In fact one of their pigeons has already won a national victory in another loft as well. This cock originates directly from the breeding loft of the BDS team, which we are about to discuss in detail.
It seems that people with a busy job have a lot of choices to make if they want to be able to compete at a high level in pigeon racing. The three fanciers are aware of that as well, so they put their heads together to work out a strategy and to allocate tasks; team BDS came into existence. They all agree that pigeon racing is increasingly characterised by a high degree of professionalism. That is why they join forces in order to get more out of their team of pigeons! People from around the neighbourhood already know the names behind team BDS but we will give a short introduction for those who are not familiar with them. When the BDS team was founded the basis of two very strong middle distance breeds were put together. Dr. Piet Blancke provided the basis of the celebrated Cools-Blancke formation, in which he had successfully been paired up with Rik Cools for several years. Since then he has been in a partnership with Bart Declerck (under Declerck-Blancke), who takes care of his partner’s racing team in his lofts in Tielt. The second basis comes from the strong Roger & Dirk Speybroeck formation from Vinkt, which is a feared middle distance partnership specialising in provincial races in the grand middle distance competition (450-500km). The two breeds happen to have a fairy similar composition: they are both heavily based on the golden bloodlines of the Gaby Vandenabeele pigeons. Some are directly related; some come from the breed of Antoine and Rudi Desaer. It was especially the Blauwe Desaer 585/00 who developed as one of the stock breeders. This is not surprising: he originates from the excellent stock pair Desaer, the Geschelpte Limoges 277/95 x Wittenbuikske 275/95.
Meanwhile they have also been looking for useful reinforcements with two goals in mind. First of all they wanted to keep together and to further strengthen the existing basis for the longer middle distance (500km). They also wanted to strengthen their breed to excel in the national one day long distance races (the national long distance races of 600 to 800km). The pigeons that come from fellow fancier Rudi Desaer are a happy medium: they can be used for both goals. For the longer middle distance (500km) they obtained additional pigeons from the Gevaert-Lannoo combination, Benny Steveninck and Piet van de Merwe. Their Desaer basis for the national long distance was further strengthened with pigeons from Patrick & Dimitri Houfflyn, Norbert Ally, Jos Joosen and Hugo Batenburg-van de Merwe, with whom they did a joint breeding as well.
Distinction between cocks and hens
This gives us an idea of the breeding strategy. As for the partnership they do make a distinction between cocks and hens. The game with the hens is something Bart Declerck from Tielt knows all about. The cocks are housed in the loft of Dirk Speybroeck in Vinkt, as well as the first yearling cocks for 2013. His father Roger (88) has eight old racing cocks in his loft for 2013, a number that will further decrease. Meanwhile the team does no longer take part in provincial races; the two racing lofts will now focus on the national competitions. In fact the new national calendar does not leave much choice. The hens will be put to the test in the national races for the longer middle distance. The cocks are divided into two groups, one of which will be raced in the national long distance. A financial boost was needed to add some first class pigeons to the existing breed. These new lines will be tested thoroughly; only the very best pigeons deserve a place in this loft as old birds!
Dr. Piet Blancke manages the breeding loft and he takes care of the commercial side of the loft. As a schooled vet he is of course responsible for medical guidance and the follow up of the two racing lofts. It seems that their new approach bears fruit. Since the BDS team started in early 2011 their stars have won quite some top prizes. We have made a selection of some of the best BDS racing pigeons:
-Ashley BE11-4245610
A true racing machine and winner of the following prizes:
3rd Prov. Ace Pigeon Youngsters KBDB West Fl. 2011
Bourges Loc 280 p. 3
Prov 3,338 p. 60
Nat 31,719 p. 404
La Souterraine 196 p. 7
Prov 2,248 p. 80
Gueret Loc 209 p. 1
Prov 2,603 p. 1
Nat 14,362 p. 16
Let's take a look at her origins:
Sire: Blauwe Limoges BE02-4355870
This is a top class pigeon in the loft of Roger & Dirk Speybroeck from Vinkt. His best results:
4 Nat Limoges 12,266 p. 9 Prov Poitiers 1,221 p. 64 Prov Angoulême 2,589 p. 119 Prov Blois 5,775 p. 192 Prov Tours 5,149 p. 196 Prov Blois 3,052 p. etc.
This cock stems from Blauwe Desaer 585/00 on his father’s side. This is a direct A&R Desaer pigeon and a 100% Vandenabeele: he is a grandson of Wittenbuik and 1st Nat. Limoges 87 (see above). The dam is Bontje Speybroeck 182/04, winner of a 7th La Souterraine 192 p. and a 12th Argenton 302 pigeons. She originates from Sproete Crusson 869/96 x Antoinette 576/00, a direct De Saer).
