The Göbel - van der Sluis combination
An ambitious new combination
The Göbel - van der Sluis combination (Zwammerdam, NL) is a rising star in modern day pigeon racing. The team consists of Stephan, his father Dick-Jan Göbel and Dr. Hans van der Sluis. They have been in a combination since 2015, racing from two different locations. Their loft in Zwammerdam focuses on the sprint, the middle distance and the young birds' competition. The team based in Kockengen is aiming towards the middle distance and the one day long distance, with an occasional 'shorter' ZLU race as well. And the young birds' race of the NPO are an important goal for the two racing lofts as well.
Heremans pigeons responsible for recent successes
Stephan Göbel has been fond of the Heremans pigeon breed for quite a few years, which he came in contact with during his veterinary studies. As part of his vet training he took a traineeship with the Eijerkamp family in 2009. He was working in the breeding lofts at Greenfield Stud when Stefan saw a group of high quality pigeons he had never seen before. It turned out Hans & Evert-Jan Eijerkamp had obtained these pigeons from the then Heremans-Ceusters combination the year before, on the advice of Willem de Bruijn. By the end of his internship Stephan was given four Heremans-Ceusters youngsters, which he could raise himself. And as you might have guessed, one of these youngsters developed into a top class racing bird: 'Blue Bullet' (NL 2009-1184366).
Stephan was convinced of the qualities of the Heremans breed, so he obtained a voucher of Leo Heremans online right after his internship. Since Stephan was taking veterinary studies in Ghent (BE), he paid a visit to Leo's loft in Vorselaar right after buying his voucher, and that was the start of their friendship. Stephan was genuinely impressed with Leo's pigeons, and he and his father quickly understood that these were the pigeons that they needed to make it to the highest level. For a few years in a row they obtained a round of eggs from the best youngsters and widowers of Leo Heremans. The two families had become close friends by 2012, and as a result a few youngsters from the very best of Leo Heremans found their way to their loft in The Netherlands as well.
Blue Bullet
We briefly talked about Blue Bullet earlier on; NL09-1184366 Blue Bullet is a granddaughter of Zoon Wonderaske paired to Diadora. Her pedigree can be found here.
Blue Bullet, superkweekster
She developed into a highly renowned breeding hen with no less than 23 clear first prizes (no doubles) on her breeding palmares, as well as three national ace pigeon titles in The Netherlands and an Olympiad Pigeon in Budapest. These prizes were all won by direct youngsters, and her grandchildren have been doing great as well. Here is a brief look at her grandchildren's most notable results:
NL14-1054603 (W.B. de Kruijf, Woerden (NL)): 1st General Ace Pigeon Club in 2015 2nd General Ace Pigeon Entente South Holland East Rayon B 2015 (with 18 prizes, 3 x 1st prize) NL15-1742111 (W.B. de Kruijf, Woerden (NL)): 2nd PIPA ranking Middle Distance YBs 7th Ace Pigeon YBs WHZB/TBOTB 2015 (with 3x 1st prize in the club) NL15-1622114 (Ben de Keijzer, Berkel and Rodenrijs (NL)): 1st Ace Pigeon YBs Entente Greater Rotterdam in 2015 (9 prizes) NL15-1622136 (Ben de Keijzer, Berkel and Rodenrijs (NL)): 6th Ace Pigeon YBs Entente Greater Rotterdam in 2015 (10 prizes) NL15-1622137 (Ben de Keijzer, Berkel and Rodenrijs (NL)): 8th Ace Pigeon YBs Entente Greater Rotterdam in 2015 (10 prizes) 2214-AU15 (bred by McLaughlin Lofts, Hanson Massachusetts, USA) 1st Acebird Sprint Champion Empire Classic Canadian One Loft Race 2015 (900 pigeons entered the race) NL17-1086847 (Göbel-van der Sluis, Zwammerdam (NL)): 1st Ace Pigeon YBs Entente Central Holland East > 300 km
Championships 2017
It goes without saying that father and son Göbel and Dr. Van der Sluis were more than happy to have invested in Heremans pigeons. They have been winning first prizes and championship titles one after another, especially in their favourite discipline, the young birds' races. The 2017 season was a major success as well, despite skipping the third young birds' race of the season due to the particularly harsh conditions (according to Stephan). Nonetheless, their young birds caught up with the others in the very next race!
