Klaas and Rik van Dorp (Rotterdam, NL)
How it began
It was a dreary day when we took to the old district of Overschie in Rotterdam, to pay a visit to the father-son combination of Klaas (77) and Rik (54) Van Dorp. Right away we had the impression that the time had stood still in this wonderful part of Rotterdam. It was back in 1955 when Klaas got involved in the sport of pigeon racing. When the family moved to their current home in 1977 Klaas's only son Rik started to develop a passion for pigeons as well. The Van Dorp family has always been fond of animals but their number one priority has always been the pigeon loft. From their first season in the new loft up until the 1980s they would obtain pigeons of Louis Van Loon, often together with or through Piet Becht from Rotterdam, a good friend of Klaas and Rik. They used to get a round of young birds from the world famous loft of Van Loon every season, until Rik decided to make a bold move in 1987: in his continous search for top class pigeons Rik tried to get in contact with none other than Jan Ouwerkerk. Jan had had a wonderful season in 1987, and this had caught the attention of team Van Dorp. They got in touch and it would be the start of a close friendship. The two lofts have been selling or giving good quality pigeons to each other for quite some now. Most fanciers have already heard of Jan Ouwerkerk's renowned '483' and '484'. Well, the ancestors of these two stars are closely related to the Van Dorp pigeon breed. A few years ago Rik got impressed with the impressive rise to the top of the L.B. & J. Geerinckx pigeon loft. He contacted them and not much later Klaas and Rik travelled to Wommelgem together with their colleague Jan Ouwerkerk. This was in 2006. 11 young birds were transferred from Rotterdam to Belgium that year. After that first visit, father and son Van Dorp and the Geerinckx family became close friends as well, which led to both families exchanging pigeons on a regular basis. "Friends are very important in pigeon racing", Rik explains. "I remember a sunny day in the summer of 2004 when Jan walked up to our house carrying a pigeon. Its ring number was NL04-2082680, which did not mean a lot at the time. We never raced it and we gave it a place in the breeding loft given its excellent origins. We called it Kleine Jan."
NL04-2082680 Kleine Jan
Klaas and Rik decided to give Kleine Jan a spot in the breeding loft, and this proved a smart move. This exceptional pigeon has bred an impressive number of top class descendants. Kleine Jan was bred from NL03-1149147 (Kees Bosua) x NL01-1922533 (Sister 483 en 484). Click here for the full pedigree of Kleine Jan.
Kleine Jan at the age of 12
We include a number of results from the 2016 racing season, just to give you an idea of how important this bloodline has been not just for father & son Van Dorp, but for numerous other pigeon fanciers. We deliberately focus on recent results only, not on the achievements from a long time ago.
2016
A group of 3,945 pigeons of Entente Midden Holland was released for a race from Pont-St.-Maxence (324) on 15th of May. The first place was won by the Romein-Klein combination, and the second and third place went to Klaas and Rik van Dorp. Remarkably enough, all three pigeons are related to breeding bird Kleine Jan:
1st - 3,945 pigeons - grandson Kleine Jan 2nd - 3,945 pigeons - daughter Kleine Jan 3rd - 3,945 pigeons - granddaughter Kleine Jan
Just four weeks later there was another race from Pont-St.-Maxence (342), with a strong field of 2,558 pigeons. Believe it or not, but again the entire top-three went to three descendants of Kleine Jan, coming from different fanciers. Antoon vd Burg (Bergschenhoek) claimed both the first and third prize, with Klaas & Rik finishing in second place.
1st - 2.558 pigeons - granddaughter Kleine Jan 2nd - 2.558 pigeons - granddaughter Kleine Jan 3rd - 2.558 pigeons - granddaughter Kleine Jan
Team Van Dorp won several more first prizes in their home loft in 2016. These feats underline once again the exceptional breeding value of Kleine Jan.
1st Asse-Zellik 1,276 pigeons - grandchild Kleine Jan
1st Pontoise 3,184 pigeons - grandchild Kleine Jan
4th Peronne 1,702 pigeons - grandchild Kleine Jan
5th Asse-Zellik 1,276 pigeons - grandchild Kleine Jan
6th Asse-Zellik 1,276 pigeons - youngster Kleine Jan
7th Peronne 1,702 pigeons - youngster Kleine Jan
etc.
Many fanciers spend their entire career waiting for that one cock that can breed so many successful prize winners. Well, Klaas and Rik Van Dorp have won all of these top results with descendants of Kleine Jan in 2016 alone. This is quite an impressive list indeed, but we are not done yet.
