1998 IF ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – 2009 IF CHAMPION OB. LOFT 151-500 LOFTS!

Michael Mantagas has owned pigeons, mostly flights and other flying varieties, for over 30 years.  Mike’s brother and partner in Brothers Loft, John Mantagas, introduced him to pigeons at the age of eight.  Both Mike and John got hooked at a very early age in the pigeon hobby.  Mike especially became interested in racing pigeons.  He would hang out in the neighborhood feed stores and listen to the old timers talk about racing pigeons, famous birds and the legendary fanciers of the New York / New Jersey area.  Little did he know that Brothers Loft would become one of the Champion Lofts and Legends of the sport. 

In 1997, Mike finally got the chance to build the loft of his dreams.  He moved into a new apartment and received approval to build a loft on the roof in Brooklyn.  Mike and John called their brother Louie (the real carpenter and mechanic of the family), and under his guidance Brothers Loft became both a reality and a great challenge.  In two weeks Mike, John and Louie completed a 10 x 20 foot loft divided into four sections, two for breeding and two for racing.  They obtained birds from some of the top lofts in the New York area, Mulligan’s Place Loft, Radiator Loft and Canarsie Loft, plus a few birds from Campbell Strange.

In 1997, their first year of Old Bird /Young Bird Racing, they won several races.  In the 300 mile 5 bird derby they finished two hours ahead of the second place bird.  They won “average speed honors” in the special races against some of the best lofts in the New York area.  Brothers Loft competed in the best competition in the area with great success, and the New York flyers wanted to know more about this new loft that was getting all the attention in the area and winning the PRESTIGIOUS “IF ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD”.

Mike and John gave a great deal of credit to the partners of “Mulligan’s Place Loft” with helping them with their  training, feeding and medication programs, along with the quality birds from their best bloodlines( HVR, IMBRECHT, #259).

The goal of the loft was to be competitive in the best racing in the area, and they achieved this with one basic philosophy:  “Race their birds every week, if possible, and give them every chance to prove themselves in both young bird and old bird racing to earn a perch. If they did not prove themselves in this period, they were culled, both racers and breeders.  Within two years, they eliminated the birds that did not breed to their high standards, no exceptions.

“NOW FOUR (4) YEARS LATER - “HOTTEST LOFT IN NY/NJ AREA” 1998-2002.

The NY/NJ area has been famous for years as the most competitive location for racing pigeons in the USA.  It offers a fancier the chance to race in some of the largest combines in the USA, and several of the top futurities for young birds and old birds in North America. Many outstanding “CHAMPION LOFTS, HALL OF FAME FLYERS AND GREAT LEGENDS OF THE SPORT” compete in this section of the country.

Brothers Loft, now flying in two locations, John flying in Brooklyn, NY, and Mike moved to South Amboy, NJ, with his family and competes in the “CJC”, the largest combine in the USA.  Each loft keeps 12 pair of breeders that contain the bloodlines of HVR, IMBRECHT, GRIZZLE #259, JANSSEN and SUPER 73.  These bloodlines have survived hard flying and strict culling practices for the last 4 years.  These birds have proven they can handle the tough style of racing in the NY/NJ area, especially the 300 mile plus young bird futurities and the tough 500 mile old bird races.  Quality, not quantity is the goal of the lofts, based strictly on performance.  Each loft starts with about 50-60 young birds and about 20-35 old birds each year.

In this 4 year period they won or placed high in several of the top YB and OB Futurities and won several combine races in NY/NJ.  This against the best flyers in the area and against an average of over 200 LOFTS and over 2,OOO BIRDS EACH WEEK.  Small examples of their results are winning the FRANK VIOLA YB FUTURITY, FRANK VIOLA YEARLING FUTURITY, CARL’S YB MAIN EVENT, TRI-BORO YB FUTURITY, BQN YEARLING FUTURITY, and PAOF YB FUTURITY.

These amazing results are no surprise to those who know Mike and John.  They realized that to be competitive in their locations and tough competition, the sport of racing demands as much from the fancier as it does from the birds to achieve great results. They are dedicated to improving their knowledge and understanding of medication, motivation, feeding and breeding of their birds, as well as how to train and condition them.  These are all factors that the birds cannot control.  The birds are at the mercy of the loft manager to receive proper care and training.  Winning is a result of breeding, training, nutrition, health, consistency and heart.  Their motto is “You cannot expect the best results until you commit to give the birds the best”.

When Mike moved to New Jersey, other fanciers said that the brothers would not fly as well as they did together, but they quickly proved them wrong.  John won several old bird races, including the Old Bird Frank Viola Futurity, and he placed first and second in the BQN Yearling Race.  Amazingly, John then won the 2002 Frank Viola Young Bird Futurity, one of the most prestigious in the NY AREA, the following season.  Mike, from his new loft in South Amboy, NJ, was not to be outdone.  He topped the CJC, the biggest combine in the country (268 lofts, 3,503 birds) in only his second YB race.  Also, Mike won the Carl’s Main Event, the biggest young bird futurity open to South Jersey flyers.  Brothers Loft each won one of the biggest young bird futurities in the country, weeks apart from two different lofts.  Mike and John realized that once they divided into 2 lofts, they needed help and assistance.  John has Al Etherige, who was very important to the Loft’s success in NY.  Mike is first to admit that his success could not be possible without the help, assistance and support from his wife Diane, who would clean the loft, road train and feed the birds.