1st Young Birds Not nominated Rayon Alphen (approx 100 members) 1st Young Birds Nominated Rayon Alphen (approx 100 members) 1st Young Birds Not nominated Entente Central Holland East (approx 200 members) 1st Young Birds Nominated Entente Central Holland East (approx 200 members) 2nd Natour Not nominated Rayon Alphen (approx 100 members) 2nd Emperor Young Birds Prov. 5. Rayon East (approx 350 members) 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Pigeon Champion Young Birds Entente Central Holland East > 300 km
And here is a look at the best results of the four pigeon champions of the Göbel-van der Sluis combination in 2017:
NL17-1086847 ‘Always Early’ = grandson ‘Blue Bullet’ x ‘Bulldozer’ 1st Ace Pigeon YBs Entente Central Holland East > 300 km 16th Best young bird middle distance in The Netherlands - 3 prizes PIPA rankings 2017 1st Pont St Maxence 929 p. 2nd Pontoise 272 p. 3rd Fontenay sur Eure 149 p. 8th Duffel 208 p. 9th Morlincourt 1247 p. 21st Pont St. Maxence 345 p. NL17-1086841 ‘Performa’ = bred from ‘Lichte Willem’ x ‘Fabulous’ 2nd Ace Pigeon YBs Entente Central Holland East > 300 km 46th best young bird middle distance in The Netherlands - 3 prizes PIPA rankings 2017 1st Pont St. Maxence 345 p. 1st Pontoise 272 p. 2nd Fontenay sur Eure 149 p. 6th Pont St. Maxence 257 p. 27th Arras 385 p. 27th Duffel 208 p. 38th Peronne 453 p. NL17-1086825 ‘Bulldozer's Best’ = from ‘Bulldozer’ x ’11-816 (Hermans Wijnands, Utrecht) 4th Ace Pigeon YBs Entente Central Holland East > 300 km 62nd best young bird middle distance in The Netherlands - 3 prizes PIPA rankings 2017 2nd Pont St. Maxence 345 p. 4th Pont St. Maxence 257 p. 5th Morlincourt 368 p. 5th Pontoise 272 p. 11th Asse-Zellik 405 p. 33rd Duffel 208 p. 41st Arras 385 p. NL17-1272498 ‘Perfection’ = from ‘Eye Catcher’ x Daughter ‘Nieuwe Olympiade’ 5th Ace Pigeon YBs Entente Central Holland East > 300 km 1st Ace Pigeon YBs in the club 2017 1st Morlincourt 368 p. 7th Pont St. Maxence 345 p. 9th Fontenay sur Eure 149 p. 10th Arras 385 p. 13th Pont St. Maxence 257 p. 17th Pontoise 272 p. 23rd Asse-Zellik 405 p. 26th Peronne 453 p. 9 prizes in 9 races, includig 9 x 1:10
Bulldozer
Bulldozer is one of the leading names in the team's breeding loft. He is the grandfather of the aforementioned 'Always Early', and he is the sire of 'Bulldozer's Best'. On top of that, he is the sire of NL12-1611519 Olympic Stephanie, which became 1st Olympiad Pigeon Category A (sprint) Budapest '15. She will be discussed in detail in our references section.
Eye Catcher
Eye Catcher is another renowned breeder for this combination. He is the sire of Perfection, ace pigeon YBs in the club. He is also the grandfather of 'De Dakkapel', winner of a 2st National Fontenay Sector 2 of 12,727 pigeons for W.B. de Kruijf (Woerden, NL).