Dam: Bourgeske Houfflijn BE09-4210249
A direct Patrick & Dimitri Houfflijn and winner of a first Bourges 404 p. She stems from Son Geronimo 037/08 x Capain 006/08.
Ashley has a half brother called Young Brive 889/09, the winner of a 34th Nat. Trive 10,089 pigeons in 2011. This same pair (Blauwe Limoges x Bourgeske Houfflijn) bred another very talented young bird in 2012:
-BE12-3114128
Argenton 1,021 p. 10
Prov 6,097 p. 31
Nat 25,949 p. 107
Blois Prov 3,317 p. 299
Tours Prov 2,874 p. 461
In the race from Gueret in 2011 two pigeons arrived simultaneously in Tielt. Ashley was the first of the two, closely followed by Azira, who clocked second.
-Azira BE11-4245750
Gueret Loc 209 p. 2
Prov 2,603 p. 2
Nat 14,362 p. 17
She has the following origins: (Click here for the full pedigree of 'Azira'.)
Sire: Oscar BE02-3185472
A grandson of Wittenbuik Vandenabeele. He is a son of Golden Wittenbuik 809/98 (bred from Wittenbuik 112/88 x Kati 339/93, a direct daughter of the first Nat. Ace Pigeon Long Distance KBDB Vital of Noël Lippens) x Viviane 467/98, a Limbourg hen and a sister of the second Nat. Narbonne.
Dam: Fabiola BE08-3035363
an excellent racing and breeding hen and winner of five provincial top 100 places, as well as::
101st Nat. Bourges 22,499 p.
165th Nat. Chateauroux 17,109 p.
She is a daughter of Den 161/01 (winner of a 10th Prov. Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB for Roger & Dirk Speybroeck) x Eline 334/03, which won a 1st Nat. Argenton Zone A 960 p., 6th Prov. Tours 2966 pigeons, 20th Prov. Blois 5246 pigeons and a 43rd Prov. Chateauroux 4061 pigeons for Cools-Blancke.
The BDS team also had a third pigeon in the national top 50 in the race from Gueret (in the loft of Dirk Speybroeck). This pigeon was
-Alison BE11-4245666
Gueret Loc 164 p. 2
Prov 5,666 p. 33
Nat 14,362 p. 49
Clermont 572 p. 7
Bourges Loc 414 p. 17
Nat 31,719 p. 409
Sire: 888 Son Geronimo BE06-4142888
Top class breeder and a direct Patrick & Dimitri Houfflyn, bred from their amazing stock champion Geronimo 486/00 (winner of a 10th Nat. Carcassonne 3,911 pigeons, 35th Nat. Marseille 5,738 pigeons, 44th Nat. Marseille 5,195 pigeons, 87th Nat. Orange 6,751 pigeons, 89th Nat. Marseille 4,398 pigeons) x Perpignan-duivin 010/03 (294th Nat. Perpignan 4,086 p., 519th Nat. La Souterraine 13,988 p., 921st Nat. St.Vincent 10,624 p.).
Dam: Fakir-hen BE08-3037424
She is also the dam of Miss Gueret 10, winner of a 47th Nat. Gueret 13,885 pigeons. She is a direct Rudi Deseaer and she was bred from the excellent Fakir 084/01, himself winner of a 9th Limoges 1,497 pigeons, 56th Limoges 8,618 pigeons, 94th Nat. Limoges 16,504 pigeons, 95th Nat. Souillac 8,327 pigeons (and grandson of breeding legends Wittenbuik 112/88 and Limoges 420/86) x Natalia 703/02 (a granddaughter of Turbo Gaby Vandenabeele).
The 888 Son Geronimo is also the sire of another future top class breeder: De 691 BE08-4280691.
He is the winner of several top prizes in the loft of Dirk Speybroeck:
1st Limoges 306 p., 103rd Nat. Zone A 7,586 p., and 314th Nat. Limoges 16,893 p. 27th Prov. Argenton 5,251 p. 27th Prov. Argenton 3,387 p. 59th Prov. Orleans 1,331 p. 112th Prov. Tours 2,410 p. 171st Prov. Blois 5,035 p.
This top class racer, De 691, has in turn bred two very talented birds in 2012:
-BE12-3114153
Argenton Nat 25,949 p. 134
-BE12-3114154
Montrichard Prov 2,178 p. 33 Gueret Nat 16,988 p. 723
These are clearly outstanding breeding lines that form the backbone of a breed that will continue to develop in the breeding loft of team BDS. This has always been their main goal and it seems that their breeding methods have paid off. Their descendants have been doing great in the racing lofts in Vinkt and Tielt but also in other lofts, where champions and highly successful racers were born, including national winners!
