The Vanneste - Demely family
The pigeon family of Liliane Demely has made some incredible progress, turning into one of Belgium's top-tier lofts in no time. The pigeons oficially race under Liliane's name but this is in fact a team of three: father Filip, mother Liliane and son David Vanneste. These are very passionate fanciers that have now made it to the top, thanks to their determination, their selective approach and the introduction of some very gifted birds. They have had some solid results in the club and at provincial level over the years. Their first top results at national level came in 2017, claiming a zonal victory from Bourges of 6,466 old birds with Mister Bourges (3126502-15), along with a 4th national of 23,155 pigeons. This Mister Bourges originates from the lines of De Rauw-Sablon x Reynaert (Figo) from his father's side. The dam is a full sister of a 1st provincial ace pigeon sprint of Durieu-Delbaere from Meulebeke. This top result from Bourges in late May was just the starting point of a fantastic 2017 season, in which they won quite a few top prizes with the olds, yearlings and old birds. (Click here for their 2017 palmares).
1st zone and 4th national Bourges 2017
We saw Mister bourges claim a national top prize in 2017, and his nest brother did pretty much the same in 2018: Brother Mister Bourges (3126501-15) was able to win a provincial first prize old birds, again from Bourges. Unsurprisingly, this pigeon is also related to De Rauw-Sablon, Reynaert and Durieu-Delbaere. Two brothers claiming a provinical first prize from Bourges each is quite a rare feat. Click here for the pedigrees of the two nest brothers 501-15 and 502-15.
Brother Mister Bourges : 1st provincial Bourges 2018
The team from Moorsele has really stepped up their game in recent years: they claimed an impressive 62 first prizes in just two years' time (2017-2018), often against a large group of pigeons. Their opponents had a hard time, competing against a pigeon family that would often win the first 5,6, 7 or 8 first prizes in a row. Such level of dominance is quite rare in Flanders.
Plenty of references
Son David is always busy looking for new introductions that can help push this team to new heights. Whenever he comes across a talented ace pigeon, he will contact the owner to try and get his hands on a descendant, which is then merged into the existing Demely breed. With this approach, the family of Demely/Vanneste has managed to create a pigeon breed that has really excelled at the highest level. It is no surprise that several other fanciers have decided to use pigeons from this breed. Still, the degree of satisfaction among those fanciers has been exceptional; Demely is now a highly regarded pigeon breed with an extensive number of references. In fact, we see an increasing number of national ace pigeons that are related to Demely (click here for a list of references). Here are some of their most prominent references: 2 x 1st Provincial Ace Pigeon in East Flanders, a 2nd National Ace Pigeon shorter middle distance 2014, a 2nd National Ace Pigeon shorter middle distance 2017, a 3rd National Ace Pigeon NPO 2017, a 7th National Ace Pigeon longer middle distance 2015, and an 8th National Ace Pigeon longer middle distance 2018.
The Vanneste-Demely family is really glad that so many other fanciers are getting great results with their pigeons. It illustrates the level of quality in this loft, and it shows that this team dos not hesitate to offer some top quality birds to fellow fanciers. Among the pigeon lofts that did really well with their bloodlines are Jespers-Vanderwegen (Holsbeek), Danny Leus (Herzele), Astere Vergotte (Aalter), Freddy Vertriest, (Bevere/Oudenaarde), G & J Saelens (Houthulst), and Vermeiren A & J (Kruishoutem). And several Dutch fanciers have successfully invested in this breed as well: the Romein-Klein combination, Jacob Poortvliet (Surhuizum), G & L v/d Bergen, Henk Bussing, The v/d Kooy Roelof combination (Arendsleen), JPJ Kok (Andelst), Enrico Doldersum (Almelo), Ad v/d Crommenacker, John Vasterink (Hengelo), Reint-Jan Blauw (Hoogezand), and many others. They even received a reference from a fancier all the way from Hungary recently: Piet Pintér from Budapest won a title of 2nd national champion, as well as a title of 1st interprovincial ace pigeon with the help of the Demely bloodlines. The list of achievements can be seen here.
Den Tulle: a super class breeder for team Demely
The greatest champions in our sport tend to discover a fantastic now breeder every once in a while, which provides them with a long list of successful descendants. We same the same happen in the loft of Liliane Demely, where breeding bird Den Tulle (3085128-10) has given an incredible number of youngsters and grandchildren that have excelled in national competitions. Den Tulle was himself an excellent racing bird as well. He did particularly well in Tulle, and he had some fantastic results in La Souterraine, Orleans, Ablis and Poitiers as well. Still, no one had expected this bird to become such a successful breeder. In fact, most of this team's best racing bird are related to him, including a 1st, 2nd, 2nd and 3rd national winner! Stock breeder Den Tulle is a son of 1st Provincial Ace Pigeon T. Boonen (from the line of Figo) of Team Demely; champions breed champions! The dam of Den Tulle is the talented Aelbrechtje. For the full pedigree of Den Tulle, click here.
