Ellen and Joop Groenen
The now 67 year old Joop has been keeping pigeon from an early age, and his fabulous career started in 1962, when he found a Belgian pigeon that turned out to be a pigeon of the Janssen brothers from Arendonk, by far the most famous pigeon loft worldwide. Joop managed to win a junior national championship with descendants of this pigeon. This really motivated the young fancier to pursue a career in pigeon racing. Joop has continued to achieve great results throughout his career but he was particularly successful in the past 15 years, winning top prizes week after week. We take a look at his most impressive achievements in the past two years:
St Quentin 292 km 1,314 p.: 1-3-8-9-27-34-36-53-56-58-61-80-85-89-91-etc. (24/25) Isnes 173 km 2,796 p.: 7-16-22-33-36-38-60-63-78-80-83-etc. (31/41) Feluy 190 km 2,588 p.: 7-8-13-18-19-20-67-72-80-81-etc. (27/36) Quievrain 225 km 1,259 p.: 9-10-11-14-26-28-46-47-49-67-71-73-etc. (19/27) Sezanne 384 km 1,328 p.: 3-4-5-8-13-14-37-57-58-59-82-etc. (17/30) Soissons 325 km 1,297 p.: 2-7-11-12-30-31-57-68-108-113-117-etc. (15/22) Laon 296 km 776 p.: 4-5-13-14-31-32-etc. (8/10) Feluy 190 km 1,884 p.: 4-5-9-13-14-18-20-28-35-41-48-49-50-51-etc. (32/51) Feluy 190 km 759 p.: 5-6-12-14-15-48-50-65-72-76-etc. (15/17) St Quentin 292 km 1,482 p.: 4-16-17-18-22-23-25-42-44-45-54-etc. (27/44) Isnes 173 km 742 p.: 1-2-10-11-12-13-14-15-25-42-72-73-74-etc. (15/17) Duffel 135 km 2,356 p.: 12-13-16-51-53-54-55-57-58-61-62-64-67-70-etc. (26/35) Moeskroen 226 km 1,052 p.: 1-7-50-51-53-56-etc. (10/20) Quievrain 225 km 2,538 p.: 4-9-32-35-36-39-40-48-61-69-124-125-etc. (29/44) St Quentin 292 km 1,493 p.: 2-3-13-16-30-67-83-101-113-124-147-etc. (17/34) Quievrain 225 km 920 p.: 3-5-6-61-62-etc. (6/10)
There are many championships at regional and national level, and Joost has won quite a few of them in the past 15 years: he was 9 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd and 1 x 4th General Sprint in Province 8 Region 4 with approximately 1000 members. In 20015 he won the following titles in Provinde 8 (2200 members):
9th Young birds not nominated 2nd natoer nominated 5th general sprint not nominated 3rd general sprint nominated 7th general ace pigeon sprint with NL13-1930520 (17 prizes)
Joop has won the following championship titles at national level in 2015:
7th natoer not nominated 29th natoer nominated 12th middle distance not nominated 16th middle distance nominated 28th pigeon championship middle distance (NL13-1930520) 85th pigeon championship middle distance (NL12-1367050) 87th pigeon championship middle distance (NL12-1367010) 98th pigeon championship natoer (NL14-1728236) 14th best ace hen WHZB/TBOTB (NL13-1930520)
The pigeon breed
As we said, the pigeon family was originaly based on a pigeon of the Janssen brothers from Arendonk that Joop had found. This one pigeon enabled him to achieve great results, and Joop was understandably quite fond of the Janssen breed. As a result he started looking for reinforcements in the 1960s and ‘70s from pigeon breeds that were heavily based on Janssen pigeons. For instance, he obtained pigeons from Wout Smeulders (Nuenen, NL) and Dr. Linssen (Helmond, NL), two nationally renowned fanciers. He also got his hands on a granddaughter of the then famous pigeon Lieveling of Nic Janssen (Gronsveld, NL). In 1991 he bred Jordan, which originated from these very bloodlines. Jordan became Dutch Ace Pigeon in 1993, after which he developed into a highly successful breeder: this cock and his direct descendants have bred countless champions over the yearrs. He was then paired to another Janssen pigeon (from the line of Oude Merckx) and together they bred President, which was a great racing bird (he won 4 first prizes against thousands of pigeons) and an equally talented breeder, just like his father. Pairings of Jordan and De President enabled Joop to become a national top player.
