Although not very experienced, yearlings are often capable of remarkable performances. This is why alot of fanciers compete their yearlings very rough, including the hardest categories, such as the long distance and marathon. In the 2020 season, for example, the 5,000 places available in the National Catalog of Long distance yearlings category were filled, which means that there were over 5,000 young pigeons who ranked at least three races with a distance of more than 475 km. In descending order of the scores achieved by them, Florin Petrache (Neamț), Alin Caprita (Prahova) and Class A.L.B. Loft (Bacau) were ranked on the first three national places.

Florin Petrache and his hen RO-19-2000174 are the champions of the Long distance Yearlings category in the 2020 season, with a coefficient of 6.21 penalty points. From Moldova, the 2nd National place was won in Prahova, an area where the races pf the long distance category are very strong. The author of the performance is Alin Caprita, whose young cock, with the series RO-19-0903402, finished the norm in this category with 8.10 penalty points. The 3rd place National is occupied by Class A.L.B. Loft, from Bacău, with the young hen RO-19-0704917, who in the three races achieved a score of 8.67 penalty points.

Florin Petrache (NT), three appearances in the top 20 National

The multiple national long distance and marathon champion Florin Petrache, from Piatra Neamț, authoritatively dominated the county and provincial championship in the Long distance Yearlings category. At the level of Neamț county, he occupies all three places of the podium, and by province it ranks 1st, 6th and 7th. We can say that it also dominated the National Championship of this category, because it is the only pigeon fancier to occupy three places in the top 20 National . Of course, the most important is the 1st National place, the other two rankings being on the 14th and 17th places. In order to occupy the most coveted place in Romania in this category, Florin Petrache’s young hen had to compete in three races of 689 km, where it obtained the following rankings: 1 / 1,786 pigeons (zonal classification), 5 / 2,479 (general classification) and 9 / 2,481 (county classification). “The hen’s father is a cock by Marc Pollin, and the mother is from Nicu Șiclovan, from two original Nouwen-Paesen. He competed in widowhood all season. The pigeons don’t see their pair before basketing. They are allowed to stay together only after they arrive, when, as a rule, if the race is difficult, they stay together until the next morning. I used Bayers food and for recovery and conditioning, I gave the pigeons Dr. Peeters’ Special Complex. During the season I did a weekly training from a distance of 50 km. I can’t say that I took special care of her. As a young hen, I didn’t pay much attention to her at first. She flew very well the first four long distance races, but at the last one she was no longer basketed, because she moulted two feathers from the wing just before baskting. She would have had a very good score for the Long distance Ace category, but this is very good anyway “, said Florin Petrache. The same hen of Florin Petrache is the national champion of the Gold Club, winning the first of the 10 national awards of this championship.

Alin Căpriță (PH), national vice-champion of Long distance Yearlings

With the help of the young cock RO-19-0903402, Alin Căpriță from Prahova is positioned on the second rank of the national podium in the Long distance Yearlings category this year. It is very interesting that Alin Căpriță’s pigeon flew and ranked all five races from this category organized in Prahova, launching from Novhorodka, Ukraine, being also the national champion of the Ace Long distance Yearlings category. At the three races nominated for the achievement of the Long distance norm, the pigeon of the Prahova pigeon fancier ranked 2nd / 8,402 pigeons (598 km), 10 / 3,854 pigeons (621 km) and 14 / 2,659 pigeons (637 km), totaling only 8.10 penalty points. “In the year of birth, the young birds participate in some trainings with the association, plus some other trainings that they do together with some friends, with our cars. But, I don’t basket them for more than 300 km and I don’t select them by hand. It is the first year we compete on this route, after 10 years of competitions over Transylvania. The pigeons flew using widowhood method. In February they were pre-paired, hatched for 5 days, after which they were separated again. They were mated again, reproduced a young bird and about three weeks to a month before the first race of the season, they were permanently separated. I used several types of food from Versele Laga and Vanrobaeys, of which I would mention the Dynamik mixture. Between races, the pigeons were taken to three or four training sessions, from a distance of 40 km, and for training and recovery we used teas, glucose, electrolytes and liver recuperator “, explained Alin Căpriță.

Class A.L.B. (BC) ranks 3rd National Long distance Yearlings

„Class A.L.B. Loft ”is the project of three pigeon fanciers from Bacău, started in 2018. Through the team they form, Bogdan Geangalău, Vasile Stanciu and Alexandru Gosav aim to approach all categories of the national championship, from Short distance ​​to Marathon, and winning the place 3 National of Long distance Yearlings is the most important trophy won in this formula so far. The performance was achieved by the young hen RO-19-0704917, who in the three long distance races, she fulfilled her norm achieving a score of 8.67 penalty points. She ranked the Kalinka competition three times (Poland, 628 km), 13th out of 11,377 pigeons, 6 out of 1,801 pigeons and 16 out of 3,813 pigeons. “In 2018, together with my two colleagues, I created this project. Not having much time for the pigeons, separately, we decided that it is better to form this team and help each other. In this way, the pigeons are not neglected at all. In 2019 we competed for the first time in this formula, and this season we already obtained important results. Here, I would like to mention the result from Long distance Yearlings, 6th place National Gold, plus 15 other county trophies, in categories such as Short distance, Middle distance, Ace Speed, National Ace, Allround and Long distance. For 2020 we had a group of 120 flyers, which we competed in widowhood. The hen with the 3rd place Long distance Yearlings is reproduced from a cock from Florea Sorin, Gunter Prange and Alfons Klaas origins, and her mother is from Sebastian Câmpeanu. We used food from Vanrobaeys, and on arrival, the pigeons received Tollyamin and Belgasol in the water, and on food they received Dosto Oregano Feed oil 3% and Immunol. The next day, they received Probac 1000 on the food and Sedochol Plus in water. We prepared the races with Black Cell Speed ​​Sirup and Probac Energy on the food, and in the water they received Quick, a mixture of iodine and iron “, said Alexandru Gosav.