Race 6 Diaz OLR: Stear Painter Collects Yet Another OLR Victory
Race 6 is in the books. Stear Painter's 'PILOT' took the win, while Gavin Rous was named Velocity News Fancier of the Race. De Kruik Sindikaat and Loft Einkamerer rounded out the podium. Kasouga's 'Evolved' was named Pigeon of the Week.
Race Overview
Diaz One Loft's Race 6 saw 442 pigeons from 108 fanciers liberated from Ixopo for the 525km journey home to Diaz One loft.
Pigeons were liberated at 07:30 into a crisp KwaZulu-Natal morning, 8–10°C, with morning fog clearing quickly to open skies. Winds were light, a gentle north-westerly at 3–4 km/h, offering little resistance at release.
By the race's midpoint near the Transkei interior around 10:47, temperatures had climbed to 14–16°C under clear skies. Wind had shifted to a light-to-moderate north-westerly easing westerly, 7–10 km/h, providing a mild push toward the coast.
Birds reached the loft at 14:04 into 18–19°C conditions with mostly clear skies. A fresh south-westerly wind of 16–18 km/h met the pigeons as a moderate crosswind near the coastal finish.
Top 10 Arrivals
Stear Painter's 'Pilot' took the win at 1332.05 m/min. De Kruik Sindikaat's 'GPE Zyrova' followed in second, ahead of Loft Einkamerer's 'Black Bird 211-93' in third. KDK Racing & Joe Gomes 2 (USA) took fourth with 'Frank Joe 28', with Pigeon & Duifie's 'Blue Eyes' rounding out the top five. Saipr Loft's 'Generate Fear' landed sixth, Hillcrest Stud's 'Hillcrest Evolve' seventh, and Koos Botha's 'Deep Connection' eighth. Gerber Lofts' 'Miss Universe' completed the top nine, with Benn & Bailie's 'Stompie' closing out the top 10.
Velocity News Fancier of the Race
Eligibility for this ranking is capped at fanciers with at least 4 pigeons basketed. Of the 108 fanciers competing in Race 6, 41 met that threshold and qualified for consideration.
Ranking is based on the percentage of each fancier's basketed pigeons that finished inside the top 5% of the race — position 22 of the 442 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.
Gavin Rous was named Velocity News Fancier of the Race with 25.00% of his participating pigeons inside the Top 5% arrivals.
By raw numbers, Webster Lofts placed more pigeons inside the top 5% cutoff than anyone else!
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Top 10% Follow Up Ranking
The same eligibility pool applies: 41 of 108 fanciers competing basketed the minimum 4 pigeons required to qualify.
This ranking identifies which fanciers had the highest percentage of their basketed pigeons landing inside the top 10% of the race — position 44 of the 442 pigeons basketed in this race. This metric is the Follow Up Ranking. 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.
Hendrik & Daniel Moller topped the Top 10% Follow Up Ranking with 60.00% of their team inside the Top 10% arrivals.
Webster Lofts again leads by raw count, seven pigeons inside the top 10% , more than any other fancier in the race!
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Pigeon of the Week Race 6
This ranking is based on the smallest margin behind the race winner across two races. Smallest average margin ranks highest. This show what pigeons are currently in the best form.
Across Race 5 Mount Frere (380km) and Race 6 Ixopo (525km), Norman Phillips 'Evolved' posted the smallest average margin behind the winner the past two weeks, edging out Anton Schonken and Benn & Bailie for Diaz One Loft's Pigeon of the Week after race 6.
Looking Ahead
Stear Painter's 'Pilot' set the pace on the day, but Gavin Rous will carry the headline into next week off the back of his Velocity News Fancier of the Race performance, with Hendrik & Daniel Moller close behind on the strength of their Follow Up Ranking. Kasouga's 'Evolved' also enters the conversation as Diaz One Loft's Pigeon of the Week, having now backed up a strong Mount Frere showing with another consistent return at Ixopo. With the loft's form spread across several lofts rather than settling on one name, Race 7 looks wide open.
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