He has been successfully combining his breed with Heremans pigeons in recent years as well. His good friend Marco van Slooten (Laren, NL) obtained these Heremans pigeons from Willem De Bruin (Reeuwijk, NL). Every season about 30 of his pigeons are tested by Joop. A few pigeons of Frans Rutten (Horst, NL) and Ralf Swidurski (Essen, DL) were successfully introduced here as well, and they have in turn been doing great with pigeons of Joop. His latest introduction is a hen of G. & S. Verkerk (Reeuwijk, NL) from the line of their Olympic Ronaldo x Olympic Survivor. This pigeon is the hen of two highly successful racing birds, which are both very talented breeders as well.
Current prize winners
2015 was started with 18 pairs raced in double widowhood. If a cock or hen turns out to be remarkably successful, the partner will no longer be raced. Joop also has a group of about 50 young birds at the start of every season, and he has approximately 16 breeding pairs. This is a rather small group of pigeons, and yet he has been able to win an impressive number of prizes. It shows that he has an exceptionally talented pigeon breed, capable of winning top prizes every single week. We present to you some of his best racing birds in recent seasons.
The Wondergirls
The wondergirls consist of NL12-1367046 Alida and NL12-1367047 Ellen, which have both played a crucial role for Joop in the last couple of years. Their dam is a granddaughter of Jordan, Dutch Ace Pigeon in 1993, and the sire of the Wondergirls is Harry. This cock was purchased at the total auction of the Rijn-Meeder combination (De Lier, NL). The dam of this Harry comes from the lines of President, while the sire of Harry originates from the well known lines 483 and 484 of Jan Ouwerkerk (Lekkerkerk, NL). Click here for the full pedigree of Harry.
Alida was basketed nine times as a young bird and she won 9 prizes, including:
2nd Duffel 2,227 pigeons 6th Peronne 2,676 pigeons 6th Wolvertem 2,443 pigeons 9th Mantes la Jolie 1,844 pigeons 8th Epehy 1,567 pigeons
She won the following titles in national competitions:
2nd nat. ace pigeon young birds TBOTB 10th nat. ace pigeon young birds WHZB 20th nat. ace pigeon young birds NPO 2nd ace pigeon young birds Province 8 1st ace pigeon young birds region 4
Alida is now the dam of the NL15-796, winner of a 14th Feluy (1,884 p.), a 15th Asse-Zellik (2,703 p.) and a 34th Tongeren (3,216 p.). You can read more about the origins of Alida here.
Ellen was raced nine time as a young bird as well, and she also won nine prizes, including:
4th Mantes la Jolie 1,844 pigeons 15th Peronne 3,048 pigeons 29th Peronne 2,676 pigeons 9th Morlincourt 827 pigeons 91st Duffel 6,189 pigeons
This resulted in the following titles:
11th nat. ace pigeon young birds NPO 15th nat. ace pigeon young birds WHZB 24th nat. ace pigeon young birds TBOTB 8th ace pigeon young birds Province 8 2nd ace pigeon young birds region 4
Ellen is in turn the dam of NL14-176, winner of a first prize from Quievrain against 2,952 pigeons (and the fastest of 11,972 p.). Click here for the pedigree of Ellen.
