Marlbank OLR Report: Shamwari Lofts Aces Hanover 580km - 'Immaculate' Once In A Lifetime Pigeon ?
Hotspot 7 Hanover 580km, Shamwari Lofts claimed the race win, while Amper Irish leads both the Follow Up Ranking and the Velocity News Fancier of the Race. Niekie Peters takes Pigeon of the Week, while also leading the Marlbank Ace Pigeon Ranking to round out the week.
Hotspot 7 Hanover 580km
Marlbank OLR Winter Season 2026's Hotspot 7 sent 984 pigeons from 238 fanciers away from Hanover, contesting 580km back to the loft.
Liberation from Hanover, a chilly 10°C, with a brisk 9 m/s north-westerly wind pushing the pigeons onto their line as they broke toward the northeast. By the halfway point over the central Free State temperatures climbed to around 18°C, though the north-westerly eased to 5 m/s and shifted into more of a direct crosswind. Conditions at the finish saw temperatures peaking at 26°C, while a 21km/h north-westerly greeted the pigeons on their final approach into the loft.
Top 10 Arrivals
Shamwari Lofts claimed the win at 1373.47 m/min with 'Flo-Jo', leading Marlbank OLR Winter Season 2026's Hotspot 7 home. Burgers & Muller followed in 2nd. Attie du Plessis claimed 3rd, with Bertus Nel close behind in 4th. Jordaan & Bornman took 5th with 'Raptor', with Protea Hokke & McDermott Lofts following in 6th. Schalk Jonker came home in 7th, with Exclusive Pigeon Paridise in 8th with 'EPP Ruby'. Hans de Noon claimed 9th, and Radford Racing completed the top 10 — the entire top 10 arriving within nine seconds of the winner.
Velocity News Fancier of the Race
In Marlbank OLR Winter Season 2026's Hotspot 7 Hanover, 109 out of 238 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 49 out of 984 total entries), with ties broken by the highest average velocity of those positions.
AMPER IRISH is named Velocity News Fancier of the Race, topping the ranking with 50.00% of their participating pigeons inside the Top 5%.
Please note: This log scrolls from left to right*
The Follow Up Ranking
The 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 98 out of 984 pigeons. In Marlbank OLR Winter Season 2026's Hotspot 7 Hanover, 109 of 238 participating fanciers qualified by basketing at least 4 pigeons. Ties are resolved using highest average velocity across their arrivals.
AMPER IRISH led the Velocity News Follow Up ranking with 50.00% of their pigeons placing inside the top 10% arrivals.
Please note: This log scrolls from left to right*
Marlbank Ace Pigeons Week 7
Niekie Peters claimed the top spot with an average velocity of 1402.689 m/min after seven races, leading Marlbank One Loft's Ace Pigeon Ranking heading into Hotspot 7 with 'Immaculate'. Schalk Jonker followed in 2nd at 1387.456 m/min. Smalberger claimed 3rd at 1380.797 m/min, with Hans de Noon close behind in 4th at 1380.692 m/min — and completing the top 5 with a second pigeon in 5th at 1378.267 m/min.
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 Hotspot 6 Noupoort against Hotspot 7 Hanover, Niekie Peters's ZA-25-MAC-870 earns Pigeon of the Week, averaging 6.100 seconds behind the winner with a 2nd-place finish at Hotspot 6 and 14th at Hotspot 7. Hans de Noon's ZA-25-GPU-4246 follows closely at 4 minutes and 10.030 seconds (13th at Hotspot 6, 9th at Hotspot 7), while Amper Irish's ZA-25-GPU-3682 completes the podium at 4 minutes and 16.900 seconds (18th at Hotspot 6, 11th at Hotspot 7).
Looking Ahead
Shamwari Lofts's win at Hotspot 7 Hanover 580km sets the tone for Marlbank One Loft, while Amper Irish leaves the strongest mark on the week, topping both the Follow Up Ranking and the Velocity News Fancier of the Race performance, backed up by an 11th-place finish in the race itself. Niekie Peters leads the Ace Pigeon Ranking with 'Immaculate', and doubles up on the honours by taking Pigeon of the Week for the same pigeon's consistency across Hotspot 6 Noupoort 566km and Hotspot 7 Hanover 580km. With the season now turning to the final race from Richmond 643km, whether Amper Irish and Niekie Peters can carry that momentum into the finale remains to be seen.
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