Mark Kitchenbrand paid R800 000, a SA record, for a racing pigeon at the post Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon race (SCMDPR) auction.
The bird, owned by the German syndicate Sudhoff and Van Beers, came third in the 12th SCMDPR race in February which stretched over 552km from Trompsburg to the Pilanesberg at Sun City in the North West. Birdy won four different champion point’s league categories and was crowned Ace Champion of the World against the cream of the best birds entered by 26 countries. Breeders locally and from Germany, China, the UK, the US and Netherlands vied for a chance to buy this prime breeding stock, but Kitchenbrand managed to outbid them all. Abraham, owned by Filip Norman from Belgium, was the winner of the SCMDPR.
JD Action from the Gerhard Koopman racing team from the Netherlands came in second. Positions three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, 10 and 11 were taken by Germany. The winning birds completed the journey in eight hours and 36 minutes, in hot and humid conditions. winning bird won US$200 000 (R1,5 million) and auctioned for R130 000, the bird in the second position won US$120 000 and also auctioned for 000. SA pigeon, bred by Marais, was placed 19th. Last year Mark Kitchenbrand also bought six of the top 10 birds of the SCMDPR for R1,2 million. Keep a look out for a full report on the race in our weekly pigeon column. – Thomas Smit
