We are about 3 weeks away from accepting birds for the 2023 season.   We are excited to begin our 11th Season here at the Hoosier Classic, and our 6th year as a Million Dollar Race.  In 4 years ( 2018-2020-2021-2022), Hoosier Classic has paid out over 5 Million Dollars in prize money.  
As we enter of 6th season as the Million Dollar Race, we again guarantee $1.2 Million in Prizes for 2023! 
2023 will be a 4 race series, and we will begin accepting birds   Feb 27th  - May 15th.

Perch fees are $200 per bird  OR  Pay for 5 ($1000) & Ship a 6th for Free

For those that would like to participate in the race using our "Breeders Connection," we will have an updated list next week of breeders who will be participating. 

Remember to sign up for the 2023 season on the website.  We will do a 3 Free Perch Raffle on Super Bowl Sunday!  For anyone signed up by Sunday Feb 12th, you will be automatically entered to win 3 free perch fees. 
Sign Up Now


We would also like to remind breeders when shipping their birds, please make sure they are vaccinated at least 1 time for PMV prior to shipping.  By vaccinating your birds before shipping, it helps to start to build an immune system, which is the best start for your birds.  
We hope that everyone's breeding season is going well and look forward to a great 2023 season.  

Last week we began shipping birds home.  Due to Friday November 11th being a Postal Holiday, we only shipped birds on Monday last week.  Only breeders that had 1 bird going home were shipped home.  

This week we working on getting everything else sent home.   Breeders with 2 birds going home were taken to the post office this morning.  We are currently working on breeders with 3 birds going home.  Tomorrow we will work on breeders that have more than 3 birds going home.  Our goal is to have everything shipped out by tomorrow, Wednesday the latest.  

Deadline for requesting birds to be shipped back was Wednesday November 2nd. 

Anyone that has won prize money over $600 is required to submit a W9 Form for prize payments to be paid out.   All W9's that have been submitted as of Monday have had the checks mailed.  Any W9 forms submitted yesterday or today will be mailed today.   If you have not submitted a W9 form please do so now.  We would like to get all of the prize money paid out as quickly as possible. 

This past Monday we shipped home over 100 boxes of "Single" birds going home.  That means there was only 1 bird in the box for this shipment.  Friday is a Postal Holiday due to Veterans Day and we did not what to risk any boxes being stuck in the system going into a weekend.  This coming week, we are going to try to ship out all of the remaining birds that are scheduled to go home.  Birds have already been sorted and are divided into sections according to how many are going to each breeder. 

2018  -  2020  -  2021  -  2022

In just 4 Seasons...

Hoosier Classic has 

GUARANTEED & PAID OUT

"OVER"

$5,000,000

In Prizes

As of today, there are still 10 birds that do not have pedigrees for the top 100 on iPigeon.
Keep in mind that as a breeder to receive your portion of the auction proceeds, a pedigree must be provided.  Please email the pedigree to our office and we will get it posted online with iPigeon, as well as print a copy for the buyers. 
The auction will officially begin on Sunday November 6th and end on Sunday November 20th.

Checks started going out in the mail Friday for anyone that had sent in a W9.  There were approximately 150 checks that were sent out.  There are still many more to be written, however the W9 forms need to be turned in to have them written.  W9 forms can be emailed to us or sent via regular mail.  

We have sorted through the birds the last 2 days.  If you have requested to have your birds sent home, we will start that process on Monday.  We are going to try to get all single birds going home sent out on Monday and hopefully breeders that have 2 birds as well. 
With Friday being a postal holiday, we don't want to take the chance of anything getting stuck in the system and not get delivered.  The following week of the 14th we will be sending out any birds that are 3 or more going back.  
We do have breeders that are also picking up birds.  Birds will be available for pick up on Sunday between 10:00 am & 2:00 pm.  
Breeders that called the office and requested to pick up their birds will be available.  If you did not call this past week to pick up, you will need to talk to the ladies in the office about a different day to pick them up. 