2003-2009 has brought some changes to Brothers Loft NY/NJ.  John continued to fly at the Brooklyn location with great success, until he moved to Long Island in 2007.  His new location and new job became very demanding on his time, so he decided to stop flying, and at present has given up the birds. The old loft still remains as a constant reminder of the great success and times at the Brooklyn location for both John and Mike.

Mike moved to Colonia, NJ, with his wife (loft partner) and children.  He built a new loft to continue flying in the highly competitive CJC.  Mike and Diane maintain a small loft with quality as their only goal.  They judge each bird by his performance in race competition.  Every pigeon must fly or produce to earn and keep its perch in the loft.  They place great emphasis on health, early maturity and the distance aspect of racing.  They select their racers and breeders from the already established birds from the NY/NJ LOFTS.  In the 12 years since they started the Loft, they have created an outstanding family of birds that have been given the nick name “BROTHERS BLUES” because of the famous IF-97-VILOLA-8575 “BIG BLUE” (HVR x IMBRECHT) from CANARSIE LOFT.  Several lofts in the NY/NJ area  that are lucky to obtain some of Brothers loft bloodlines are winning more than their share of races and prize money.  Mike believes that it is a full time job to achieve success in the sport of racing pigeons.  The fancier that must work and has a family does not have enough hours in the day to spend quality time with both his family and the birds.  Since Mike and Diane both work and spend quality time with the children, they were limited to participating in YB/OB RACING in last few years.  With their busy schedules, limited training time and wanting to spend time in the summer as a family, YB flying was almost impossible in the highly competitive CJC.  They decided to concentrate on old birds, with a limited schedule, and trying to compete in as many races as their time permitted.  Because of this limited participation, the results of 2008 and 2009 old bird racing is truly spectacular:

2008 - 10 RACE OB SEASON, the CJC AVERAGED 173 LOFTS and 2,425 BIRDS

Brothers flew only 8 of the 10 races and was 2nd and 4th Champion Point loft, totaling (1893 points), far surpassing all lofts in CJC for total points.

2009 - 10 RACE OB SEASON, the CJC AVERAGED 171 LOFTS and 2,340 BIRDS Brothers flew only 7 of the 10 races and was 1st and 6th Champion Point Loft, totaling (1774 points), again far ahead of all other fanciers.

Along with winning the Champion Point Loft in CJC and 2nd and 4TH Champion Bird, Brothers Loft has won 1ST “I. F. CHAMPION LOFT OLD BIRDS 2009, 151-500 LOFTS.

The “I.F. HALL of FAME 2009 OLD BIRDS 151 – 500 LOFTS" has also been announced, and Brothers Loft won 1ST, 3RD, 4TH, 5TH Hall of Fame.  In a total of 15 races flown in 2008-2009 old birds in the largest combine in the USA, Brothers loft won 50 DIPLOMAS (1 diploma for ever 5 lofts).

The above accomplishments are truly amazing when you look at the great flyers and legends of the sport that make up the CJC COMBINE.  Brothers Loft uses a commercial mix and adds additional safflower, rice and raw Spanish peanuts to supplement the birds' needs for the races.  They pay close attention to the nutritional requirements of their birds and give vitamins and minerals 2-3 times a week, plus garlic, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and honey.  They use a strict medication schedule and fly the birds on the “Natural System”.  They let their flyers raise one young per nest, and they use the instinctive motivational love of the loft and fancier to their best advantage.  They expect their birds to race each week and train lightly during the week.  The birds need the rest for the following week’s races.  During the race season, they use short tosses of 20 miles and loft fly for 1 hour when possible.

Brothers Loft has succeeded with plenty of hard work and quality birds.  They have always been very competitive, patient, dedicated and very professional to the sport and fellow fanciers.  They have found that the sport can provide enjoyment, fame and financial reward, but they also feel a strong obligation to promote the sport in a positive way for continued growth.  Due to the strong demand to family and work, Brothers Loft will be taking a few years off from flying, but will continue to support the hobby and maintain their family of birds.  In the 12 years of racing, their race record from 1997-2009 in OBS and YBS has been spectacular.  Brothers Loft has become a legend in the sport through their outstanding race results and great family of birds.  The “Rookie of Year Award" in 1998 and the 2009 IF CHAMPIONSHIP LOFT OBS and HALL OF FAME honors are the only times they have ever applied for “NATIONAL AWARDS”.  However, if we look at their outstanding results over the years, they would have been at the top of the awards almost every year.