We take a closer look at their 2013 season to begin with. Freialdenhofen & Sons won a 1st nat. from Pau, a 1st nat. from Agen (Bordeaux), as well as a 1st nat. from Barcelona in Germany in 2013. These were spectacular results, even for a pigeon loft that is used to winning a lot of prizes. They have basically won three of the major classics in our sport within a season’s time, as well as a few other great wins. They have an impressive list of achievements, their biggest feat being an international first prize from Pau 2012 against 8,399 pigeons. This is a pigeon loft with a solid reputation in the international competition.
International top results
We take a final look at their best results in the international long distance competition over the past ten years:
1st International Dax Euregio 1,132 p. 1999 1st International Montelimar 979 p. 2000 1st International Bordeaux 1,785 p. 2003 1st International Marseille Euregio 1,180 p. 2004 1st International Barcelona Euregio 1,280 p. 2009 1st International Perpignan Euregio 700 p. 2010 1st International Tarbes Euregio 438 p. 2010 1st International Pau 8.399 p. 2012 1st International Pau Euregio 538 p. 2013 1st International Barcelona Euregio 1,436 p. 2013 1st + 2nd International Agen hens 2,517 p. 2014 2nd International Bordeaux hens 1,202 p. 2008 2nd + 3rd International Agen yearlings 8,845 p. 2014 3rd International Bordeaux 9,686 p. 2002
A truly outstanding 2014 season
Pau national 991 p.: 19th, 59th and 86th (3 prizes/7 basketed); Bordeaux-Agen national 1,348 p.: 2nd, 3rd, 12th, 12th, 15th, 19th, 24th, 26th, 36th etc. (27/57); Bordeaux-Agen international yearlings 8,845 p.: 2nd, 3rd, 26th, 27th, 35th, 75th, 88th etc. (27/57); Bordeaux-Agen international hens 2,517 p.: 1st, 2nd, 14th, 56th, 68th, 102nd etc. (9/16); Barcelona national 1,408 p.: 21st, 40th, 120th etc. (6/15); St. Vincent national 1,058 p.: 31st, 43rd, 66th, 84th etc. (7/11); Marseille national 1,808 p.: 102nd, 169th, 192nd etc. (7/11); Perpignan national 1,243 p.: 1st, 4th, 15th, 29th, 63rd, 68th, 82nd, 86th, 102nd etc. (18/21).
As you can see, 2014 proved another outstanding season. How have they managed to achieve excellent results time and time again? It takes a lot more than just luck. They have been able to perform at such a high level thanks to a highly talented pigeon collection, and we all know that Forrest Gump is at the basis of this pigeon breed.
Nothing but Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is one of a kind, and he is arguably the very best breeding pigeon ever to have existed in the loft of Freialdenhofen. Not only his youngsters are excellent racing birds; his grand and great-grandchildren proved equally talented as well, having won several national and international top results! The bad news is that Forrest Gump 06348 is now starting to age – he is quite an old pigeon already. We wonder if there is any other pigeon loft out there with a breeding pigeon that has bred equally as much successful direct descendants. We are not likely to find such a breeder in any other loft, since Forrest Gump is quite a phenomenon.
One of his direct sons, the 06348-12-668, is the international winner from Perpignan in 2014. This means Forrest Gump has been able to breed yet another highly successful racing bird, even at the age of twelve. I was eager to know how their super class breeder is doing today, and so I asked Dirk Freialdenhofen if Forrest Gump was still alive. He laughed and he told me not only that Forrest Gump is alive and well but that he continues to fertilize almost every egg. It is worth noting that the cock is housed in a separate breeding box, where he is very well taken care of. But then again, who would not look after such an invaluable pigeon?
In this auction we have three youngsters of Forrest Gump (with DNA analysis), and we are also selling youngsters of Forrest Junior. This promises to be a sensational auction!
Flashback: Forrest Junior, international winner in 2012!
In 2012 The Freialdenhofen family won the international race from Pau against 8,399 pigeons with their then two year old crack 06348-10-196, called Forrest Junior. He was a relatively young pigeon but he already had a proven record, having won a 3rd national from Bordeaux against 966 pigeons and a 28th international against 11,444 pigeons. This was quite an achievement for such a young racing bird that originates from world class bloodlines. His sire is Son Forrest Gump (06348-05-420), a son of world class breeder Forrest Gump (06348-00-789), paired to Jenny (06348-99-62). We have talked quite a lot about Forrest Gump, but Jenny is an excellent breeder as well, having bred quite a few successful Freialdenhofen pigeons.
The dam of Forrest Junior is Daughter Carcassonne (06348-07-616), a daughter of Carcassonne (06348-05-665) paired to the line of Daughter First Lady (06348-05-614). This is a pedigree consisting of several illustrious names with impressive breeding and racing potential. When you take a closer look at the pedigree of the international winner from Pau, it might not seem very difficult to breed successful racing birds if you already have a team of pigeons that have won the long distance classics from Perpignan, Marseille and Barcelona. However, you should bear in mind that you have to be able to breed these national prize winners in the first place. Forrest Junior has already demonstrated his breeding qualities in 2014: he is the sire of a 2nd international Agen against 8,845 pigeons, and he is the grandfather of a 3rd international Agen against 8,845 pigeons.
