Super 73 Americans .... The New Million Dollar Family!

America's Dream Loft has either won or bred the pigeons for others to win nearly every major futurity, National Award, Hall of Fame and Ace Pigeon position in the US. Several years back ADL decided to compete directly against the most famous names our sport has ever known. How could a loft in the middle of the US compete head to head against the elite of Belgium, Holland, Germany and 30 other countries? ADL needed a race that offered a true test. ADL wanted a genetics competition with all pigeons handled in exactly the same manner. ADL desired a true test where the pigeons would fly into headwinds and deal with extreme heat. The one and only choice would be the Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race held in South Africa. Sun City is an international event structured so the entrant's pigeons enjoy an equal opportunity to prove their excellence.

In the pigeon sport today many fanciers like to publish results of training tosses or equal firsts when there are huge drops of pigeons. ADL could only be satisfied competing head to head with the best the sport has ever known. ADL has the desire to compete against thousands of the worlds top pigeons.

The experiment with Sun City began in 2004. ADL entered Sun City finishing 63rd and bred the pigeon finishing 66th. Two birds in the top 100 on our first try was a nice accomplishment but certainly not what ADL was looking for. For the next few years ADL took a break from active racing to focus on the World of Wings National Pigeon Museum.

In the 2009 Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race, the best pigeon in the entire series was "Alborada" bred by Heriberto Borroto. This pigeon won a Car Race (Hot Spot) and finished 1st Overall in the Grand Averages. What an accomplishment for Borroto with the ADL "Hekkenklak" line. The "Hekkenklak" owned by ADL was 1st National Ace Pigeon of all Holland and went on to become a breeding legend in the US. The cream keeps rising!

In 2010 ADL again entered Sun City with a last minute team. ADL proceeded to win the Country Challenge with "Eli" (a Super 73 American), on the final and most prestigious Hot Spot (Car Race). ADL finished 63rd on the final race. 3155 pigeons made the finale with 5500 starting the series. This 63rd pigeon was called "Nor Easter" (another Super 73 American) and there were less then 140 pigeons on the day. Two tries in Sun City and pigeons finishing at the top both times. Many famous fanciers race year after year at Sun City and never manage to crack the top 100. ADL calls this winning line the "Super 73 Americans". This line is comprised of the 3 greatest AU 1st National Long Distance Champions ever - "Campbell", "Blue Lady" and "Smokin' Joe". These 3 champions won the AU National Awards with each pigeon winning from 400 to 600 miles. All 3 pigeons have the genetics of the great "Super 73". The most decorated of the trio might be "Smokin' Joe". "Smokin' Joe" won four AU National Awards in the same year. This feat has never been duplicated! "Campbell" and "Blue Lady" are the other two corners of this golden genetic triangle. ADL takes the blood of these three American greats and works it into the very best of his 3 renowned European 1st National Ace Champions, "Hekkenklak"’, "Mr. Aristona" and "Fire Flight". This other golden triangle of "Hekkenklak", "Mr. Aristona" and "Fire Flight" can certainly make the competition feel like they are lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Genetics + genetics + more genetics are the true formula for world class pigeon success.

Could these results in Sun City be attributed to luck, good fortune or have the pigeon gods shined bright on ADL? This past season in Sun City was one of the toughest that the organizers have ever experienced. The year started out with extreme heat and drought. The series ended with an over abundance of rain and headwinds. Losses were high and the original 6600 plus entrants from the best in the world were naturally selected down to slightly less than 2700 supreme pigeons. Like the entire season, the final race was fitting and turned out to be one of the toughest final Sun City races in the history of the event. Could ADL keep this streak of top 100 finishes alive?

On January 22nd 2011 America's Dream Loft finished 45th with only 51 day birds. This pigeon "ADL SA 11" also finished 22nd overall in the Grand Averages beating every world famous loft except one. That Belgian loft was ahead of ADL by less than two minutes. This "Super 73 American", "ADL SA 11" (renamed "Super 45") beat the entire country of the Netherlands. View the Grand Averages at https://www.scmdpr.com to see the results. As additional information, up until the end of December in the Grand Averages, ADL was ahead of the entire country of Belgium and the US with another "Super 73 American".

One of the toughest Sun City Races in history and ADL has had their best performance to date, with another one of the ADL "Super 73 Americans". ADL has achieved top performance after top performance in Sun City. ADL is one of the few lofts in the world to succeed with top 100 pigeons three Sun City races in a row.

To compete on the world stage, success must be attained in Sun City. When someone from another country researches a loft the first question they ask is "How Did You Do In Sun City"? The Super 73 Americans are truly a Million Dollar Family. Thirty years of winning and now over the last few years ADL pigeons evolved into a new high potent gene pool called the "Super 73 Americans". The future for ADL could not look brighter.

These Sun City results have wet America’s Dream Lofts appetite for Sun City. The next goal is to walk away from Sun City with 1st Place in the final race and 1st overall Grand Average Speed. Sun City is a genetics race and "The Super 73 Americans" have proven to have such genetics.

by Frank McLaughlin