Marc De Cock - Temse (BE) closes new ‘top weekend’ by winning 1° National Narbonne with his solitary basketted pigeon!

 The conditions were also ideal for a beautiful race… clear weather along the entire racing line, with a wind out the northern sector… it couldn’t be nicer or more fair… weather where the ‘real top pigeons’ could really indulge themselves. It turned into a competition bordering on the bearable… it was a matter of seconds for the ‘international victory’ between the Frenchman Bernard Weishaar from Durrenbach and the Belgian Marc De Cock from Temse… in the end the advantage went to our French sport friend whose pigeon achieved 1057,42 m/min. The pigeon from Marc De Cock achieved 1055,97 m/min, and stranded in 2° place international… this pigeon was clocked in Temse at 20h57’54” from a distance of 895,375 Km… good enough then for the 1° National Narbonne 6.362 old birds, and 1° International in the category hens! It was also the only pigeon that Marc De Cock had basketted for Narbonne… which makes the performance even more impressive! In 2° place national we find Jozef Planckaert from Harelbeke (1052,45 m), 3° for Chris Hebberecht from Evergem (1050,58 m) who has piled up ‘top-10’ places at national level over the last few weeks!

Marc De Cock triumphed
With Marc De Cock as national winner, we have from Narbonne a real ‘pigeon B.V.’ on the podium. Last weekend the top star from Temse once again added a piece of ‘pigeon history to his now rich and voluminous epic! Introducing him to the general pigeon public is an unnecessary luxury. It is the 3° national victory of his career… after previous national victories from Bourges and the same Narbonne! Whoever says the name Marc De Cock… could possibly imagine a mega loft, with a lot of pigeons. Well… they would be wrong. He may have raced with a great number of pigeons previously in Temse… until a few years ago when Marc completely changed tactics! Just like in his professional career as CEO of the famous firm ‘Cock’s meat products’… in the pigeon sport Marc wanted to lay the emphasis on ‘quality’ above ‘quantity’! His obsession… his craving for perfection… for absolute ‘top class’… which as of now would form the guiding principle on which his successes in the pigeon sport are based. An ‘experienced and motivated’ businessman as Marc De Cock knows better than anybody that to achieve the best end product, you need the best ingredients! It is no different in the pigeon sport, because… you can only reap what you have so richly sown! Hence the ‘top priority’ in forming a ‘breeding source’… for which only the ‘best of the best’… the ‘greatest super cracks’ qualified! Often an expensive hobby… remember the purchase of wonder bird ‘Eagle Eye’ in the auction of Erik Limbourg in December 2009… the ‘top transfer’ to Marc De Cock is still fresh in our minds!
Now… investing in ‘super pigeons’ is one thing, later performing well at the highest level is for some people another thing! Exploiting the exceptional ‘racing and breeding capacities’ of such crack pigeons to an optimum and generating returns is also an art, and the merit of the man in charge! Marc De Cock (together with loft carer Marc Pletinckx) has proved over the last few seasons that he possesses ‘feeling’ for the pigeons, and is able to pilot his pigeons to great performances up to national and international level. Exploiting to the maximum the ‘super genes’ present in his ‘elite breeding source’ … so ‘much breeding’… and then subjecting the pigeons to a merciless selection… as a result of which only a select group (read: small number) of real ‘top pigeons’ are allowed to remain for the winter every year… which one can take to war… with which the national and international races are raced with ‘ambition’! With success… translating itself in an inimitable series of top performances at local level, resulting in a series of ‘provincial victories’… and then now ‘National victory’ from Narbonne! Not an easy task…

 ‘Leen’ ensured national victory from Narbonne
Hat off for the performance that super hen ‘Leen’ achieved from Narbonne, with which she beat the 6.362 participating pigeons at national level… and this after flying no less than 14 hours!  Although there was a ‘special story’ to this victory… Because last year this ‘classy lady’ already proved what she was capable of with amongst other things, 1° Nat La Souterraine Zone A + 4° National… in addition to 15° National Argenton (see performance list above). She then had to form one of the main pillars of the ‘hen team’ 2010, which were raced   in widowhood. In her very first Quiévrain she was the only pigeon not to return home… she let herself be caught by a small fancier in Lubbeek, where Marc went to pick her up. Marc thought that this hen was not as she normally was… because the previous year she triumphed in the national races up until the end of the season! Until it dawned on him… this hen achieved her top performances at the end of 2009 with a ‘nest’! So she was given a nest in the loft of the youngsters… and now  basketted for Narbonne with a 3 to 4 day old youngster… exactly the same position as which she won 1° Zone and 4° National last year! It was immediately ‘bingo’… with 1° National old birds and 1° International hens! Monumental!
Let’s take a closer look at this super hen, because her pedigree shows us that she certainly doesn’t get it from a stranger! Her honours list looks like this…

-‘Leen’ B08-4255148

In 2009:
Noyon           286 p. 15
Angerville      380 p. 25
Blois           117 p. 31
Argenton         87 p. 1
     Prov       845 p. 4
     Zone B   2.311 p. 9
     Nat      6.410 p. 15
La Souterraine   20 p. 1
     Prov       463 p. 3
     Zone B   1.506 p. 1
     Nat      4.459 p. 4
Gueret Prov     248 p. 21
     Zone B     886 p. 170
     Nat      2.636 p. 387

