Head winds and tropical temperatures guaranteed a legendary version of the International classic from Agen even before liberation … maybe the heaviest edition for yearlings of the last decade. Insiders directly knew; pigeons excelling on this race are the champions of the future. Ad Fortuin - last week listing 3 pigeons in top 50 National Pau - preparered 47 yearlings for the first International race in their career. This talented team many consists of pigeons bred by good friend Hugo Batenburg. Ad - together with Jawin Van Namen holding PIPA agency for The Netherlands - himself owns only 3 breeding pairs and races with pigeons (eggs) bred for him by Hugo. An insurance for quality - and that quality showed what it is capable of in the Agen 2018 edition!
Miss New Laureaat; Winner 1st Nat. Agen YL
A battle against the elements from over 911 km - where Ad Fortuin made a result he dreamt of … in the preliminary result of the yearling race he won:
1st-15th-29th-37th-52nd-99th-138th-161st-180th-191st etc.
In the early morning of June 30th Ad saw the NL17-1262008 Miss New Laureaat arriving like lightning at 6.05 a.m. It gave her an almost 50 minutes lead to nummer 2 of the National yearling race - an absolute legendary result. Miss New Laureaat moved from Hugo Batenburg to Ad as youngster last year. Hugo asked Ad to return a lowned cock of Jelle Jellema and he gave him one of the youngsters bred from this cock for racing. Father is therefore original Jelle Jellema from superbreeder Orion x the 3rd Int. Barcelona 2014 winner Silvie … mother is a direct daughter of New Laureaat, the superman with 1st Int. Barcelona 2013, 8th Nat. Barcelona 2011 and 323rd Nat. Barcelona 2012 and now probably the best marathon breeder of his generation … he was paired to a daughter of Jonge Witbuik Batenburg.
When Ad also clocked 3 more pigeons at 8.25 - 8.43 and 8.58 - also all in the top 40 preliminary National yearlings - the first signs of a very successful day arose. “The yearlings were basketed on 3 days old youngsters and were entered every week for the regular races - except for the weekend of laying eggs.” Ad explains. The first weeks on widowhood system and later they were paired to be basketed in this situation. They did very well on the short and middle distance races already, so I hoped for a good Agen-result.” Ad’s confidence grew after Pau last week when he won 3x top 50 National, but also mentions another reason for optimism. “Hugo supplies me with youngsters for quite some years now, but the last years I see the pigeons change. Since the corporation with Nikolaas Gyselbrecht and their choice to base the colony around New Laureaat - a more compete pigeon developes. That is their wish and on my lofts I really see it happen!” The pedigree of the second Fortuin pigeons, so far 15th Nat. Agen YL, explains Ad’s statement … that pedigree is a composition of bloodlines of super winners. It is a granddaughter of New Laureaat (1st Int. Barcelona 2013), Kleine Jade (1st Int. Barcelona 2014 Jellema) and New Witbuik (1st Nat. Barcelona 2012) - precisely as Nikolaas, Hugo, but also Jelle Jellema who is a welcome partner in breeding, have in mind.
Victory march for New Laureaat and Batenburg descendants
It is no surprise that the descendants of New Laureaat seemed to chose this heroic edition of Agen yearlings as the stage to show their top qualities. It is the dreamt outcome of the investment made by Nikolaas Gyselbrecht and Hugo Batenburg back in 2013 - with the ultimate wish to breed the best modern marathon racer that can make a difference with any kind of weather! New Laureaat as base breeder crossed with other (Inter)national winners and the famous Batenburg-strain to create unique pigeons! A small survey of what that ambition lead to on Agen 2018:
- Mark Gilbert (UK); wins 1st Nat. Agen in the UK with grandchild New Laureaat & Kleine Jade
- Ad Fortuin (NL); wins 1st-15th-29th-37th with all New Laureaat descendants - 2 grandchildren New Laureaat clocked as first two.
- Jelle Jellema (NL); wins 7th-12th-27th-49th National yearlings with 2nd and 3rd clocked pigeons descending of New Laureaat x Kleine Jade
- Hugo Batenburg (NL); wins 8th-64th-104th-113th-121st-147th-168th National yearlings with almost all New Laureaat offspring.
- Comb. De Pijper (NL); wins 5th-41st-77th-96th Nat. yearlings with all Batenburg pigeons including a/o 1 grandchild New Laureaat
Last but not least; Jean-Paul Balcean from France excels winning 1st and 3rd International old Agen 2018 … the winner is blessed with Batenburg-Van De Merwe blood and 3rd Int. winner is itself for 50% a Batenburg pigeon - sublime!!
New Laureaat x Kleine Jade
The statistics mentioned above again shows how successful the pairing New Laureaat x Kleine Jade is in modern pigeon racing … a corporation existed from the shared vision of Nikolaas Gyselbrecht, Hugo Batenburg and Jelle Jellema; ‘combining our Barcelona winners is the key for future success’. A statement that is justified over and over again. The last years offspring of New Laureaat x Kleine Jade already won (Inter)national top 10 prizes and top quotations in PIPA Rankings, there are absolute no holds barred on this Agen 2018.
Jelle Jellema himself performs supreme at a distance of 1024 km winning the series 7th-12th-27th-49th-93rd-etc. in the preliminary result. The 7th National YL winer is a direct daughter to 1st Int. Barcelona 2014 winner Kleine Jade; the winners of 12th and 27th National are a great grandchild and a grandchild to the famous pair New Laureaat x Kleine Jade … That is not all, a recap so far:
1st Nat. Agen YL 2018 Ad Fortuin is grandchild New Laureaat
1st Nat. Agen UK 2018 Mark Gilbert (UK) is grandchild New Laureaat x Kleine Jade
7th Nat. Agen YL NL 2018 Jelle Jellema is a child of Kleine Jade
8th Nat. Agen YL NL 2018 Hugo Batenburg is grandchild Kleine Jade (x Special One, 1st Int. Barcelona 2015)
12th Nat. Agen YL NL 2018 Jelle Jellema is g.grandchild New Laureaat x Kleine Jade
15th Nat. Agen YL 2018 Ad Fortuin is grandchild New Laureaat x Kleine Jade
27th Nat. Agen YL NL 2018 Jelle Jellema is grandchild New Laureaat x Kleine Jade