Martin De Poorter from Sluis (NL) excels with BDS pigeons in 2012
This is quite an interesting story. Piet Blancke had rung about ten young birds from the top pairs of team BDS but both Bart (from Tielt) and Dirk (from Vinkt) let him know that there were already more than enough young birds in the lofts. Martin De Poorter, a fancier from Sluis in The Netherlands had already asked Piet if they had some youngsters from their top pairs available. Piet decided to give him these youngsters and the nice thing is that two of these ten BDS youngsters were outstanding champions. Here they are:
-Rainman’BE11-4245800
A direct BDS team pigeon and a 100% Rudi Desaer: he is a son of top couple Brother Monty BE08-3190047 (a full brother of the 1st Prov. Ace Pigeon Long Distance KBDB West Fl. 2005 Monty with an 11th Nat. Montauban 6,654 p., 34th Nat. Souillac 7,039 p., 150th Nat. Brive 17,456 p., 244th Nat. Limoges 11,869 p.) x Blue Angel BE08-3190061, a full sister of Blue Rudi (sire of the 1st FCI Thailand 2009) and One Eye Blind (dam of 9th Nat. Bourges ’11 and 14th Nat. Cahors ‘11). Blue Angel is a daughter of the top couple Perigueux 699/99 (6th Prov. Perigueuw 1,053 p., 14th Prov. Ruffec 2,710 p., 24th Prov. Poitiers 2,413 p. and son of top breeder Geschelpte Limoges 277/95 Vandenabeele x Wittenbuikse 275/95) x Corry 189/01 (a direct Gaby Vandenabeele from Turbo: 1st Prov. Ace Pigeon Long Distance KBDB ’93 and 2nd Prov. Ace Pigeon Long Distance KBDB ’94). This top pair has also bred the 1st Prov. Ace Pigeon KBDB 2009, the third Prov. Ace Pigeon KBDB 2006 and the 4th Prov. Ace Pigeon KBDB 2005! It is no coincidence that Rainman has already won several top prizes:
St.Vincent Nat 3,161 p. 1 Bordeaux Nat 4,228 p. 76 Niergies 1,662 p. 25 Peronne 1,737 p. 36 Mantes La Jolie 6,328 p. 37 Peronne 1,134 p. 44
A half brother of Rainman is housed in the loft of Dirk Speybroeck and is a successful bird as well:
-BE12-3114060
Argenton Loc 1,021 p. 3
Prov 6,097 p. 6
Nat 25,949 p. 26
Tours Prov 2,874 p. 33
Blois Prov 3,317 p. 161
The full sister of Blue Angel, the One Eye Blind, is in turn the dam of two highly talented young birds:
-BE12-3114073 (raced by Dirk Speybroeck)
Gueret Loc 1,021 p. 7
Prov 6,097 p. 21
Nat 25,949 p. 84
-BE12-3114074 (raced by Declerck-Blancke)
Tours Prov 2,874 p. 9
Argenton Loc 463 p. 13
Prov 4,524 p. 173
Nat 25,949 p. 691
One of the other great racing pigeons with a great list of achievements in the lofts of Martin De Poorter from Sluis is Time Bandit. He stems from a combination of Gaby Vandenabeele x Benny Steveninck. The sire is De 456 BE10-3161456, which is an inbred pigeon from Jerry de Stier, grandfather of Miss Gueret (a direct Gaby Vandenabeele and grandson of stock champion Kleinen) x Miss Gueret (2nd Nat. Gueret 10,670 pigeons ’06). The dam is a direct Benny Steveninck and daughter of Gueret 930/08, winner of a 1st Nat. Limoges YL 16,896 pigeons, 1st Prov. Gueret 3,067 pigeons and 19th Nat. 14,784 pigeons. She is an inbred pigeon of stock champion Chipo. Let’s have a look at the results of Time Bandit:
-Time Bandit BE11-4245768
Gien 232 p. 1
Prov 3,776 p. 2
Breuil Le Vert 341 p. 1
Comb 1,078 p. 1
Prov 6,101 p. 7
La Souterraine 105 p. 1
NPO 2,751 p. 15
It seems that the BDS team is on the right track with its modern approach: they already have a nice collection of great champions. Each one of them stems from the rich source of top class breeding lines, which is what made them so successful. Top class pigeons in the hands of top class fanciers: they are ready to take part in the national races of 2013. The first race of the national calendar starts in Bourges. See you at the end of May!