Käthe, 1st national Barcelona 2013
Last year it was Käthe 06348-11-427 that took home the third national first prize of 2014 for Freialdenhofen. We wanted to know if this national winner is yet another descendant of Forrest Gump, or if she is related to some of the other bloodlines in this loft. At first sight the world class breeder is nowhere to be seen in her pedigree but a closer look reveals that she does have ties with forrest Gump after all. The sire of Käthe is Son Barcelona (06793-08-927), from the pigeon family of Bauhaus-Devers. This Son Barcelona has bred quite a number of excellent descendants; he is the sire of a 4th national Perpignan 2014, a 10th national Narbonne 2012, a 20th national Bordeaux 2011, a 52nd Narbonne 2012 and a 96th national Bordeaux 2012. In other words: he had bred some great prize winners before becoming the sire of this national winner from Barcelona. The parents of Son Barcelona are quite talented as well: his sire Brother Dax (06793-03-739) was 1st international ace pigeon from 2006 to 2008, as well as 6th international ace pigeon from 2007 to 2009. Brother Dax was paired to the 12th ace pigeon 2007.
The dam of Käthe is Irun Lady (06348-04-839), winner of a 1st national 2007 Irun against 2,633 pigeons. She also won a 33rd international 2005 from Narbonne against 5,870 pigeons and an 83rd national from Carcassonne against 2,717 pigeons in 2006. She is in fact a half sister of Forrest Gump via her dam. The sire of Irun Lady is a half brother of Forrest Gump, which goes to show that Käthe is indeed related to the invaluable bloodline of Forrest Gump. A brother of Käthe has been doing great as well, winning a 10th national Narbonne 2012 as a one year old, while winning a 4th national Barcelona in 2014. Some young birds of Käthe will be sold in auction as well.
The Freialdenhofen loft is selling an impressive collection of pigeons. We suggest you take a closer look at the pedigrees of all pigeons on auction, to see which of these pigeons would be best suited for your own collection. We have talked a lot about Forrest Gump, but he is not the only breeder that has made the loft of Freialdenhofen & sons so successful. In fact all breeding pigeons have contributed to this success story.
The Freialdenhofen pigeons have excelled in other lofts as well:
1st National Ace Pigeon Cocks International races 2014 (Germany) 1st National St. Vincent 987 km 3,824 p 2014 (Netherland) 1st Regional Karlsruhe 792 km 2014 (Denmark) 1st National Barcelona Hens 1,094 km 2014 (Germany) 1st Interprovincial Bordeaux 775 km 2.113 p 2014 (Germany) 1st prize Zone III St. Vincent 2014 (Germany); this pigeon has also won a 1st prize Pau Zone III 2014 1st prize Zone III Pau 2014 (Germany) 1st prize Sektion from Limburg 691 km 2014 (Denmark) 1st prize Cycow 540 km 9,320 p 2014 (Romania) 1st prize Maslow 306 km 3,673 p 2014 (Poland) 1st prize Olkusz 100 km 3,118 p 2014 (Poland) 1st prize TF13 SCMDPR 121 km 3,903 p 2014 1st Place Ace Marathon Neamt 2013 (Romania) 1st Place Marathon Neamt 2013 (Romania) 1st Place Marathon Palmares Neamt 2013 (Romania) 1st National Primus Inter Pares Barcelona 2009 – 2013 (Germany) 1st ace pigeon yearling 2013 Nowy Sacz II (0233) in Poland 1st Ace yearling Marathon over 700 km Nowy Sacz II (0233) in Poland 1st Ace pigeon Extrem Marathon 2012 (Romania) 1st prize Gdansk – I - 3,023 p 1.045 km 06.07.2012 (Romania) 1st prize Gdansk – II - 1,006 p 1.064 km 26.07.2012 (Romania) 1st National Perpignan 1,185 p 2012 (Germany) 1st Nat. ace pigeon hens 2012 (Germany) 1st Nat. Grand Averages ace pigeon by the SCMDPR 2012 1st + 2nd Sector II Olympiade race London 2012 (Germany) 1st prize sektion fra Trier 2012 (Denmark) 1st prize sektion fra München 2012 (Denmark) 1st National Narbonne 1.180 p 2011 (Germany) 1st Sector II PAU 2011 (Germany) 1st Sector II Tarbes (Agen) 2011 (Germany); this pigeon has also won a 1st prize Pau Zone II 2011 1st, 2nd, + 3rd price Varsovia 780 km regional club Bacau 857 p 2011 (Romania) 1st prize regional from München 2011 (Denmark) 1st National ace pigeon Barcelona 2008 – 2010 1st prize 633 p 2010 (Taiwan) 1st prize 215 p 2013 (Taiwan), the racing season started with over 1,200 p. 1st ace pigeon RegV. 411 over 6 races from 400 to 650 km against more than 15,000 p. for Theo Vollmer