In October 2014 the entire racing team was sold on PIPA, due to an upcoming move. Bart and Nance kept their entire breeding team, from which they bred numerous young birds in 2015. They had quite a collection of talented descendants but these initially failed to deliver. Bart Van Oeckel: “The pigeons needed a lot more time to adopt to the new environment than expected. They used to be in top form in May and July but this year the pigeons were looking rather lifeless. They came back home and that was it. The pigeons were not feeling at home in their new lofts.”
A turning point
Things started to change in the second half of the season, after the pigeons had been brought to the nest. Their level of fitness and the level of performance gradually started to improve, and in the end they managed to win a few top prizes, including most notably a 2nd and 17th national from Issoudun against 11,972 pigeons.
Leo Diamant (BE15-6059045)
Leo Diamant only just failed to win a national first prize in Issoudun. Leo Diamant is related only to Geerinckx bloodlines from his father’s side. His sire is BE11-6049919, a brother of ‘Primera’ (1st/3,147 p. Chateauroux and 5th/3,049 p. Montrichard) and First Lady, 2nd Best Young Bird of Belgium over four national races. His grandfather from his mother’s side is Zwarte Diamant, an invaluable breeder for Bart and Nance. He is the sire of F16 (1st nat. La Souterraine) and Miss Poznan (1st Olympiad Pigeon Poznan 2011). Leo Diamant’s great-grandfather from his mother’s side is Mr. Blue of Pieter Veenstra. Just to remind you, Mr. Blue was 1st and 3rd best cock in The Netherlands WHZB 2003 and 2004, and he has become the best breeding cock in Pieter Veenstra’s collection. You can take a look at his impressive pedigree here.
Kobe and Kato Herbots
Bart and Nance might have started to question the level of quality in their loft after their disappointing early season, but they were quickly reassured by the results that other fanciers achieved with that same pigeon breed. Some of their young birds had been moved to the loft of Kobe and Kato Herbots, and these young birds showed that there are still plenty of talented pigeons in the collection of Bart and Nance.
Super II (BE15-6059099)
The star of the season was without doubt Super II. This son of Gaston Jr. and Witty Geerinckx LBJ excelled in 2015 with a 3rd nat. Argenton 11,223 pigeons. It resulted in the following titles:
1st Int. Prov. Ace Pigeon YBs KBDB in the national races 6th Best Young Bird in 5 national races KBDB
His best results:
Argenton: 1st int.prov./598 p. - 3rd nat/11,223 p. Chateauroux: 11th int.prov./4,649 p. - 294th nat./10,442 p. Issoudun: 10th int.prov./501 p. – 588th nat./11,984 p. Chateauroux III: 36th int.prov/841 p. – 1,339th nat./17,250 p. Bourges: 176th int.prov./2,423 p. – 2,562th nat./36,307 p.
Why is Super II such an outstanding racing bird? He is a son of Gaston jr (BE08-6031121), winner of a 1st prov. Salbris, a 14th prov. Argenton, a 17th prov. Chateauroux and a 25th prov. La Souterraine. In addition, he is a grandson of Super Kleintje (BE02-6330844) from his father’s side; she is the dam of the illustrious F-16. His pedigree is equally impressive from his mother’s side: his grandfather is De Nationaal (BE07-6229156) of LBJ Geerinckx, winner of a 1st nat. Limoges Derby 11,869 p. The dam of De Nationaal is BE05-4323802, which is a full sister of Crack, Chihaut 98 and Chihaut of Benny Steveninck. Super II’s grandmother from his mother’s side is National Treasure (BE08-6374778) of the same LBJ Geerinckx combination. National Treasure won a 1st zone Chateauroux 6,149 p and an 8th prov. Argenton 1,064 p. Click here to see the full pedigree of Super II.
Djokovic (BE15-6059103)
Djokovic is another pigeon that comes straight from the Van Oeckel pigeon breed. This excellent pigeon won a 2nd nat. Bourges junior series and an 8th nat. Bourges 36,307 p., which brings the total number of top 10 prizes with Van Oeckel based young birds to three (in six different nat. races). Some of you know that the breeding loft of Bart & Nance is based on the Diamant and the Tennis breed. Djokovic, as the name suggests, belongs entirely to the Tennis breed. His sire is Lendl (BE09-6349640), which is also the sire of Sjarapova, 3rd Pre-Olympic Cat. C 2014, and Nadal, 1st Pre-Olympic Cat. C 2014 Brno. The dam is Navratilova (BE09-6350470), which was also the partner of Lendl when he bred Sjrapova and Nadal. Click here to see the full pedigree of Djokovic.
Stronger than ever
Meanwhile the new lofts are ready, the first round of young birds has weaned and the second round sits in the nest bowls. Bart and Nance are ready for a new racing season, stronger than ever.
Talented young birds ready for a reconnaissance flight