Last Monday was a day to remember in Mijndrecht, the pigeons were coming home from the over 1.200 km long journey from Barcelona. For Michel and Peter, the arrival of their pigeons remains one of the most beautiful things in the sport. This Monday morning, Michel saw a pigeon in the distance heading for his loft at an incredible speed. Due to the high speed, it was highly unlikely for this to be a latecomer of an earlier race. It had to be one of the Barcelona pigeons, and yes… it was their 3-year-old, beautiful white pen cock, the NL18-1142290 who from now on shall be known as Barca Max.
NL18-1142290 Barca Max, 10th National Barcelona 4.838 pigeons
In 2018 Peter and Michel traded a few pigeons with Walter v.d. Meulen (Sirjansland, NL). Walter has already gone on the record saying that he profited from the trade and now Peter and Michel also have gotten an ace out of it. Barcelona-blood flows through Barca Max’ veins as you can see in his pedigree. Barca Max has been played 3x on the ZLU morning releases and won as many prizes.
70th Nat. Agen jl. '19
387th Nat. Perpignan '20
NL17-1129774 Izzy, 79th National Barcelona 4.838 pigeons
The second pigeon to arrive at the lofts in Mijdrecht is a 4-year-old hen named Izzy. With the 79th National, she now has 4 top prizes from being basketed 4 times.
46th Nat. Perpignan '19
109th Nat. Agen '19
42th Nat. Perigueux '18
The third pigeon to arrive and claim the 110th National Barcelona is once again a cock (NL18-1750808). This cock is a full brother of Barbara (among others 18th Nat. Agen Yearlings and 1st Ace Pigeon Yearlings ZLU Noord- and Zuid-holland) and a grandson of Red Rose. He too has won 3 prizes out of being basketted three times.
This Monday, on the day of the race, Michel and Peter already had 11 out of the 23 pigeons back on the loft by 15.15. After that, it continually poured in Mijdrecht and the surrounding area. That Monday evening the clock was turned off as the duo was unaware that by now, pigeons throughout the entirety of Belgium and the Netherlands were suffering from the rain and that, as a result, the race had yet to be concluded. By Tuesday morning 15 out of the 23 pigeons were home, all of them had a young of roughly a week old in the nest. The full result is listed below.
A deal is a deal
In 2015 Michel and Peter also won the 10th National Barcelona, that time with their two-year-old cock Joep. Unfortunately, Joep was lost in the Barcelona 2016. Because of this, Michel and Peter made an agreement at the start of the season; should they have another pigeon among the National top 10 Barcelona, this pigeon would be kept for breeding. A deal is a deal and Barca Max is now sitting on the breeding pans.