*********Today is the LAST DAY to claim birds*********  

You have until 5:00 pm today to call the office and claim your birds. 
Final lists will be printed in the morning and we will begin sorting through birds tomorrow.  This is a process that will take several days.  
If you want your birds back and have not already contacted us, please do so today.  
IF you want to pick up your birds, please contact us.  They will also need to be moved to a separate section.  Please do not assume that we "know" you want your birds back.  There are over 1000 birds and over 600 breeders that have birds.  It is best if you call to make sure the birds are separated. 
Pick Ups will be available starting next week.   
Office - 219-733-0011

With next Friday the 11th being Veterans Day, there is no mail delivery.  We will only be shipping birds on Monday next week.  Our goal is to get all of the lofts that only have 1 bird going home sent out on Monday.  As of right now there is around 100 boxes going out with single birds. 

We again this year will be driving the birds further east to a different post office so they go into a more efficient distribution center.   We have found through this post office that the birds move around and get delivered much faster than if we go through our local office.  

A reminder that Wednesday will be the last day to claim birds.  If you want your bird shipped back, if you want it sent with a friend's bird(s), if you want to pick up your bird, or even if you just don't want the bird....please let us know.   Please DO NOT call or text Jim to get your birds back. Information sent to Jim may not always get to the office before he gets another 5 phone calls and then forgets to tell us in the office. Please do not send Facebook messages.  I may forget to go through the messages.  I don't check Facebook messenger throughout the day.  Please call the office or send an email.

If you are part of a Syndicate (Ex: Hoosier Facebook, Just4Fun) and want your bird back please contact us. 

We will sort through the birds beginning on Thursday and it will more than likely take more than 2 days to do.  We would like to only sort through them 1 time for return shipping and then we will spend the beginning part of next week and the week after actually shipping bird's home.  This is a very time-consuming process so please do not wait until next week to claim your birds.  

We have received hundreds of phone calls and email with requests to return birds. If you tried calling today and did not get through please call us Tuesday.  We could not keep up with the phone today and may have missed a few calls.  We spent the better part of the day today taking information and going through emails.  If you send an email to request birds be returned, please include a shipping address, phone number for the box, loft names, and how you are paying for shipping.  Sending an email saying "I want my birds back, Thanks John Doe," does not provide us the information we need.  We want to verify all information to make sure birds do not get lost in the mail or sent to a wrong address.  We can deduct shipping costs from prize money also. 

If you have prize money coming, please send in a W9.  I will not pull paperwork from previous years.  Previous years paperwork is packed away and stored.   We will not hold money for next season due to accounting purposes.  All prize money needs to be claimed by December 25th, so I can make sure checks are mailed before the end of the year.  I would like to have all of this paperwork, including the auction settled by the end of November.

Again, please do not take a "picture" of a W9 form and email it.  These documents need to be turned into our accountant.  There is a W9 form available on our website under the "Forms" tab. 

We are also still waiting on a few pedigrees from breeders for the auction.  Please get them in so we can get them over to iPigeon.  As of tonight, I believe almost all the photos if not all of them are up on iPigeon. We would like to get pedigrees up asap for everyone as well. 

To email paperwork please send to: hoosierclassicrace@gmail.com

We have continued to have birds return every day including today.  We have turned the clock off as of Sunday evening.  

If you would like your birds back and have not yet contacted us, please do so by Wednesday, November 2nd.  Wednesday will be the last day to claim birds as we will be sorting through the birds Thursday - Sunday and we will begin shipping birds' home on Monday, November 7th.  
Please DO NOT call or text Jim to get birds back.  All return shipping is being handled and organized by the office.  We will need to basically write a ticket for the return and get your birds added to the list of claimed birds.  The office is open from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm CST to call.  You may also send an email to hoosierclassicrace@gmail.com to request birds back. 
Return shipping is as follows:
1 Bird - $65
2 Birds - $75
3 Birds - $85
Anything over 3 birds will require an additional box. 
Shipping can be paid via Credit Card, Paypal or check.  Birds will not be shipped without payment
All birds will be returned in NEW Horizon boxes. 

I will begin writing checks this week for prize money that has had a W9 submitted.  Prize money being paid out over $600 will require a W9.  Please make sure that your address is correct on the W9, as this is where your check and your tax form will be mailed to.  Pictures of W9 forms are not acceptable, as this is a document that needs to be turned into our accountant.  If you're going to email a form, please make sure it is a scanned copy. 

The photos of the Top 100 winners are almost completed.  We should get the final few photos back by tomorrow and have them up on iPigeon.  
Pedigrees are also needed for the Top 100.  If you have not submitted a pedigree, please do so asap.  
A pedigree must be submitted to receive proceeds from the auction. 

