Comb. Mantel (Oudega, NL) take the fight to the increasingly popular One Loft Races with well-balanced breeding material.

The old core, reinforced by NPO and OLR winners are the battle plan 

Frits and Wytse Mantel came to fame as long-distance experts when they actively partook in the Dutch pigeon sport up till a few years ago. With a number of NPO victories and having represented the Netherlands on an Olympiad with Olympic Amador and Olympic Cape, Fritse and Wytse can proudly look back upon the highlight of those times. Since their move from Burgum to Oudega (NL) however, the focus has been on partaking in OL Races. To be able to excel in that discipline, the quality of the partaking pigeons has to be of an incredibly high level. Armed with a breeding loft that is filled with descendents of the old guard, reinforced with NPO and OLR winners, has resulted in several impressive successes. Join us as we take a look at the pigeons that live up to the good name of Comb. Mantel.

Vardy, NPO winner Issoudun

One of the most impressive pigeons of the breeding loft of Comb. Mantel is NL15-1208645 Vardy. This dark coloured cock won a 1st NPO Issoudun against 3319 pigeons over a distance of a great 751 kilometres. This performance is a characteristic of the Mantel pigeons. Excel with incredible, well build pigeons on races of 500 to 800 kilometres. Vardy also had a hand in the first success on the OLR for Frits and Wytse. In 2018 a grandchild of Vardy ended as 18th in the final of the Algarve Golden Race.

Olympic Amador, Olympic Pigeon Brussel 2017 cat. E Marathon

Frits & Wytse wrote history with their NL14-1439618 Olympic Amador, who won four top prizes on the long-distance, by achieving the 1st Nat Olympic Pigeon in Cat. E Marathon for the Netherlands. This was a milestone that had never before been achieved. Olympic Amador won a.o. A 1st NPO Blois over a distance of 707 km, a 5th NPO Argenton over a distance of more than 800 km and a 9th NPO Souppoes against no less than 6888 pigeons. At the breeding loft in Oudega are several children of Olympic Amador who have had their own successes at the OL Races. In a few years, grandchildren of Olympic Amador have achieved the following a.o. noteworthy results;

Investing in NPO winners

After NPO winner Vardy, Frits and Wytse started searching for pigeons of the same quality. And only when both of the gentlemen are convinced that a top pigeon, one with an NPO victory, will mean a reinforcement for their breeding loft, they will try to get that pigeon. They have managed to claim three NPO victors so far, of whom the children got to prove or have proven themselves on the OLR. From the brothers Leideman came  NL18-1459308 Starling, 1st NPO Troyes (511 km) against 3783 pigeons. Also from the brothers Leideman came NL14-1466945 Vitoria, 1st NPO Nanteuil (467 km) against 3926 duiven, to Oudega. Vitoria proved herself on the breeding loft as the mother of a.o. 5th Quiévrain against 10570 pigeons and an 8th Munster against 1625 pigeons. The third NPO winner came from G. Beelen & Son. From that combination came NL15-1385018 Ellis who made a name for herself with a 1st NPO Melun against 3701 pigeons. Ellis is the proe that the strategy of Frits and Wytse is working. In 2021 a note could be added to Ellis as the mother of  NL21-1484501 Miss Sofia who put down an impressive performance at the Sofia OLR

Miss Sofia brings home an incredible performance in 2021

Mentioning Miss Sofia gives us a great transition point towards one of the absolute highlights of the Combination Mantel on the OLR in 2021. After Frits and Wytse obtained the winner of the final of OLR Sofia 2020 they decided to try their luck on that race in 2021. They were already quite successful with their first time, with a grandchild of Vardy finishing 11th in hotspot 3 (200km). This achievement had an incredible sequel in 2021. With NL21-1484501 Miss Sofia Frits and Wytse were part of the leading group of 4 pigeons in the final race that took place on the 16th of August with 1196 pigeons over 420 km. Miss Sofia came home 12 seconds after the winner and finished as 3rd with a speed of 1211 mpm. Behind the winner of the final, Miss Sofia finished as 2nd in the Ace Pigeon Championship of OLR Sofia which was started with 2687 pigeons. Miss Sofia is a grandchild of Olympic Pigeon Olympic Amador. The mother of Miss Sofia is thus NPO winner Ellis.

Julio and Lady Pogacar together form the Algarve couple

Frits and Wytse have a soft spot for the races that are held in the Algarve in Portugal. To enable their ambitions for that race they do specific purchases with the goal of taking a leading role in the future in those races. They invested in two victors of a final race of the Algarve Great Derby. Together they form the Algarve Pair. The male half is the  NL19-1595370 Julio who won in the final of the AGD in 2019 against 1697 pigeons. Julio was bred by Rietkerken & Son. With the purchase of PT20-0241333 Lady Pogacar, winner of the final of the Algarve Great Derby in 2020 against 1726 pigeons, the Algarve couple was completed. Lady Pogacar was bred by Pedro Porto (100% Reijnen-Bolton).

So much potential

It should be clear from this report that Frits and Wytse Mantel make no attempt to hide their ambitions for the future. They have laid the foundation of their success with (grand) children of top pigeons such as Vardy and Olympic Amador, reinforced by targeted investments in NPO winners and OLR winners. The combination can confidently look forward to OLR season 2022.