NL12-1367082 Floor
Floor is another example of the impressive breeding value of President and Jordan. The sire of Floor is NL08-347, a grandson of De president. This NL08-347 is for instance a brother of the 1st Ace Pigeon Sprint Province 8 and 1st Ace Pigeon Sprint in the Nijmegen district. The dam of Floor is Fabian, a granddaughter of Jordan. Fabian was 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon young birds NPO in 2005. Click here for the full pedigree of Floor. Floor was 22nd Nat. Ace Pigeon young birds NPO in 2012 and 5th Ace Pigeon natoer Province 8 in 2013. These are some of her best results:
7th Duffel 7,091 pigeons 1st Mantes la Jolie 707 pigeons 7th Peronne 2,676 pigeons 7th Wolvertem 2,443 pigeons 24th Wolvertem 6,865 pigeons
NL13-1930520 Dafne
One of the pigeons that illustrates the successful introduction of Heremans and Verkerk pigeons is Dafne. This hen has won countless championship titles in recent years. For instance, she was 7th Ace Pigeon sprint in the Nijmegen district in 2014 as a yearling, and she went on to win the following prizes in 2015:
1st ace pigeon middle distance Nijmegen district 7th ace pigeon natour Nijmegen district 1st ace pigeon overall Nijmegen district 3rd ace pigeon middle distance natoer region 4 15th ace pigeon natour region 4 2nd ace pigeon overall region 4 7th ace pigeon overall province 8 14th ace pigeon hens WHZB/TBOTB 28th ace pigeon middle distance NPO
These are some of her best results:
9th St. Quentin 4,060 pigeons 3rd St. Quentin 1,314 pigeons 18th Feluy 6,770 pigeons 4th Sezanne 1,328 pigeons 12th Chalons & Ch. 2,830 pigeons
The sire of Dafne is a son of super class breeder Michael x Favoriet. Favoriet is a daughter of Olympic Ronaldo and Olympic Survivor of G. & S. Verkerk. This Favoriet is now the dam of:
1st Moeskroen 2,321 pigeons 2nd Bourges 1,909 pigeons 5th Mantes la Jolie 1,100 pigeons 8th Blois 1,046 pigeons 8th Chateauroux 836 pigeons 11th Orleans 1,775 pigeons 15th Bourges 913 pigeons
The dam of Dafne is Miss Blond, and she originates directly from the Heremans pigeons of Willem de Bruijn. Miss Bond is the sister of a 98th nat. Ace Pigeon natour 2015 and an 8th Soissons teletext against 14,630 pigeons. Click here for the full pedigree of Dafne.
NL12-1367070
This magnificent blue band cock wins a 3rd Teletext from Nanteuil la Hudouin against 16,831 pigeons. This is clearly not his first important achievement, as you can tell from his palmares:
3rd Nanteuil 4,720 pigeons 3rd Morlincourt 827 pigeons 7th Gien 1,194 pigeons 16th Lessines 2,661 pigeons 19th Feluy 2,971 pigeons
This resulted in the title of 1st Ace Pigeon middle distance 2014. This NL12-070 is a son of Frans, which originates from the top loft of Frans Rutten. Several brothers of Frans have won countless top prizes for Frans Rutten. The dam of NL12-070 is Emily, one of the pigeons that comes from the successful exchange between Joop and Frans Rutten. Emily is the grandmother of NL13-1468813, winner of a 1st nat. Ace Pigeon natoer WHZB. Click here if you would like to know more about the pedigree of the NL12-1367070.
Passion and dedication
Joop has been winning several national championship titles again this season. The pigeons that we discussed in this article are just a few of a much larger collection of top class racing birds in this loft. Many other lofts have been winning top prizes with these pigeons, as you can tell from the many references that Joop and Ellen get every year. Click here for an overview of his references. Joop is an ambitious and dedicated fancier who leaves nothing to chance. He is very dedicated about keeping pigeons, and he is always looking for improvements, not only in pigeon racing but in everyday life. This takes a lot of physical effort, and unfortunately Ellen can no longder look after the pigeons due to medical problems. She was an excellent caretaker and she played an important role in the young birds’ loft. Despite her absence Joop continues to try and win many prizes every season. This shows again that a combination of passion, dedication and a collection of top quality pigeons will inevitably lead to success.