The Kleine Jan dynasty
Let's run through some of the stars that have enabled father and son Van Dorp to achieve some great results over the years, and which are all related to the exceptional Kleine Jan, being either a youngster and/or grandchild. Click here for the breeding pedigree of Kleine Jan.
Lilly NL10-1656091
This excellent racing hen is a daughter of top pair Kleine Jan x Jane. Click here for the full pedigree of Lilly.
Lilly has won some impressive results as a racing bird:
1st Lille - 14,159 p. 1st Nijvel - 2,103 p. 3rd Duffel - 4,707 p. 6th Peronne - 9,251 p. 3rd Semi Provincial Ace Pigeon Sprint 2012
The Next Best Thing NL13-1208013
The Next Best Thing is an exponent of the oustanding racing hen Duffy (a daughter of Kleine Jan), which was paired to Blackpower, a 100% Geerinckx pigeon. Click here for the pedigree of The Next Best Thing.
This talented racing hen did really well in her brief career as a racing bird:
1st Peronne - 2,973 p. 3rd Duffel - 1,970 p. 5th Duffel - 3,267 p. 6th Meaux - 15,713 p. 6th Peronne - 2,987 p. 9th Quievrain - 1,022 p.
Dafne NL14-1031150
This is another exceptional racing hen as well. Dafne was bred from Benny (son Kleine Jan) x Chelsea, which makes her a granddaughter of Kleine Jan. Click here for Dafne's pedigree. Dafne has won the following prizes in short succession:
1st St.-Just - 1,618 p. 1st Duffel - 775 p. =2nd Duffel - 1,484 p. 3rd Duffel - 2,008 p. 6th Quievrain - 1,930 p. 15th Morlincourt - 1,686 p.
Dafne
Miss Bourges NL11-1711270
This hen is another renowned prize winner and yet another granddaughter of Kleine Jan, bred from Lilly (see earlier) paired to NL09-906 (50% Geerinckx). Click here to find out more about the pedigree of Miss Bourges.
This is the palmares of Miss Bourges:
1st Bourges 1,201 p. =6th NPO. Bourges 13,592 p. 7th Strombeek 4,475 p. 29th Peronne 2,645 p.
Indy NL14-1031042
Indy is a direct daughter of top pair Kleine Jan x Jane. Click here for the pedigree of Indy.
Kleine Jan's record as a breeding bird is simply amazing. Iny has won the following prizes so far:
1st Asse-Zellik 1,720 p. 3rd Pt.-St.-Maxence 9,586 p. 4th Duffel 3,267 p. 6th Asse-Zellik 1,276 p.
Danny NL12-1587031
Danny is another illustrious direct descendant of Kleine Jan x Jane. Danny won the first prize from Pommeroeul against 3,162 pigeons. Click here for Danny's pedigree.
1st Pommeroeul 3,162 p.
Benny NL09-1158909
Benny is not just an outstanding racing bird, this strong cock is also an exceptional breeder. He is for instance the sire of Dafne (see earlier), Briget, Bruce and Belle, which are very talented pigeons as well. Click here for the pedigree of Benny.
Benny has won the following prizes:
5th Nijvel 5,484 p. 6th Duffel 4,707 p. 8th Nantieul 14,669 p. 9th Pommeroeul 1,432 p.
Amy NL12-1586844
One of the full sisters of this invaluable pigeon is none other than Amy. Click here for the full pedigree of Amy.
1st Ace All-round RMO 2014 1st Duffel 1,970 p. 1st Peronne 499 p. = 2nd Peronne 10,824 p. 1st Pommeroeul 458 p. = 2nd Pommeroeul 3,162 p. 7th Nijvel 4,309 p. 10th Asse-Zellik 2,614 p.
Little Jane NL14-1031156
And the last pigeon in this impressive list is Little Jane, a granddaughter of none other than Kleine Jan. Click here for Little Jane's pedigree.
She managed to win quite a few top prizes in just two seasons:
3rd Pont-St.-Maxence 3,945 p. =4th Pont-St.-Maxence 9,586 p. 7th Duffel 1,993 p. 10th Charleville 2,526 p. 26th Asse-Zellik 1,276 p. 27th Peronne 1,702 p.
Unbelievable
After scrolling through this impressive list you might be wondering if the lofts of Jan Ouwerkerk have ever had a better breeding bird than Kleine Jan. Klaas and Rik van Dorp owe a lot, if not everything to this magnificent breeding cock and to their friendships with some fellow fanciers. Without this they would not have been able to send in two pigeons for the Olympiad, and they might not have won the Gouden Duif award in 2015 either, let alone many of their other top prizes. We reckon every fancier dreams of having a phenomenal pigeon like Kleine Jan in his collection one day.