Photo: Supplied
The cost of entry into the AfrikaPro is US$16 000 (around R275 000) per full team of 15 pigeons for South African entrants and 20 pigeons for overseas participants. Single-bird entries cost $750 (R13 000) each, and entrants may include two to four reserve birds.
Reserves can be activated after a qualifying training flight, with the entrant holding first option. If the entrant does not exercise this option by the cut-off date, the reserve bird becomes available to punters or other participants.
A combined cash prize of $1,3 million (R22,3 million) is up for grabs, but it’s not all about money. Participating in this event is about testing your skills in breeding and training your birds against local and international champions, who have long regarded the AfrikaPro as a key fixture on the global pigeon racing calendar.
Cash prizes and prestige
After the homing phase and a session of short-distance road training flights, the first ‘money race’ begins with Race 1, covering the shortest distance of 200km. Various prize categories are awarded in each of the 10 main races, with overall standings based on the combined performance of each fancier across all 10 races.
In addition to the cash prizes, Black, Blue, Green, and Brown Jackets are awarded to the winners of four major categories. These jackets recognise the expertise of the winners in their respective categories, which Farmer’s Weekly will explain further in this two-part coverage of the event.
The Grand Finale and the Black Jacket Competition, the latter of which crowns the overall champion fancier, are the two most important races of the AfrikaPro.
Grand Finale winner
The Grand Finale covered 601km, the longest distance of the 10-race series, with the pigeons released on 10 October at 6am.
Die Painters & SG Ullrich, a South African-German syndicate, claimed the top prize of $75,000 (R1,3 million) with ‘Michelangelo’s Purpose’, a fine Blue Chequer male, ring number ZA KPU 24 2344. The bird beat 1 652 other pigeons, braving a challenging headwind to come in at eight hours and 40 minutes, achieving a remarkable velocity of 1 155,621m/minute.
Michelangelo’s Purpose was bred from a carefully planned mating in South Africa. Its sire, ‘Dual Purpose’, achieved nine top 1% finishes against an average of 1 000 pigeons and won the second National Ace Pigeon Short Distance award in South Africa in 2019, competing against around 300 000 pigeons.
Its dam, ‘Whenny’, is the direct daughter of the number-one Miracle Breeder, Blue Whip. Together, Michelangelo’s Purpose’s parents are linked to no fewer than 19 South African National Meritorious Awards.
Record-breaking success
Die Painters’ success extends beyond the 2025 Grand Finale, with more than 70 AfrikaPro accolades to their name. They are also the only loft worldwide to have bred a pigeon that finished in the top 10 of the final race in three of the four years since the series began.
Year-by-year performance:
- 2022: one pigeon finished 8th in the final race, another 13th in the Blue Jacket, and overall, they were 5th in the Black Jacket.
- 2023: one pigeon finished 9th in the final and another 7th in the Blue Jacket overall.
- 2024: won 1st and 5th in the Green Jacket, 1st in the Blue Jacket after Race 7, and 1st and 8th in the Brown Jacket after Race 9.
- 2025: won 1st place in Race 10.
Winners of the first nine in this year’s AfrikaPro
- Race 1: 200km, $2 700 – Martin Hetzel (Germany)
- Race 2: 200km, $2 700 – Len Knoetze Lofts (South Africa)
- Race 3: 240km, $2 700 – Ganus Family Loft (US)
- Race 4: 280km, $2 700 – Mountain Lofts (South Africa)
- Race 5: 330km, $2 700 – Linda De Vries (Canada)
- Race 6: 330km, $3 600 – JP Cilliers & Beneke Lofts (South Africa)
- Race 7: 383km, $3 600 – Velghe & Truter
- Race 8: 480km, $3 600 – R.A.M Annandale (South Africa)
- Race 9: 508km, $3 600 – Velghe & Truter
Top fancier
The Fancier of the Year is determined by the shortest combined flying time of the first two nominated birds from each team across 10 consecutive races. Fanciers must pre-select and ‘activate’ their top 10 performing pigeons before each race.
This year, the South African team Pigeon Palace achieved the best accumulated flying time, claiming the title and a prize of US$100,000 (R1,7 million). The team comprises Gys Louw and his wife Judith, Cyle and Bianca Bellamy, and Mark and Rolien King. They also placed 2nd, 3rd, and 6th in the top 10 of the Grand Finale with their pigeons ‘Fiero’, ‘Lara’, and ‘Sierra Blu’.
Pigeon Palace also won $75 000 (R1,3 million) Ace Pigeon overall Blue Jacket with ‘Lara’, who completed all 10 races in the fastest combined time. Lara also claimed the $18 500 (R318 000) Brown Jacket Enduro Champion title. Fiero and Lara won the $1 800 (R31 000) Fancier of the Race Award for the shortest accumulated flying time in Race 10.
Don’t miss part two of our coverage of the 2025 AfrikaPro final results, coming soon.
For more information phone Thomas Smit on 011 680 4778.