References
1st Meaux (377 km.) 259 pigeons - 1st of 3,393 pigeons 1st Pommeroeul (199 km.) 317 pigeons - 1st of 1,814 pigeons 1st Nanteuil (360 km.) 139 pigeons - 1st of 1,500 pigeons (and 2nd of 17,506 p.) 1st Mantes la Jolie (410 km.) 139 pigeons - 1st of 1,278 pigeons (and 8th of 13,692 p.) 1st Nanteuil (360 km.) 317 pigeons - 1st of 1,152 pigeons 1st Peronne (276 km.) 39 pigeons - 1st of 749 pigeons (and 2nd of 9,925 p.) 1st Peronne (276 km.) 287 pigeons - 3rd of 4.030 pigeons 1st Peronne (276 km.) 113 pigeons - 3rd of 961 pigeons 1st Asse-Zellik (141 km.) 331 pigeons - 4th of 2,075 pigeons 1st Nijvel (171 km.) 303 pigeons - 9th of 1,941 pigeons 1st Peronne(276 km.) 374 pigeons - 12th of 1,394 pigeons 1st Peronne (276 km.) 148 pigeons - 8th of 898 pigeons 2nd Nijvel (171 km.) 85 pigeons - 3rd of 526 pigeons 3rd Peronne (276 km.) 155 pigeons - 9th of 2,493 pigeons 3rd Nanteuil (360 km.) 302 pigeons - 7th of 1,817 pigeons 4th Peronne (276 km.) 302 pigeons - 6th of 1,992 pigeons
This palmares resulted in the following titles for Stephanie:
1st National Ace Pigeon TBOTB Sprint/Middle distance 2013 1st National Ace Pigeon Yearlings TBOTB 2013 1st Dutch Olympiad Pigeon Category A Sprint Budapest 2015 1st Pigeon Champion Sprint Entente South Holland East 2013 1st Pigeon Champion Sprint Entente South Holland East 2014 2nd Pigeon Champion Sprint Prov. 5 South Holland, Rayon Oost 2013 2nd Pigeon Champion Natour Entente South Holland East 2013 2nd General Pigeon Champion Entente South Holland East 2013 4th Pigeon Champion Middle Distance Entente South Holland East 2013
Next up is NL14-1084178 New Safier. The Göbel - Van der Sluis combination bred this pigeon from Son Safier-pair (NL12-760) x Blue Bullet (NL09-366) - see pedigree. This pigeon has been raced by Stephan's grandfather, J.G. Den Hartog from Nieuwkoop (NL).
1st National Ace Pigeon Middle Distance WHZB/TBOTB 2015 11th National Ace Pigeon Sprint/Middle Distance WHZB/TBOTB 2015
1st Nanteuil lst Hadouin - 2,460 p. 2nd Peronne - 1,326 p. 4th Pont St. Maxence - 13,116 p. 4th St. Just de Cimetiere - 2,993 p. 4th Nanteuil le Hadouin - 1,332 p. 4th Nanteuil le Hadouin - 182 p. 4th Duffel - 157 p. 5th Zellik - 197 p.
