Petrus Harmzen Takes Gold In SFOLR Season Opener From Victoria West 293km
Race 1 293km, PH/H&F claimed the race win and leads the Velocity News Fancier of the Race, while JJ. Botha. tops the Follow Up Ranking. Austin Powers. takes Pigeon of the Week honours, rounding out a strong opening week for Smith Fourie One Loft's season from Victoria West to the Golden Valley.
Race 1 Victoria West 293km
Race 1 opened Smith Fourie One Loft's 2026 season with a 293km race from Victoria West, Northern Cape, to the loft's home at Golden Valley in the Eastern Cape. 280 pigeons went to the baskets, entered by 35 fanciers.
Birds were liberated into a crisp, clear Victoria West morning, with cool Karoo air greeting the release. Temperatures sat at 11-13°C under a gentle north-westerly to north-north-westerly tailwind of 12-15km/h. By the Graaff-Reinet/Camdeboo midpoint, conditions had warmed to a mild 15-16°C, with a light-to-moderate north-westerly tailwind of 15-20km/h under fine, sunny skies and ideal flight visibility. The final leg toward Golden Valley stayed fine and cool, temperatures settling at 17-18°C as the wind eased to a light 10-15km/h out of the west-northwest, with clear skies holding through the birds' arrival.
Top 10 Arrivals
PH/H&F claimed the win at 1507.22 m/min, leading Smith Fourie One Loft's Race 1 293km home. Austin Powers followed in 2nd, with Klein Karoo's 'Desert Storm' claiming 3rd. Tollie Jordaan took 4th, and Gerdie Landman followed in 5th. JJ. Botha. claimed 6th, with Team Phillips following in 7th. Jannie Lategan took 8th and Camelot Hokke claimed 9th, and JJ. Botha. returned to complete the top 10 — the entire top 10 arriving within 4 minutes 47 seconds of the winner.
Velocity News Fancier of the Race
In Smith Fourie One Loft's Race 1 293km, 23 out of 35 competing fanciers qualified for this ranking by meeting the minimum requirement of basketing at least 4 pigeons.
Ranking is based on the percentage of a fancier's basketed pigeons placing within the top 5% of the race (the top 14 out of 280 total entries), with ties broken by the highest average velocity of those positions.
PH/H&F is named Velocity News Fancier of the Race, topping the ranking with 20.00% 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 28 out of 280 pigeons. In Smith Fourie One Loft's Race 1 293km, 23 of 35 participating fanciers qualified by basketing at least 4 pigeons. Ties are resolved using highest average velocity across their arrivals.
JJ. Botha. led the Velocity News Follow Up ranking with 30.00% of their pigeons placing inside the top 10% arrivals.
Please note: This log scrolls from left to right.
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 Training 210km against Race 1 293km, Austin Powers.'s ZA-2025-KWUG-750 earns Pigeon of the Week, averaging 34.240 seconds behind the winner with a 43rd-place finish at Training 210km and 2nd at Race 1 293km. PH/H&F's ZA-2025-OP-6783 follows closely at 2 minutes and 13.470 seconds (70th at Training 210km, 1st at Race 1 293km), while Camelot Hokke's ZA-2025-CAMELOT-139 completes the podium at 2 minutes and 34.215 seconds (22nd at Training 210km, 9th at Race 1 293km).
Please note: This log scrolls from left to right.
Looking Ahead
PH/H&F's win at Race 1 293km sets the tone for Smith Fourie One Loft, while JJ. Botha. leaves the strongest mark on the week, topping the Follow Up Ranking. PH/H&F's Velocity News Fancier of the Race performance stood out just as clearly, backed up by the win in the race itself. Austin Powers. takes Pigeon of the Week honours for ZA-2025-KWUG-750's consistency across Training 210km and Race 1 293km. Whether PH/H&F can carry that momentum into the next race remains to be seen.
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