Den Tulle: a stock breeder for Team Demely
An invaluable team of breeders
As most of you know, a top quality collection of pigeons is where it all starts. The breeding loft is the backbone of any successful pigeon family; this is where the youngsters are born that will eventually develop in successful racing birds. Besides Den Tulle, the team relies on another stock breeder that has given quite some nationally renowned pigeons: Aelbrechtje (4138881-07). To be honest, it would take us too far to discuss all of her best descendants. She originates directly from an iconic bird of Marcel Aelbrecht from Lebbeke, which pretty much explains her breeding potential. This hen is in fact the dam of Den Tulle, which we just talked about. It underlines the level of quality in the Demely pigeon breed. The pedigree of Aelbrechtje can be seen here.
Aelbrechtje : a fantastic breeder for Demely
Overwhelmingly strong in 2018
The pigeons of Demely excelled on a weekly basis in the demanding 2018 season. They claimed as many as five national top five prizes over the course of four weeks, even though they raced with just a limited number of pigeons. Click here for their list of achievements of 2018.
1st national Limoges of 7,274 pigeons with just three pigeons in the race. It was also the fastest of 14,510 pigeons overall.
2nd national Brive of 9,278 pigeons with just two pigeons compteing. It was the second fastest of 13,662 pigeons.
2nd national Argenton of 19,133 pigeons with just six pigeons in the basket.
3rd national Gueret of 8,517 pigeons: team Demely had nine pigeons in the race.
5th national Chateauroux of 13,098 pigeons, again with no more than seven pigeons basketed.
In addition to these national top results, Liliane Demely also became 4th National Champion KBDB longer middle distance yearlings. She won this prestigious prize in the demanding KBDB championships with the help of two talented yearlings, the first of which is Mister Argenton (3043766-17). He claimed a 2nd National Argenton of 19,133 yearlings, and he originates from the Tulle bloodline, and he is related to the Beeck-Baetens breed as well. (Mister Argenton's pedigree).
Mister Argenton : 2nd National Argenton and co-winner of a 4th Nat. Champion KBDB
The second pigeon responsible for winning a 4th place in the KBDB championship is Mister Gueret (3043826-17). He wins a 3rd National from Gueret of 8,517 pigeons, besides claiming an early prize in Bourges as well. He is a good example of a genuine Demely racing bird. And this top class racing bird has quite some prestigious bloodlines in his pedigree: how about The Vandenheede Brothers from Zingem, Renaert or Aelbrecht? (Mister Gueret's pedigree).
Mister Gueret : 3rd National Gueret and co-winner of a 4th place in the KBDB championship
It appears the Tulle bloodline has played a key role in the team's achievements at national level. And they delivered in a number of provincial competitions as well, taking five first prizes in total. The star of the racing team is without doubt Mister Unique (3039664-16), who has a 1st National Limoges and a 2nd National Brive to his name! It resulted in a coefficient of just 0.0353% in these two races. He is related to Reynaert (Figo) and to Aelbrecht, which makes him another Den Tulle descendant. The pedigree of Mister Unique, winner of a 1st and 2nd National, can be seen here. This superstar is a son of top breeder Den Tulle, and his dam is a hen related to the Soontjes bloodline through Albert Hendrix.
Mister Unique: a big star in team Demely
Another star in this team is Nice Blue (3126600-15). He originates from the Tulle bloodline as well, and he took a top 9 on ten occasions, including victories from Blois, Pontoise and Tours. He claimed a provincial first prize from Blois of 623 pigeons with the highest velocity of more than 3,500 pigeons. (Nice Blue's full pedigree).
Nice Blue: a star in the racing loft
Gilbert (3039614-16) is yet another descendant of the Figo/Tulle combination, and of the De Rauw-Sablon breed. Gilbert is a double provincial winner, and he has several top prizes in other middle distance races to his name as well. Here we have Gilbert's pedigree. A team with so many talented racing birds in its ranks can look towards almost any race with great confidence. David Vanneste has done a great job picking only the very best pigeons for this team. Only the best pigeons were given a chance in this team over the years, and this resulted in a group of pigeons that can deliver in every major competition.
Gilbert : a double provincial winner
And we could have included quite a few other pigeons from this breed of champions. Even their young birds have had their share of success in provincial competitions, with even some first prizes. For instance, Team Demely was victorious with a young hen in the popular races from Pontoise, which attract a lot of fanciers from West Flanders. Their winning hen is Miss Pontoise (3052860-18), which claimed victory against 3,044 pigeons. Keep in mind this race took place in August, when only the strongest birds are still in the game in the provincial classics. Miss Pontoise is a sister or half sister of a pigeon breed that knows how to win races. The apple does not fall far from the tree. (Click here for Miss Pontoise's pedigree).
Miss Pontoise : provincial winner from Pontoise
The loft in Moorsele is home to an extensive collection of top class pigeons, even though this is a fairly small pigeon family. Filip Vanneste and his wife Liliane are eager to support their son David in his attempts to become a leading fancier. And we are confident they have plenty of expertise and knowledge to make it happen. These fanciers have a bright future indeed.
Click here for the best results from 2017