I named this cock "Home Alone" because he won 1st place in the Central Jersey Combine 300-mile race as a young bird versus 3,013 birds. He beat the second place pigeon by 30 minutes and 60 YPM. He was one week shy of five-months old when he accomplished this feat. Home Alone is the most extraordinarily consistent performance pigeon I have had the privilege to own and I seriously doubt there will be another in my loft to match his accomplishments.

As a young bird, Home Alone came along slowly until he won the second combine 300-mile race toward the end of the season. He had been to four races, but did not distinguish himself. However, his nest brother, 522, was flying very consistently, winning enough club and combine diplomas to earn IF Hall of Fame and Ace Pigeon Award honors. The birds were hatched on May 17 and flown to the perch without benefit of lightening or darkening systems or motivational tricks. Tragically, a Peregrine Falcon killed 522 before I could campaign him as a yearling.

Home Alone is a straight Janssen closely linebred to the Old Merckx. His mother was bred in my loft off a daughter of Mike Ganus' 969 x Princess. The Clwyd Lofts in Wales, UK bred his sire from a son of Old Merckx and a daughter of Velo.

Home Alone is a small/medium cock and is the smallest cock in my breeding loft. He is a very calm, intelligent bird with a yellow-orange eye, and as a widower always occupied the top box in the widowhood loft. Until Home Alone and his brother were yearlings, I thought they were hens. The Merckx pigeons can fool you that way, since they tend to be quiet as youngsters and possess effeminate heads.

Home Alone went to four races on the widowhood system as a yearling, was the first or second bird home in each race and won 1st, 2nd and 4th club. However, the 1st prize is unofficial since someone in my club tampered with my clock without telling me about it and I was disqualified.

As a two-year old widower in 1996, Home Alone went to four straight races, was rested a week at the 500-mile station and went back for four more straight races. I didn't send him to the 500 because I believe it takes a more mature bird to compete in this event and because these are holdovers sometimes lasting three or four days that are often disasters in terms of returns. In addition, I am not convinced our birds get the best of care while they are held in the transporter.

Again, he was virtually the first or second bird to the loft, always flying through the open door directly to his box.

In 1997, he was campaigned on the same regime as 1996: four races, a week off, and four more races. His performance was superb. In the 200-mile event he missed 1st club by one yard per minute because of sloppy clocking on my part, otherwise he would have been first in two races. He began to fall behind toward the end of the race season and I decided he had earned a well-deserved retirement to the stock loft.

Home Alone’s remarkable performance record is as follows:

In the breeding loft, Home Alone is starting to come into his own. Not all cocks take well to the bull system, but Home Alone thrives on it. Youngsters from him are in few hands outside our loft. He appears to be producing even better youngsters than himself. Home Alone has bred:

• 97 NWJ 503 -- 4th Northwest Jersey Club vs. 65 birds, 250 miles for Cornella Family Loft
• 97 NWJ 504 BC C – bred best youngbird on 1998 YB for Bill DeRossiers, Methuen, Mass.
• 98 NWJ 3171 -- bred 1st Cajunland Club vs. 130 birds; 7th Deep South Cajun Combine vs. 347 birds, 200 miles; 8th South Louisiana Concourse vs. 475 birds, 200 miles for Gerald Hebert, Gueydan, La.
• 98 NWJ 3110 – bred 1st 2001 Summer Series 5-Race Futurity for Mark Gabiola, Idaho
• 00 ARPU 58447, a granddaughter of Home Alone -- bred 2nd Club vs. 60 birds, 9th Combine vs. 96 birds, 100 miles; 2nd Club vs. 84 birds, 2nd Combine vs. 123 birds, 100 miles for Fred Daniel of Jacksonville, Fla.

Here is Home Alone’s short pedigree: