An unusual season
As for most fanciers, the 2020 season had been a rather unusual one for Rik van Dorp due to COVID-19. But that was not the only thing on his mind. He is still racing under the same name as in 2019 but with the passing of his father Klaas last year, Rik is now mostly racing on his own, although he does occasionally get some help from his son Sten. Despite the circumstances, Rik was still on top of his game season, as you can tell from his achievements and his championship titles in 2020. To begin with, he claimed a title of Not nominated middle distance in province 5 Rayon RMO M-H East. We take a look at some of his best results of 2020 in his Entente:
Fontenay sur Eure 447 km. 1096 p. 1-16-24-50-etc.(20/26)
Duffel 93 km. 2257 p. 2-3-7-9-13-15-21-35-52-55-58-etc.(45/95)
Lennik 127 km. 1975 p. 5-7-10-12-25-26-30-43-44-48-53-54-etc.(32/92)
He also added victories from Fontenay sur Eure (1096 p.) and Lennik (1135 p.) in Rayon RMO M-H East to his already extensive list of achievements.
Inbred Lilly victorious in Lennik
The victory in Lennik goes to the three year old hen NL17-1252226 Inbred Lilly, and she is named after NL10-1656091 Lilly (daughter Kleine Jan), grandmother of both the sire and dam of Inbred Lilly. Lilly won for instance a 1st Lille of 14,159 p. and a 1st Nijvel of 2103 p. Inbred Lilly has won quite a few top results already, this is her palmares after her victory from Lennik:
5th Lennik 3167 p.
7th Peronne 967 p.
8th Quiévrain 3277 p.
8th Peronne 2415 p.
9th Duffel 3425 p.
The legacy of Kleine Jan
And Inbred Lilly inevitably leads to the name of Kleine Jan. We were not really surprised to see NL04-2082680 Kleine Jan, the stock breeder of team Van Dorp, play a crucial role in Rotterdam again in 2020. His direct youngsters have won at least 14 races against 3400 pigeons on average. His youngsters and grandchildren claimed 43 first prizes together. Kleine Jan stems from a daughter of the H8 pair of Jan Ouwerkerk (Lekkerkerk, NL), and it was from this pair that Jan bred his renowned 83 and 84. These pigeons were outstanding in the one day long distance, and it led for instance to a title of National loft champion 2005 in the one day long distance. The descendants of Kleine Jan are being successfully crossbred to pigeons of L.B. & J. Geerinckx (Wommelgem, BE), where they have successfully obtained pigeons from since 2006. And the Kleine Jan bloodline was responsible for many great results again in 2020.
This resulted in a 2nd place of 2257 p. Her sire Amy's best
is a grandson of Kleine Jan.
NL19-1642822 wins a 1st Niergnies (Blauwe Doffer) of 649 p. Her sire (son Benny)
is a grandson of Kleine Jan
NL18-5127390 wins a 1st Pnt.St.Max of 1092 p. (Blauwe Doffer). This pigeon finished
in 8th place of 10111 p. Her sire Bolt is a grandson of Kleine Jan.
Still a lot to come
The big star of Rik's current generation of breeding birds is NL17-1252066 Black Juwel. She is a granddaughter of Kleine Jan. Black Juwel was a dependable racing bird both in 2018 and 2019. How? She became 1st ace pigeon middle distance in Rayon Central in the province of south Holland in both seasons, in constantly changing weather conditions. On top of that, she was 5th Ace pigeon middle distance in 2018 in the national WHZB/TBOTB competition. Her palmares is quite impressive indeed.
2nd Peronne 2342 p.
2nd Melun 1464 p.
2nd Peronne 1694 p.
5th Quiévrain 4387 p.
7th Nanteuil 3919 p.
9th Pointoise 4520 p.
Black Juwel will be used for a very elaborate breeding strategy. After the 2019 racing season she was paired to BE15-1029362 Best Kittel, 1st Nationale Ace Pigeon Sprint KBDB 2017. They continued this collaboration with the PEC in 2020, with Black Jewel being paired to BE17-4062710 Porsche/Louise 710. This cock is a nephew of Porsche 911 (5th National ace pigeon longer middle distance yearlings KBDB 2015). The sire of Porsche/Louise 710 is a nest brother of Louise (1st national Bourges 19,735 p.). It was this pair that bred for instance NL20-1474663, which came to the fore in Pt.St.Maxence (321 km) as 4th of 452 pigeons. Rik has high expectations for this youngsters and the other youngsters of Black Juwel.
Black Juwel family makes an impact
The (breeding) results of Black Juwel are not an isolated story. Her nest brother NL17-1252067 Nestbr. Black Juwel is for instanc the sire of racing hen NL19-1642692, which won an impressive 18th place of 9157 pigeons in Pointoise in late June, in Rayon Central.
Another brother of Black Juwel, the NL15-1680030, is in turn the sire of NL20-1474670, which showed his potential with a 3rd place from Duffel of 2257 pigeons.
Achievements in other lofts
It was mr. Sterrenberg who claimed an 8th National ace pigeon sprint WHZB/TBOTB (bred from a grandchild of Kleine Jan) in 2019, keeping the legend of Kleine Jan alive. And in 2020 the Smit combination from Rotterdam won a 1st Vierzon of 2842 p. (Rayon Central in the province of South Holland) with a pigeon bred from a grandson of Kleine Jan.
Confidence in the future
Kleine Jan has had an incredible impact on the Van Dorp combination, and his descendants continue to pass on their many qualities to new generations of racing birds. It could be just a matter of time before Black Jewel will be worth her way in gold in the breeding lofts.