Almost 500 birds were liberated at 10am with a northerly breeze providing good conditions for all flyers in the Greater Valley Federation.
The federation spreads from Jerilderie in the north, to Pukapunyal in the south, Wangaratta in the east and west to Kyabram.
Tony and Shirleen Soffra of Shepparton clocked the winning bird, a two-year-old blue bar cock, recording a velocity of 1578m per minute for the 330km race.
Second place was the Attwells of Shepparton. Their two year-old blue chequer hen had a velocity of 1563m per minute, resulting in a margin of less than two minutes.
Luke Sibraa recorded the best time for the local club, his two year-old black chequer hen recording a velocity of 1517m per minute and only seven minutes behind the winner.
In week two, the Kelly Grain’s race also started from Hillston.
A total of 416 birds were basketed Thursday night, representing 28 flyers across the region.
Birds were liberated at 10am in near perfect conditions into a slight northerly wind.
Winners were Tony and Shirleen Soffra, with a velocity of 1322.74m per minute with a two year-old blue bar cock.
Geoff Parker finished in second position with 1320.9m per minute velocity, meaning a time difference of 20 seconds.
Third went to Noel Barnes with a 1312m velocity.
Best of the Murray Club was a bird entered by Luke, Jim and Faye Sibraa. It achieved a velocity of 1268.4m, coming in seven minutes and 40 seconds behind the winning bird.
Andrew Rutherford was close behind with a 1267.8m velocity.
This week is the last of the sprint race series from Hillston, and is sponsored by AG Warehouse Finley.
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