In 2010:
Noyon           423 p. 31
Angerville      880 p. 99
Blois            97 p. 24
Bourges I       356 p. 14    (22 May)
     Prov     3.771 p. 159
     Zone B   9.146 p. 570
     Nat     22.476 p. 1145
Bourges         118 p. 19    (11 July)
Narbonne         91 p. 1
     Nat      6.362 p. 1
     I.Nat   13.531 p. 2
     I.Nat Hens        1

She is a full sister of ‘Niq’ B06-4140181, who won a.o.
1° Ace pigeon Grand distance Yearlings 2007
5° Ace pigeon Cureghem Centre Yearlings 2007

St.Vincent      246 p. 1
     Prov       930 p. 1
     Nat      6.521 p. 13
     I.Nat    7.515 p. 13
Irun            326 p. 7
     Zone B   3.189 p. 72
     Nat      8.967 p. 193

Both her father and her mother proved their enormous class in the national races… yes, the ‘good ones’ come from the ‘good ones’… that has more than been proven here, take a look…
Father: ‘Kleine Perpignan’ B03-4196443… he also won 1° prize from Perpignan as only basketted pigeon from the lofts of Marc De Cock… and further:
1° Ace pigeon Fond 2005 ‘Fondclub Lokeren’

Perpignan       151 p. 1
      Prov    1.076 p. 4
      Nat     7.611 p. 28
Montélimar      150 p. 3
      Prov    1.027 p. 16
      Nat    10.195 p. 135
Beziers         148 p. 6
      Prov    1.062 p. 15
      Nat     6.191 p. 136
Barcelona       265 p. 2
      Prov    2.075 p. 17
      Nat    11.802 p. 145

GF: The ‘5° Nat Ace pigeon Long Distance KBDB 2002’ B00-4066087… won 1° Nat Zone Beziers 1.930 p., 15° Nat Zone Brive 6.727 p… etc., a pure De Rauw-Sablon pigeon (son of the ‘Super Breeder 258/92’, a son of the ‘Dream Couple’… x the ‘Goudklompje 874/98’, the world famous stock mother De Rauw-Sablon, bred by and obtained from Jules Mannaert, Lebbeke).
GM: the ‘Perpignanduivin’ B00-2326483… won self 65° Nat Perpignan 7.083 p. in 2002 (line Vervuurt-Claesen).
Mother: ‘1° Ace Pigeon LD Lokeren’ B05-4126181
1° Ace pigeon Long Distance youngsters 2005

Arlon           346 p. 12
Vierzon         187 p. 4
       Prov     918 p. 10
Bourges         845 p. 8
       Prov   6.284 p. 33
       Zone  13.050 p. 140
       Nat   32.762 p. 633
La Souterraine
       Nat   15.406 p. 592
Vichy  Prov   2.129 p. 57
       Nat   11.022 p. 300

GF: ‘Son 1° Nat Cahors’ B03-2034630… son of the ‘Vale Cahors 218/99’ (1° Nat Cahors 4.971 p. by Jef Deridder, and later super breeder in the lofts of Erik Limbourg) x ‘Half-sister Dubbele 401/95’.
GM: ‘Rebecca’ B02-1899481… daughter of ‘Rocket 133/97’ x ‘Donja 293/95’.

Three in a row
The national victory from Narbonne was the ‘apotheosis’ … to a marvellous Saturday afternoon for the colony of Marc De Cock. It was the third victory in a row that afternoon… and of course the most important… after 1° prizes from Bourges and Libourne early that afternoon!

Bourges      681 youngsters   1-2-5-16-19-23-38-46-62-63-64-83-99… (and 18/46)
                 228 yearlings   12-22-27-33-41-45 (6)

The first youngster from Bourges had a 10 minute lead on his loft companion who achieved 2° prize. National this young cock stands classified in 23° place against the 30.759 youngsters in the provisional prognosis. A week earlier he won 9° from Angerville against 1.111 youngsters… he is a direct  son of ‘Eagle Eye’… direct Bull’s eye then, and a purchase which immediately paid off… who expected anything else?

Libourne   139 yearlings  1-2-4-5-8 (11)

The 1° prize winner here had a shoddy 13 minute lead on the 3° prize in the basketting club in St-Gillis-Waas… the only ‘non Marc De Cock pigeon’ within the ‘Top 5’! It concerns a direct son of ‘BAK 17’ Marcel Aelbrecht! Two weeks ago he won 8° Limoges against 240 Yearlings!
The apple never falls far from the tree! Marc De Cock invested heavily in the absolute top class De Rauw-Sablon and Marcel Aelbrecht… and can rightly call himself the proud owner of one of the noblest collections worldwide of the ‘De Rauw-Sablon’ and ‘Aelbrecht’-pedigree! Investments from which a maximum output is obtained, and which now results in National victory from Narbonne!  It seems obvious to us that in the future we will be served more of this spectacle on our plate… the harvest of a richly strewn field! ‘The sky is the limit’… Congratulations Marc!