In addition, his pigeon loft has managed to win three national prizes in recent seasons, as well as four Olympiad Pigeon titles. It goes without saying that Guido’s pigeon loft is home to a collection of top quality birds.
A difficult start to the season
However, Guido did not have a smooth start to 2015. Contrary to previous seasons, he did not achieve any spectacular overall results, which is usually his trademark. He did win a few top prizes but he failed to win long series of early arrivals. Guido told us his pigeons did not manage to get in shape. He took the matter into his own hands, working hard to try and increase the level of performance. Things started to improve in the race from Argenton, and he has been quite successful since:
Argenton 28/06 Provincial 1,130 old birds: 7-18-32-45-67-85-123-… (11/30) Provincial 1,721 yearlings: 1-56-81-106-108-119-121-.. (12/37) Tulle 25/07 Provincial 442 old birds: 1-4-55-56 (4/12) Zonal 3,206 old birds: 2-9-221-225-… (6/12) National 6,229 old birds: 10-20-361-366-… (6/12) Bourges 01/08 Interprovincial 3,162 old birds: 1-7-25-32-37-176-277-297-330-… (13/19) Zonaal 3,453 old birds: 8-19-57-69-80-292-.. (10/19) National 9.256 old birds: 9-24-72-88-100-442-727-792-874-… (12/19) Interprovincial 3,797 yearlings: 3-25-27-63-95-185-203-285-299-… (12/29) Zonaal 5,259 yearlings: 8-61-64-164-248-426-467… (9/29) National 14,496 yearlings: 14-101-106-286-428-763-844-1122-1176-… (10/29)
Some of the stars of 2015
BE14-2119634, 1st Provincial Argenton
The provincial winner from Argenton was raced in classic widowhood (with the partner staying at home). Three of her four grandparents come from the renowned line of Pantani, while the fourth grandparent is a son of Walter Grieten’s super pair (Tessenderlo). Click here for her pedigree. Remarkably enough, Guido noticed that his hen that two swollen eyes in the week before basketing (the one-eye cold disease but in both her eyes). Guido basketed her anyway, because she had become a lot stronger in recent weeks, and because she would be the only hen staying at home. The result was spectacular: she took a provincial first prize against 1,271 one year olds.
This is her palmares of 2015 so far:
Montargis: 2nd against 173 pigeons Montargis: 19th against 280 pigeons Momignies: 41st against 841 pigeons Soissons: 30th against 493 pigeons Argenton: 1st provincial against 1,721 pigeons
Super class breeder Pantani, closely related to Guido's two provincial winners.
BE12-5060571, 1st provincial Tulle / 2nd zone / 10th national
This cock was raced in classic widowhood as well. He is a promising pigeon that had a run of bad luck in the racing loft, since he was barely able to race in 2014 due to an injury. His sire is a half brother of Pantani and a top quality breeder: his sister won a 1st provincial Gien against more than 10,000 pigeons, and one of his brothers won a 2nd provincial Bourges and a 3rd provincial Argenton. His dam was paired to the same Pantani bloodline from her father’s side. Besides, he is related to a pigeon of Walter Grieten (Tessenderlo) from his mother's side. Click here for his pedigree.
BE13-5064520 – 4th Provincial Tulle / 9th zone / 20th national
This cock is a son of a brother of Grinta, 1st provincial Tulle with a 9 minute lead. He is also bred from Vader Kai-Mook (1st Olympiad Pigeon middle distance Poznan) x Mrs. Blue Sky (3rd Olympiad Pigeon long distance Dortmund). Unsurprisingly, he also originates from the invaluable Pantani line. The dam was a successful racing bird as well, winning a 20th national Chateauroux 20,139 pigeons. She is in turn a half sister of Prinses, 1st national Bourges, and a daughter of Rossini, 1st national Argenton. Click here for his pedigree.
Kai-Mook, Olympiad Pigeon middle distance Poznan
Mrs. Blue Sky, 3rd Olympiad Pigeon long distance Dortmund
After Chateauroux...
After the race from Chateauroux II, the final of seven nationals with the old birds and yearlings, the hens were taken to the nest. In normal circumstances, the entire team of hens would have been basketed for the next three races (Chateauroux, Argenton and La Souterraine) in an even better nest position than after the weekend from Bourges, in which they won an interprovincial first prize. However, the disastrous race from Chateauroux III put a spanner in the works. Only 8 of a total of 43 hens had returned home that evening, and at this moment about one half of the team is yet to arrive home. The hens had lost their perfect nest position, and Guido lost many top class pigeons. There is a good chance he will not be competing in the remaining national races, except for just a few hens. This shows that one mistake can ruin an entire season.
Slot
Like most fanciers, Guido is still shocked by the catstrophic race from Chateauroux. He lost several great pigeons in a single race, just like many other lofts. Still, Guido will not not throw in the towel; we think he will put in a big effort to prepare for 2016.