David Vermassen achieved a brilliant result from La Souterraine II on 30 August, taking two first prizes in the old and young birds’ race in the zone. It reminds us of the feat of Andre Roodhooft, who achieved the same result at national level.
General Champion KBDB 2013 - hard to match
Expectations were high this season, and previous seasons have shown that breaking records can be quite difficult. 2013 had been an impressive season already, with a national victory form Brive and the title of General Champion KBDB. This is a title only the most versatile pigeon lofts can win. You have to excel both in the sprint, the middle distance and the long distance competition, and you need a solid approach in terms of caretaking. More importantly, you have to focus on a versatile team capable of performing well throughout the season.
David, his mother Nadine and her partner Denis have showed to be a well coordinated team that is capable of achieving great results thanks to a careful planning and caretaking. A top quality pigeon breed is something you can rely on for years, and the same goes for an experienced fancier. This was illustrated with a very successful 2014 season.
David, Nadine and Denis are proud of their double win in the zone
All the signs were there
The pigeon’s behaviour seemed to indicate that they were in top form. The old hens could easily fly for an hour and come home playing around at the loft. David knew a top result was coming soon. The young birds showed similar behaviour, playing around and enjoying their training flights. The young birds put in a great performance in the provincial flight from Villemandeur on 16 August, winning a 1-3-5-7-8-10-14-16-17-50-... at provincial level. Impressive.
The crowning victory followed on 30 August in the race from La Souterraine. The southerly wind put the fanciers from East and West Flanders at a disadvantage at national level, but he blue white Sproetje (BE14-4039101) still managed to win a first prize against 4,610 young birds in Zone A2.
This hen had already won a few prizes earlier on:
4th Pont-St.-Maxence 531 p. 206th Pont-St.-Maxence 675 p. 103rd Tours 593 p. 1st La Souterraine 4,610 p. (zone)
The sire of this hen is a direct brother of Black Hawk, winner of a 1st national Brive in 2013. The dam is a daughter of Marcus (a pigeon of Marc Helleputte and the sire of top hen Amber and many other prize winners), which was paired to a pigeon from Etienne Heyerick (in a joint breeding with Eddy De Smet from Gavere). Click here for the pedigree of this hen.
Black Hawk, 1e nationaal Brive 2013 jaarse
The old birds’ race saw the Blauwe Souterraine (BE13-4060163) take the win against 354 pigeons in the zone. This hen has won quite a few prizes already:
33rd Angerville 441 p.
195th Orléans 5975 p.
1003rd Gueret 11894 p. (national)
6th Fontenay 265 p.
26th Vierzon 333 p.
11th Fontenay 206 p.
8th Fontenay 149 p.
17th Bourges 153 p.
1st La Souterraine 355 p. (zone)
She has excellent origins as well: she is the daughter of stock breeder Marcus (see earlier) paired to Solange, the dam of top class racer Amber (winner of a 1st Vierzon, 1st Prov. Bourges, 3rd Nat. Guéret, 8th prov. Blois) and other prize winners. You can find the pedigree of Blauwe Souterraine here.
This is the overall result in the race from La Souterraine II:
Zone BA2 355 old birds 1,20,27,35,56 (5/11) Zone BA2 4,610 young birds 1,3,29,71,94,206,... (12/24)
Celebrating your victory, a great moment for any fancier
An assured future with Thibaut
However, their achievements in pigeon racing are of secondary importance now, because Wendy and David’s son Thibaut was born on 11 August. He is a wonderful baby with a voice much louder than the pigeons in the loft. We assume that the family will now focus their attention on Thibaut. Perhaps he might take over the loft one day?