Office Number to claim birds: 219-733-0011

Link to W9 Form:  Printable W9

Congratulations to all the winners on yesterday's final race, especially the 5 birds on the drop.
V.Perez Loft had the first bird in the clock winning $111,000, followed by LMJustin Loft, LFL-GFF, El Dorado Loft of Canada, and Andy & Tina Li, all winning $86,000 each. LMJustin Loft was also the winner of the Ladies Trophy.

Fleet Washington winning 1st Place Average Speed, followed by Fire Fly Farms, who also took 1st Place Knockout.  Sikon Loft had 3rd Place Average Speed along with the 2nd Place Knockout, and Croatan Loft winning 4th Average Speed and 3rd Place Knockout.

Congratulations to Andy Skwiat as well, having 8 bird's placing in the money, 4 of them in the top 100!!


We have received several calls today regarding a 400 mile race.  We will not be hosting a 400 mile race this year.  The weather has been very unpredictable this year, with drastic temperature changes, high winds, and rain.  We unfortunatley can't control the weather and in the Midwest in October you can sometimes experience all 4 seasons in a weeks' time. 

With that being said, we would like to Thank Everyone who participated in the 2022 season.  We hope that everyone that attended this past weekend's events enjoyed themselves.  

The top 100 birds will need to have the pedigrees submitted for the auction.  As a reminder you only get auction proceeds  IF a pedigree is submitted.  They can be emailed, or originals sent in the mail.  If you send directly to iPigeon, we will also need a copy for shipping purposes.  

Everyone that has won prize money will require to submit a W-9 for prizes $600 and over.  You can email a W-9 or mail an original "SIGNED" copy through the mail.  PLEASE DO NOT SEND A "PHOTO" of a W-9.  
For accounting purposes, we WILL NOT hold prize money for next year.  All prize money will need to be paid out before December 25th.  

If you would like your bird(s) shipped back, we ask that you call the office beginning on Friday.  We are short a person in the office the rest of the week and would be easier to start taking the requests Friday so we can work on the pedigrees for the auction Wednesday and Thursday.
Shipping fees will be as follows
1 Bird - $65
2 Bird - $75
3 Bird - $85
Anything over 3 birds will require another box.  We will be using NEW boxes from Horizon Micro Environments.   Shipping can be paid for by deducting from Prize Money, Check, or Credit Card (processing fees apply for credit cards)

Mailing address:
10258 S 1150 W
Wanatah, IN  46930

Office Number 219-733-0011

This week the birds have been loft flown on Wednesday, trained on Thursday 46 miles, & trained on Friday 46 miles, in preparation for the final race on Monday.
(Birds arrived home today and we have had 2 visits from hawks since they've come back.  It has the birds still flying currently)

We are about 3 days away from the final race for the 2022 season, with the birds being shipped on Sunday.  We have received several emails regarding the schedule for the final race. 
Below is an itinerary for the weekend events.

Saturday:
Ganus Family BBQ & Auction
0499 S. Holmesville Rd
LaPorte IN  46350
Gate opens - 2:00 pm
Lunch Served - 3:00 pm
Auction Starts - 5:00 pm

Sunday:
Basketing at the Loft - 1:00 pm (Light Lunch Served)
10258 S 1150 W
Wanatah, IN  46390

Banquet Dinner to follow - Dinner served 5:30 pm
Drinks served throughout the night
Loft  Auction - 6:30 pm (in person only)
4 Bird  Benefit Auction (in person only)
On Tuesday October 4th, Angie Oehman & her 14 yr old son Joey were killed in a tragic car accident while going to school.  Our 3 sons have grown up playing sports and attending school with this family. 
Angie leaves behind her husband, an older son, and a young daughter.
All proceeds from this auction will be donated directly to the family.
The Hoosier Classic Family will be donating a bird for this auction, along with Andy Skwiat, Mike Ganus, & Tom Schilling.

Monday:
Race Day 
Gate opens 11:30 pm
Lunch Served - 12:30 pm
Drinks served throughout the day 


If you plan on attending either days events and would like to purchase Vita King Products and know what you need, please call the office today (Friday) to place an order and have it ready.  
We will have it ready to be loaded when you arrive
Office - 219-733-0011