The Klaas & Rik van Dorp combination in full glory. Klaas (left) died in 2019
A fantatsic era
Pigeon fanciers Klaas & Rik van Dorp have made a name for themselves in The Netherlands; they have had numerous sensational results together. They won for instance a 1st National Cahors sector 2, and they savoured the taste of victory in the one day long distance NPO, while also winning a title of Golden Pigeon in The Netherlands. They also represented The Netherlands in the Budapest Olympiad, thanks to Olympic Gipsy and Olympic Mistery (both a 1st Dutch Olympiad Pigeon).
A strong start in 2019
As in previous years, the performance curve of the two fanciers continued to improve throughout the 2019 season. They were off to a great start in Rayon Central Holland East, claiming victory from Quiévrain of 1294 pigeons. Meanwhile, their solid sprint team took home a title of 1st not nominated champion sprint in Rayon Central of Province South Holland. Their championship title was won based on the following achievements:
13-4 Quiévrain 178 km 1294 p. 1-4-18-19-23-34-45-50-etc.(24/64) 20-4 Quiévrain 178 km 1969 p. 2-3-6-10-11-17-21-26-28-30-32-35-etc.(51/61) 5-5 Peronne 247 km 1976 p. 8-13-14-17-26-30-45-etc.(45/62) 9-6 Peronne 247 km 826 p. 2-3-4-8-13-14-15-19-24-etc.(14/25)
Klaas passed away halfway into the season, and his passing has had a considerable impact on the second half of 2019. The young birds were not raced until the natour competition, although Rik still managed to claim victory in Peronne and Lennik.
A big thanks to Kleine Jan
NL04-2082680 Kleine Jan pushed the father-son combination Klaas & Rik van Dorp to a new level
Kleine Jan plays crucial role
The main pillar of the Van Dorp pigeon family is without doubt NL04-2082680 Kleine Jan. His direct youngsters have been victorious at least 14 times, against more than 3400 pigeons on average. And his youngsters and grandchildren have won at least 43 first prizes together. Kleine Jan stems from a daughter of the H8 pair of Jan Ouwerkerk (Lekkerkerk, NL), from which Jan bred his renowned 83 and 84. It was thanks to this duo of highly successful one day long distance birds that he became National loft champion in the one day long distance in 2015. The descendants of Kleine Jan have been successfully crossbred with pigeons of L.B. & J. Geerinckx (Wommelgem, BE), which team Van Dorp has invested in since 2006. And granddaughters of Kleine Jan proved particularly important for Klaas & Rik in the 2018 and 2019 season.
Strong Lady
The pigeon that really stepped forward in 2018 was NL16-1499357 Strong Lady, a granddaughter of Kleine Jan. This hen was 18th ace pigeon old birds in the WHZB/TBOTB competition, after winning an 8th NPO Argenton of 8125 p. and a 21st NPO Blois of 18,564 p. in 2017. She added the following results to her extensive palmares in 2018:
4th NPO Gien of 12689 p. / 1st of 1696 p. 18th Pontoise of 7570 p. 39th Peronne of 4613 p.
The sire of Strong Lady is both a son and a grandson of Kleine Jan. The dam is Strong Lady is NL14-1031000 Xen, a clean Geerinckx hen from the lines of Gladiator, Xena, Fluwelen 18 and Witpen Wouters. For the pedigree of Strong Lady, click here.
NL17-1252066 Black Juwel, 1st Ace Pigeon middle distance Rayon Central Province 5 both in 2018 and 2019
Black Juwel
Klaas and Rik's trump card for 2019 was NL17-1252066 Black Juwel. She is another granddaughter of Kleine Jan. Black Juwel was already one of the top performers in the 2018 racing team, and she continued to deliver, taking first place in the ace pigeon championship middle distance of Rayon central in province South Holland. In addition, she was 5th National Ace Pigeon middle distance WHZB/TBOTB. In 2019, in completely different conditions, she won the title of Ace Pigeon middle distance in Rayon Central in Province 5. She has quite a remarkable palmares:
1st Nanteuil 1064 p. 2nd Peronne 2342 p. 2nd Melun 1464 p. 2nd Peronne 1694 p. 5th Quiévrain 4387 p. 7th Nanteuil 3919 p. 9th Pontoise 4520 p.
The pedigree of Black Jewel indicates once more that the combination of Kleine Jan descendants and Geerinckx pigeons can be quite a success. To find out more, check the full pedigree.
3rd ace pigeon middle distance is another Kleine Jan descendant
The winner of a 3rd ace pigeon title middle distance in Rayon Central is another granddaughter of Kleine Jan. This NL18-5127362 has a 1st Peronne of 827 p. and a 3rd Quiévrain of 407 p. to her name, which makes her another important member of the team of Klaas & Rik Van Dorp.
Nice reference
The Kleine Jan descendants have been outstanding in numerous other pigeon lofts as well. The most recent reference comes from Mr Sterrenberg, who claimed a title of 8th Nat. Ace Pigeon sprint WHZB/TBOTB with a pigeon that was bred from a grandchild of Kleine Jan; this was one of the best performing pigeons in The Netherlands in 2019.
The future
Rik is eager to race at the highest level again in 2020, although his father Klaas will be deeply missed. He will try and do his best with a smaller team of racing birds, and with the support of his son Sten. We wish him the best of luck.