2012 was their first season as a team and today their opponents are well aware of the abilities of Damien Baert and Roger Debusschere as a partnership. They have managed to win the two first, the three first and even the ten first prizes in a race this season. These are the kind of results that amaze even the strongest fanciers. Their dominance at the longer middle distance has been quite exceptional.
Roger Debusschere
Damien Baert
Teamwork
Roger Debusschere has always been extensively searching for good quality pigeons and when he sets his mind on a pigeon he will do anything to have it in his loft. Today it is a big challenge for him to breed such a pigeon himself and this explains his continuous search for the best pigeons currently available. In fact Roger would not hesitate to spend money on an expensive pigeon of top quality.
In his loft Roger wants to focus on the national (one day) long distance competition (400 to 800km) with the old birds and the yearlings but he is most of all looking to breed the best top class racing pigeon of today. He is actually more of a breeder than a racer. He wanted to be able to assess the quality of his pigeons as quickly as possible so he made an agreement with Damien Baert, who will be taking care of two rounds of his youngsters every season. They will be basketed for races of 500km under the name of Baert-Debusschere. Roger is the breeder and Damien is the racer in this partnership; they race with both the young birds and the old birds. We wonder if this partnership will be tempted to the longer distance and the national long distance competition sooner or later as well. For now, the focus is on the national young bird races and the national longer middle distance competition for yearlings and the old birds!
Back to the roots
Roger Debusschere has always been a middle distance fancier. He wanted to make it to the very top already as an 11 year old boy. He won a first national from Bourges against over 33,000 pigeons in 1983 and that was a highlight for his pigeon family in Londerzeel. His focus turned away from his professional career in the early 1990s when he decided to move to the city of Lokeren. His career as a fancier took a turn a few times. He joined the middle distance, the long distance and the extreme long distance competition before returning to his first love a couple of years ago. From now on his main focus will be on the provincial and mainly the national races of the longer middle distance and the one day long distance (400-800km).
A strong Vandenabeele basis
Roger Debusschere’s expert eye could not overlook the impact of the Gaby Vandenabeele pigeons in the discipline he was going to race in. We have seen an amazing number of prize-winners and ace pigeons at national level originate from the Vandenabeele bloodline and it is no surprise that his current pigeon breed is heavily based on these Vandenabeele pigeons. The majority (68 birds) were purchased directly from the loft in Dentergem; the others come from other Vandenabeele lofts that have made it to the top with that same breed, including Rik Cools, Patrick & Dimitri Houfflij, and Geert Vanrenterghem.
He has further strengthened his racing team with a number of crossings from the successul Chipo line of Benny Steveninck, the national ace pigeons Axl & Champion of Chris Hebberechts, pigeons of Maurice & Gregory Casaert, Bernard van Renterghem, as well as a few top birds from the old Damien Baert breed. It seems that his team is ready to go! This team now has a second manager (Damien Baert, winner of a first Nat. Argenton 2010) and he seems to have given another performance boost. Most fanciers in French speaking Belgium already knew that he is quite a skilled fancier and Roger Debusschere had noticed that as well.
Roger and Damien met each other at the end of 2011. Damien Baert was a Walloon champion from Doornik successful in the sprint and the longer middle distance. As we mentioned earlier, Roger provides Damien Baert with two rounds of top quality young birds every season and it is up to Damien to get the most out of them and to have them perform well. The results below illustrate that this collaboration has given spectacular results.
Spectacular results
This partnership has been achieving excellent results right from the start in 2012 and they were even more successful in 2013. The following results will tell us a lot.
Let’s take a closer look at two of their best young birds that were bred from the Vandenabeele bloodlines as well:
-BE13-4058182 has won eight prizes including:
Pithiviers 587 p. 1 Pont St-Max 494 p. 5 Pont St-Max 456 p. 8 St.Quentin 638 p. 9 St.Quentin 543 p. 21
This is a 100% Gaby Vandenabeele, bred from two top class pigeons that were purchased in Dentergem:
Sire: Kleinzoon Wittenbuik BE06-3008474
A son of Witpen Wittenbuik 001/01 (from the legendary Wittenbuik x Anita) x Erika 450/03 (from Erik Vermander).
Dam: Gucci BE12-3160702
A granddaughter of Bliksem; a daughter of top racer and top breeder Jason 503/05 (a son of Bliksem Super Lea) x Florke 034/08 (a daughter of the 1st Nat. Argenton x Half sister Marieke from Jos & Jules Engels).
-BE13-4058266 has won the following prizes:
St.Quentin 638 p. 7 St.Quentin 543 p. 9 Nevers 277 p. 10 Noyon 305 p. 16 Pithiviers 547 p. 20 Pithiviers 587 p. 21 Pithiviers 599 p. 27 Pont St-Max 456 p. 42
The sire of the 266 is a direct Gaby Vandenabeele as well: his sire is Special Bliksem BE12-3160732, a son of the outstanding breeding pigeon Returned Bliksem 569/05, which is a son of Bliksem x Georgia 649/08 (a full sister of the first Nat. Albi against 5,063 pigeons in the loft of Georges Bolle).
These are just two pigeons from a long series of prize winners that have been incredibly successful this season. We can imagine that fanciers are losing their confidence for next season when they take a look at these impressive achievements. This seems to be just the beginning of a wonderful success story. What will the future bring?
Some of the young birds' highlights of 2013
10/7 St.Quentin 638 young birds: 1-2-4-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-23-24-25-26- 29-30-32-33-34-37-38-46-47-51-52-53-60… (50/75) 20/7 Nanteuil 374 young birds: 1-2-3-4-7-8-10-12-13-15-17-18-19-20-21-24-25-28-35-39-44… (35/56) 28/7 Pont St.Maxence 494 young birds: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-12-15-18-19-20-23-33-41-42-44-46-48- 49-50-50-52-52-54-55-56-57… (49/67) 04/8 Pont St.Maxence 351 young birds: 1-2-6-7-8-9-10-11-1-20-27-28-31-39-48… (18/26) 10/8 Pithiviers 587 young birds: 1-2-3-10-11-12-21-24-27-28-32-35-42-50-52-54-62-66-67… (29/57) 15/8 Noyon 305 young birds: 1-2-3-6-8-9-13-13-15-16-17-19-20-22-23-26-26-28-29-30-31- 33-35-36… (56/67) 17/8 Pithiviers 599 young birds: 2-3-7-14-15-16-17-18-18-20-26-27-28-29-43-68-69… (43/75) 20/8 St.Quentin 543 young birds: 1-1-3-4-5-5-7-8-9-9-11-12-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23- 24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31-32-33-34-35-39-41-43-44-47-49-58- 59… (60/74) 08/9 Gueret 324 young birds: 7-9-19-20-31-36-49-51-52-57… (21/42)