A one loft race, better known as OLR, is a race where fanciers send their pigeons to be raced from one location. The handler of the race along with his/her team will be responsible for caring, training and racing the birds, which will all return to his location. Birds being sent to the race should be young and of easy settling age. Usualy youngsters are sent as soon as they are weaned. Occasionally an older youngster will be sent. Although not impossible, older birds are more difficult to settle and are more likely to be lost during the settling process. Most one loft races in the USA start with more than a thousand birds, with the bigger races reaching between 3-5 thousand.
Losing Birds During Training
During the training process some birds will be lost. In my experience by time the final race comes around only about 1/3 of the original flock will be flying. The birds that remain after the final race are usually the best of the best that money can buy! Each OLR has its own rules and monetary payouts, but in the bigger races, prizes for the winning birds can exceed $150,000 and often do. Some of our club members here at Crossroads, have successfully raced at the Hoosier Classic and many other OLRs around the country. One of the biggest one loft race in the United States is the Hoosier Classic, which is run by long time pigeon man Jim Ward and his team. in 2024 the race started with almost 4,000 birds.