Ad Fortuin, flanked by Nikolaas Gyselbrecht and Hugo Batenburg
Ad Fortuin works as a project leader in the building automation industry, but he is also working for PIPA. He acts as a supply agent together with Jawin Van Namen. As a fancier, he is particularly fond of the long distance competition and the national races with morning release in particular. In order to prepare for the international classics scheduled for 2015 his racing team competed in the races from Agen and St. Vincent, two races in the sector with a release at noon. The race from St. Vincent has a lot in common with a national race.
The breed
Ad became an official side loft of Batenburg-Van De Merwe (Klaaswaal, NL) in 2012. The pigeons, which come from the loft of Hugo Batenburg, are mostly based around number one stock sire NL81-1533120 De Witbuik. Witbuik was the winner of a 14th National St. Vincent against 16,629 pigeons, before becoming the sire and grandfather of several national winners. In addition, the Witbuik descendants are well suited for new crossings. The proven combination with youngsters of DV06720-02-537 Euro Diamond of Hans-Peter Brockamp has resulted in great racing birds both for Hugo and for Ad Fortuin.
DV06720-07-959 Zoon Euro Diamond, renowned breeder paired to the Witbuik line of Batenburg-Van De Merwe
St.-Vincent
Ad had basketed eight pigeons for the national marathon classic from St. Vincent, which were born in 2012 and 2013. In their home loft they were basketed with a five days old brood. Ad was hoping to win a national first prize, since his arrival at 07:49 on Saturday morning was the fastest in sector 2 for quite a while. This was indeed the earliest arrival in sector 2 but three pigeons would eventually prove to be faster than his Valentine, including the winning pigeon of J. Broers ('s-Gravenzande). Valentine finished in 9th place national against 15,500 pigeons.
Valentine
The top result from St. Vincent was won by the kras hen NL12-1597227 Valentine. She is a daughter of NL08-1521788 Geeloog Diamond, which has become an impressive breeding bird. He also originates from the successful combination of Witbuik x youngsters of Euro Diamond, which we mentioned earlier. Geeloog Diamond is the sire of:
NL10-1666601 Dark Diamond 22nd National Perpignan ZLU 2013 4978 p. NL10-1666648 Bright Eye 8th National Narbonne ZLU 2013 4515 p. NL11-1721355 Vera 9th National Perpginan ZLU 2013 4978 p. NL12-1597227 Valentine 4th National St.-Vincent (S 2) 2015 2941 p.
Click here for the pedigree of Valentine.
Geeloog Diamond, top breeder for Batenburg-Van De Merwe, with his talented youngsters Vera, Bright Eye and Dark Diamond
Agen
In the week before St. Vincent there was a sectoral race from Agen (889km) in the provinces of South Holland, North Holland and the coastal region. Ad basketed 17 older birds raced in double widowhood to prepare for the race from Barcelona. The pigeons were released at 12:00, and they arrived home in Strijenin as follows: 08:59-09:37-10:23-11:00-11:43-11:45-11:47-11:50am. They finished in places 8-11-41-110-288-294-310-335 against 2873 pigeons in sector 2 (8/17). Ad's fastest pigeon was NL10-1665341 Lovely, a hen that had already won a 93rd national prize from Barcelona 5423 p. in 2014. Her sire is a grandchild of Euro Diamond and of NL94-1340153 Zoon Witbuik. Click here for the pedigree of Lovely. The 11th place in the sector was won by NL11-1721422 Talent, a kras cock that had already won a good result in Agen 2013 and Perpignan 2013 & 2014. His sire, NL07-1765764 Inteelt Kleinzoon Witbuik, is unsurprisingly an inbred pigeon to the renowned Witbuik. Click here for the pedigree of Talent.
Reinforcements from across the sea
When it comes to taking care of the pigeons, Ad Fortuin does not have the time for complicated methods. His key to success is a collection of top quality birds. Quite a few young birds are transferred from Klaaswaal to Strijen on a yearly basis. In addition, 40 youngsters of Mark Gilbert (Winkfield, UK) have come to join his team in 2015. This British champion has managed to claim two international victories, and he is the owner of no less than nine youngsters of Euro Diamond. Ad Fortuin can tackle the rest of the season with confidence.