Artículo publicado en www.elimarpigeons.com como homenaje a la mejor paloma asturiana de todos los tiempos.
THE HARDEST ROUTE -
PART 3
Sergio Capín Barreda tells the
story of Mario Conde
Esp-92 11943
“Mario Conde”
Mario
Conde handled by his owner “Pandiella” at the age of 20
Today I want to tell you the story of the best racing
pigeon bred in this province in the history of the sport in Asturias.
Mario Conde is the pigeon's name. He's named after the
most famous Spanish banker of all time, accused of fraud and imprisoned in
1994, while his namesake was racing against the odds in Asturias. The reason
for its name is the presence of a small head feathers forelock similar to Mario
Conde's slicked down hairstyle.
All started two years before, in 1992, when a chequer
squeaker was rung in a small loft situated in a little village in the central
part of the province called “La Pandiella”, with the ring number Esp-92 11943.
That loft was situated in front of quarries which are
excavated for a Spanish cement factory on the other side of the river valley.
This is terrain which Mario Conde was to fly over thousands of times along his
racing career.
Overflying
the valley. In the rocks of this quarry, a pair of peregrines nest every year,
“training” Roberto´s pigeons.
Roberto - nicknamed “Pandiella”- is the owner of Mario
Conde. I've been good friends with him for more than 10 years and he agreed to
chat with me on May 12th, on a day when the area was surrounded by fog.
Roberto
(right) with his partner Dioni in front of their loft.
Roberto started with racing pigeons in 1985. Nobody in
his family had owned any type of pigeon but he enjoyed them and was engaged by
the high difficulties of racing pigeons in our province.
After 7 years he was lucky and bred this champion: an
ugly cheq cock with white eyes (today diluted by age) but with superb silky
feather and a superb soft wing. Also a long tail (a good tool for evading
peregrines and sparrow hawks). He is a long cast pigeon with flexible vents
(like a hen's vents). Perhaps the feather quality and this conformation helped
him to achieve so many big wins in a hard environment like this!
Mario
Conde at the top of his career at the age of 3
From 1992 - as a youngster - to 1996,
Mario Conde was raced without a break. In a place like this where every race
(short or long one) can be a disaster, his numbers are amazing:
He was controlled 11 times inside the top 30% of
pigeons sent from races between 300 and 500 miles. (In 1995 he was controlled
the same day of liberation from 450 miles.)
He´s the ONLY pigeon in history capable of winning the
Provincial Championship (Ace Pigeon) 2 consecutive years (1995-1996).
In 1996 as a culmination of a brilliant career, he
obtained the 2nd Place in the NATIONAL Championship (National Prestige 3 years
{regularity along 3 years} category).
Anybody who doesn´t live here, won´t give these results
their deserved value. But I can assure you these numbers are unbeatable!
A few pigeons SURVIVE here after 2-3 years in the
basket. And very few race a high number or races every year. You can own a
super fit pigeon one year… but the same tip top condition along 4 years…
only BLOOD realises these performances!
The wing
theory doesn´t work here. The power is in his head!
About
blood…
As all the myths, not all his ancestors are known. His
father was a cock from Emile Matterne bloodlines loaned by another fancier of
the province, a close friend of Emile. His mother - the top breeder of
the loft producing different champions along many years with many different
cocks, but none as good as Mario Conde - was a gifted cheq hen.
In 1990, Roberto and another fancier friend visited an
important loft housing foreign pigeons. The owner of that loft gifted them a
couple of youngsters (bred only on barley points out Roberto). He chose the
ugliest and… "Was right!"he says.
I had the opportunity of handling this hen at the age
of 15 years. We had to scarify her because she had a fat tumour around her vent
bones. She was like a tennis ball in the hand: short keel, very very wide back
but very light. Again superb feather and a soft wing. A marathon pigeon
structure.
Although
20 years old, he still posseses an “eagle eye”
After 20 years from the birth of this legend and
handling Mario Conde - who was fertile until the age of 17 - I feel something
special. I have pure history in my hands. I have memorized all
his anatomy. I always will remember his wing and also his feather. And since I
first handled him 10 years ago I have learnt one thing: a champion pigeon can
be bred in many sizes and shapes. At the end of the day, especially in a survival area like this province,
the only thing that matters is BLOOD.
Parts
1 & 2 of Sergio's series The Hardest Route can also be found under the Loft
Reports & Articles section on Elimar.