The Race

Race 4 Kokstad saw 585 pigeons from 119 fanciers liberated from Kokstad over 440km to Diaz One Loft, with Koos Botha taking the win. Botha's 'Humble' clocked a winning velocity of 1246.56 m/min. MB Racing was named Velocity News Fancier of the Race, while Phillips & Engelbrecht led the Top 10% Follow Up Rate.

Liberation & Race Conditions

Pigeons were liberated at 07:30 into freezing but clear conditions, with temperatures around 3°C and a light 6 km/h Northwesterly breeze. Skies were fully clear, with 0% cloud cover.

By the race's midpoint over the Eastern Cape interior, temperatures had lifted to 9-11°C under a light 8-10 km/h northwesterly, shifting southwesterly closer to midday. Cloud cover stayed under 10%.

Pigeons arrived into milder coastal conditions at Diaz One Loft, with temperatures reaching 16-18°C. A light 12 km/h northwesterly breeze calmed through the afternoon, with cloud cover building to 25-35%.

Top 10 Arrivals Race 4

Koos Botha's 'Humble' took the win at 1246.56 m/min. Hillcrest Stud's 'Hillcrest Evolve' placed second, ahead of Camelot Hokke's 'Starlet 344306' in third.

Webster Lofts followed in fourth with 'Youll See *MR', with Hotrod fifth on 'Avalanche'. Stan Farren took sixth with 'Gamon', ahead of Koos Botha's second pigeon, 'Open Door', in seventh. Beauzec & Partners placed eighth with 'Light Traffic', Webster Lofts' second pigeon *'Pixie Dust MR' took ninth, and Pigeon & Duifie rounded out the top 10 with 'Blue Light'.

Velocity News Fancier of the Race

The Top 10 Most Efficient Fanciers Race 4

53 of 119 fanciers qualified for this ranking, having basketed at least 4 pigeons.

Ranking is based on Efficiency: the percentage of each fancier's own basketed pigeons that finished inside the top 5% of the race — position 29 of the 585 pigeons basketed in this race. Fanciers with fewer than 4 pigeons basketed are excluded. Ties are broken by average velocity across that fancier's top 5% finishes.

With four fanciers tied at 20.00%, placement between them was determined by average velocity across their top 5% finishes.

Please note : This colum can scroll from left to right. *

Fancier of the Race

Race 4 Kokstad · Diaz One Loft · Liberation: Kokstad · 440 km · 04.07.2026

Ranking is based on Efficiency Rate: the percentage of each fancier's own basketed pigeons that finished inside the top 5% of the race — position 29 of the 585 pigeons basketed in this race. Fanciers with fewer than 4 pigeons basketed are excluded. Ties are broken by average velocity across that fancier's top 5% finishes.

Ranking	Team Name	Pigeons Participated	Positions	Efficiency Rate	Avg Speed
1	MB Racing  🇿🇦	4	26	25.00%	1219.22 m/min
2	Koos Botha  🇿🇦	10	1, 7	20.00%	1246.47 m/min
3	Stan Farren  🇿🇦	5	6	20.00%	1246.41 m/min
4	JVR Hokke  🇿🇦	5	17	20.00%	1227.83 m/min
5	Hendrik & Daniel Moller  🇿🇦	5	27	20.00%	1219.14 m/min
6	View Excello Lofts  🇿🇦	6	25	16.67%	1219.26 m/min
7	Webster Lofts  🇿🇦	19	4, 9, 28	15.79%	1237.31 m/min
8	Phillips & Engelbrecht  🇿🇦	7	15	14.29%	1227.93 m/min
9	Henry Quirk  🇿🇦	8	20	12.50%	1227.68 m/min
10	Bontebok  🇿🇦	25	14, 19, 24	12.00%	1233.11 m/min

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

Top 10% Follow Up Ranking

53 of 119 fanciers qualified for this ranking, having basketed at least 4 pigeons.

This ranking identifies which fanciers had the highest concentration of their basketed pigeons landing inside the top 10% of the race — position 58 of the 585 pigeons basketed in this race — relative to how many pigeons they had participating. This metric is the Follow Up Rate, a measure of how many pigeons a fancier brought home in succession relative to their total pigeons in the race. Fanciers with fewer than 4 pigeons basketed are excluded, and ties are broken by average velocity. This ranking does not decide Velocity News Fancier of the Race.

With five fanciers tied at 25.00%, placement between them was determined by average velocity across their top 10% finishes.