Best results of 2017
8-4-2017 Duffel (113 km): Club (744 p.): 1-2-3-4-5-51-69-etc.(12/23) Rayon (2862 p.): 1-2-20-21-35-206-265-etc.(12/23) 15-4-2017 Asse-Zellik (139 km): Club (679 p.): 1-40-41-etc.(7/24) Rayon (2682 p.) 4-165-171-260-etc.(7/24) 22-4-2017 Arras (242 km): Club (726 p.): 2-11-24-38-43-59-etc.(9/19) Rayon (2633 p.): 12-67-122-192-211-etc.(8/19) 4-6-2017 Roye (300 km): Club (320 p.): 2-10-18-21-24-etc.(6/10) Rayon (1372 p.): 18-43-102-121-etc.(6/10) 10-6-2017 Peronne (273 km): Club (343 p.): 2-etc.(10/18) Rayon (1180 p.): 5-etc.(9/18) 24-6-2017 Duffel (113 km): Club (208 p.): 1-2-3-5-6-8-13-14-18-20-etc.(20/34) Rayon (1415 p.): 2-4-5-61-65-93-etc.(15/34) 24-6-2017 Duffel (113 km): Club (217 p.): 1-2-8-11-etc.(9/18) Rayon (752 p.): 5-9-29-33-63-etc.(9/18) 1-7-2017 Arras (242 km): Club (213 p.): 1-2-3-4-8-13-etc.(7/9) Rayon (852 p.): 1-3-4-6-37-60-etc.(7/9) 8-7-2017 Asse-Zellik (139 km): Club (405 p.): 1-2-9-10-11-16-22-23-26-27-33-etc.(12/33) Rayon (1610 p.): 5-17-58-68-72-89-109-110-158-161-etc.(12/33) 8-7-2017 Asse-Zellik (139 km): Club (239 p.): 2-9-11-14-17-etc.(9/18) Rayon (706 p.): 9-32-35-40-47-etc.(10/18) 15-7-2017 Pont. St. Maxence (346 km): Club (216 p.): 3-7-9-12-13-etc.(6/10) Rayon (739 p.): 12-46-55-67-68-etc.(6/10) 29-7-2017 Morlincourt (306 km): Club (368 p.): 1-2-3-4-5-7-15-17-28-37-etc.(17/30) Rayon (1247 p.): 2-4-8-9-10-27-66-91-111-etc.(17/30) 29-7-2017 Morlincourt (306 km): Club (225 p.): 1-7-17-etc.(4/6) Rayon (665 p.): 11-34-etc.(4/6) 6-8-2017 Pont St. Maxence (346 km): Club (345 p.): 1-2-3-5-7-13-16-17-21-27-28-30-32-etc.(15/30) Rayon (1249 p.): 4-10-15-41-43-85-105-107-120-etc.(14/30) 13-8-2017 Pontoise (384 km): Club (272 p.): 1-2-5-6-17-etc.(6/10) Rayon (1021 p.): 8-12-19-22-etc.(6/10) 19-8-2017 Asse-Zellik (139 km): Club (607 p.): 1-2-4-10-11-12-13-14-57-etc.(13/23) Rayon (2010 p.): 19-20-26-62-64-65-67-73-etc.(13/23) 19-8-2017 Pont St. Maxence (346 km): Club (257 p.): 1-2-4-6-13-15-16-21-24-etc.(11/20) Rayon (929 p.): 1-7-28-47-72-76-79-93-etc.(10/20) 26-8-2017 Arras (242 km): Club (646 p.): 2-7-8-10-11-13-14-15-17-25-43-58-etc.(17/30) Rayon (1933 p.): 25-36-37-48-57-61-62-64-67-80-155-etc.(16/30) 26-8-2017 Fontenay Sur Euro (476 km): Club (149 p.): 2-3-9-etc. (5/10) Rayon (597 p.): 15-16-etc.(4/10) 2-9-2017 Peronne (273 km): Club (453 p.): 1-2-4-5-6-8-10-13-18-22-24-25-26-27-28-36-36-38-39-43-46-etc.(27/34) Rayon (1594 p.): 5-10-57-61-62-74-81-88-104-141-149-152-155-156-etc.(24/34) 10-9-2017 Peronne (273 km): Club (192 p.): 1-2-3-4-6-8-17-etc.(11/20) Rayon (833 p.): 4-6-10-11-18-37-79-etc.(11/20)
Confident about the Heremans breed
Stephan Göbel says that he has great confidence in the Heremans pigeons; he is convinced this pigeon breed will enable their combination to become one of the leading lofts in The Netherlands. And we think he has every right to be confident, judging from their own results and their achievements in other lofts. We will be watching this combination in 2018.