Granted, I’ve always known Race Director Zandy Meyer to exude nothing but confidence. Nevertheless I think even Zandy would never have imagined 15 years ago that the idea of a South African one loft race would have evolved into the icon ‘the Million’ is today. But here we are, 15 years down the road, and the Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race is not only the most famous one loft race in the world, it is the standard by which all other one loft races are judged.

Evolving into such a standard is not an easy thing. Many years of hard work by committed coordinators worldwide, backed by a devoted and competent organisational staff in South Africa, a true pigeon loving team at the lofts and let’s not forget financial support by visionary investors in Switzerland have gradually increased the number of participating countries and pigeons to what it is today. A mindblowing 6594 pigeons from 37 different countries appear at the starting line of the 2010/2011 season. Of course, the bulk comes from the Big Seven: Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. These are the countries that were involved almost right from the beginning and always have supported the race. Nevertheless countries such as Canada (169 pigeons) Denmark (129 birds) and Kuweit (234) show increasing numbers each year as well. Winning the race always helps coordinators of that country to gather a fair amount of pigeons: 111 birds from the Czech Republic are proof of this (and another 93 of their ‘ex-countrymen Slovakia to boot). Even countries which most fanciers would not expect turn up for the event: what to think of Iraq, Puerto Rico or Trinidad for example? Looking at all these figures we also have to keep in mind that some countries would dearly like to send more pigeons but are hampered by veterinary restrictions: China is the most important case, having only 9 pigeons participating. Overall, looking at the number of pigeons and of participating countries, it is more than clear why the Million Dollar Race is sometimes called ‘the unofficial World Championship’. The top attraction of the event, apart from the roughly 1,3 million US dollar in prizemoney, is indeed the chance it offers fanciers worldwide to compete against the best of the best in a true international race.

With a long pre-training stage around the loft and on short road trips behind them, the pigeons have now, on the 27th of October, completed their first official Training Race. As in the previous years, fanciers from all over the globe will be glued to their computer screens at least twice a week, studying the Million Dollar Race’s state of the art website(s) to trace the performances of their champions as they race towards fame and glory. Several competitions ‘on the side’, such as the five Car Races (previously called Hot Spots), the Grand Averages, the Nomination Races, etc. will keep everybody entertained until the thrilling finale on the 22nd of January 2011. Who will be in the world’s spotlight on that day? If you are a participant: who knows? It might be you! And if you’re not participating, check out the organisation’s superb website www.scmdpr.com or take a look at the proceedings in the Belgian Superstar Competition on this website to get a feel of the thrill that keeps fanciers happy all winter (for us Northern Hemispherers anyway) long and be sure to send your best for the next edition. We’re all looking forward to competing against you!