Please note : This colum can scroll from left to right. *

Top 10% Follow Up Ranking

Race 4 Kokstad · Diaz One Loft · Liberation: Kokstad · 440 km · 04.07.2026

This ranking identifies which fanciers had the highest concentration of their basketed pigeons landing inside the top 10% of the race — position 58 of the 585 pigeons basketed in this race — relative to how many pigeons they had participating. This metric is the Follow Up Rate, a measure of how many pigeons a fancier brought home in succession relative to their total pigeons in the race. Fanciers with fewer than 4 pigeons basketed are excluded, and ties are broken by average velocity. This ranking does not decide Velocity News Fancier of the Race.

Ranking	Team Name	Pigeons Participated	Positions	Follow Up Rate	Avg Speed
1	Phillips & Engelbrecht  🇿🇦	7	15, 50	28.57%	1222.82 m/min
2	Camelot Hokke  🇿🇦	15	3, 41, 44, 46	26.67%	1225.28 m/min
3	MB Racing  🇿🇦	4	26	25.00%	1219.22 m/min
4	Billy Kruger  🇿🇦	4	33	25.00%	1219.06 m/min
5	Fourie & Olivier  🇿🇦	4	36	25.00%	1219.01 m/min
6	Lorenzo Doyle  🇿🇦	4	42	25.00%	1218.81 m/min
7	Pieter Bekker & Jelle Jellema  🇿🇦	4	58	25.00%	1216.95 m/min
8	Bontebok  🇿🇦	25	14, 19, 24, 35, 39, 54	24.00%	1225.74 m/min
9	Webster Lofts  🇿🇦	19	4, 9, 28, 31	21.05%	1232.75 m/min
10	Koos Botha  🇿🇦	10	1, 7	20.00%	1246.47 m/min

Velocity News Top 10% Follow Up Ranking — velocitypigeonnews.com

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 3 Qumbu against Race 4 Kokstad, BONTEBOK's 1178 NOKDAPK 2025 'Titanium' earns Pigeon of the Week, averaging just 20.665 seconds behind the winner with a 13th-place finish at Race 3 Qumbu and 14th at Race 4 Kokstad. WEBSTER LOFTS' 46 DIAZ 2026 'Youll See *MR' follows closely at 1 minute and 8.265 seconds (28th at Race 3 Qumbu, 4th at Race 4 Kokstad), while FRED BROUGH's 2323 GRPF 2025 'Wisdom A/A' completes the podium at 2 minutes and 26.670 seconds (49th at Race 3 Qumbu, 11th at Race 4 Kokstad).

Pigeon of the Week · Diaz One Loft

Two Race Comparison · Race 3 Qumbu 352km (23/06/2026) & Race 4 Kokstad 440km (04/07/2026)

Ranking date: 05/09/2026

Ranking is based on Average Margin: the mean of a pigeon's time behind the race winner across two races. Smallest average margin ranks highest.

1 Bontebok South Africa

Avg +00:00:20.665

1178 NOKDAPK 2025 · 'Titanium'

Race 3 Qumbu 352km · Pos 13 / 915 +00:00:13.790 1268.3603 m/min

Race 4 Kokstad 440km · Pos 14 / 585 +00:00:27.540 1244.9436 m/min

2 Webster Lofts South Africa

Avg +00:01:08.265

46 DIAZ 2026 · 'Youll See *MR'

Race 3 Qumbu 352km · Pos 28 / 915 +00:02:15.600 1258.8130 m/min

Race 4 Kokstad 440km · Pos 4 / 585 +00:00:00.930 1246.5078 m/min

3 Fred Brough South Africa

Avg +00:02:26.670

2323 GRPF 2025 · 'Wisdom A/A'

Race 3 Qumbu 352km · Pos 49 / 915 +00:04:48.310 1247.7889 m/min

Race 4 Kokstad 440km · Pos 11 / 585 +00:00:05.030 1246.2665 m/min

Velocity News Pigeon of the Week — velocitypigeonnews.com

Looking Ahead

Race 4 Kokstad set the tone for the season, with Koos Botha proving he can handle the pressure at the front of the race. MB Racing and Phillips & Engelbrecht both showed the kind of consistency that separates a good race from a great one, and both will be fanciers to watch as the campaign continues. With Camelot Hokke and Bontebok also stacking multiple pigeons inside the percentages, the depth on show this early suggests the competition for the season's is only going to sharpen.

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