	33.33%	1520.2233 m/min
3	Mark Van Tonder 🇿🇦	7	11, 15	28.57%	1503.2781 m/min
4	Kruger Familie 🇿🇦	4	7	25.00%	1562.1542 m/min
5	Ninja Lofts 🇿🇦	9	21, 27	22.22%	1495.5746 m/min
6	Willie Munnik 🇿🇦	5	6	20.00%	1562.5896 m/min
7	Ronnie Huebcsh 🇿🇦	10	18, 31	20.00%	1496.7308 m/min
8	Theo - Stan & Chris 🇿🇦	5	29	20.00%	1495.3371 m/min
9	B. Samuel & Moonlighters 🇿🇦	5	30	20.00%	1495.2071 m/min
10	Pennington Loft 🇿🇦	6	2	16.67%	1572.4013 m/min

Velocity News Fancier of the Race — official ranking — velocitypigeonnews.com

Looking purely at raw numbers, Hot Rod Racing placed more pigeons inside the top 5% than any other team in the race — four of their twelve basketed pigeons finishing among the top 31 positions from 621 pigeons.

Looking Ahead

Ciske Mckaizer, Pennington Loft, Willie Munnik, Kruger Familie and Hot Rod Racing all featured on both lists this week — strong on the result sheet and strong on consistency. Whether that form holds as the season deepens is the question every loft in the running will be asking. We'll see how it unfolds.