A talented man
Karlo Van Rompaey seemed destined to become a top class pigeon fancier, as he was involved in his grandfather’s loft at a very early age. It was already then that he showed his potential as a pigeon fancier: he was an excellent observer and he knew how to handle his pigeons, which would eventually turn him into one of the leading names in our competition. Nobody was surprised to see him graduate as a veterinary surgeon several years later.
High quality
Karlo’s first pigeons came from his grandfather, which were excellent sprint pigeons that also performed well in the middle distance. This resulted in a national victory from Bourges 2005 with Jos (BE03-5181206) against 9896 pigeons. This was an impressive feat, because it had been 30 years ago since a pigeon fancier from the town of St.-Truiden had been able to claim victory in a national race. The bloodlines of these successful pigeons can still be found in Karlo’s current team of racing birds. “Looking back, this victory was a major turning point in my career as a fancier. I was suddenly much more determined to achieve great results in the national competitions.” From then on, Karlo wanted his excellent pigeons to become even better. Pigeons of mediocre quality have no place in his loft. His achievements in recent seasons illustrates that his approach has been quite successful:
1st nat. Bourges 9,896 p. 2nd nat. La Souterraine 4,698 p. 3rd nat. Chateauroux 12,071 p. 3rd, 4th and 10th nat. Chateauroux 6,005 p. 4th nat. Bourges 13,588 p. 4th nat Argenton 9,970 p. 8th nat. Gueret 15,007 p. 9th nat. Argenton 7,691 p. 9th nat. Chateauroux 5,884 p.
Click here for a full list of all national top results of 2013 and 2014. A list with all provincial top 5 results can be found here.
Fresh blood
Over the years, a steadily growing number of people have visited Karlo’s veterinary office. The bad news is that he had less time to spend in his pigeon loft. One of his best clients as a vet was the highly successful Verreckt-Ariën combination from Tessenderlo. He contacted Pascal Ariën in late 2010 and suggested to start working together, with Karlo focusing entirely on the old birds’ competition. The early young birds were moved to the loft of Verreckt-Ariën, and the third round from the best breeders of Pascal and Agy were to move to Karlo’s loft. However, the total auction of 2013 put a sudden end to the Verreckt-Ariën combination. Pascal Ariën agreed with Karlo to place the exchanged pigeons in the breeding loft, which proved a great move. These pigeons were paired to the old breed of Karlo’s grandfather, and they have been giving excellent descendants, as you can tell from his list of achievements of the past two years.
Some of the strongest descendants of this old breed include Jos (BE03-5181206), Rosse 009 (BE98-6447009) and Blauwe Beer (BE02-5154684), all of which originate from Jonge Witte (BE89-6403661). These descendants proved equally talented breeding pigeons; let’s have a look:
Descendants of Jos:
2nd prov. Orleans 3,756 p. 1st prov. Gien 2,346 p. 1st province Sourdun 1,199 p. 5th National Ace Pigeon KBDB longer middle distance ‘14 10th nat. Chateauroux 6,005 p. 16th nat. Chateauroux 6,005 p. 27th nat. Bourges 11,756 p. 35th nat. Issoudun 5,670 p. 35th nat. Gueret 14,245 p. 41st nat. Chateauroux 5,884 p. 51st nat. Chateauroux 21,827 p. 65th nat. Souillac 5,667 p.
Click here for the pedigree of Jos
Descendants of Rosse 009:
2nd Prov. Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 1st province Melun 1st prov. Gien 1st prov. – 2nd nat. La Souterraine 9th nat. Argenton 11th nat. Bourges 27th nat. La Souterraine 76th nat. Bourges
Rosse 009 is also the grandfather of Rosse 32 (BE10-5025032), which forms a great breeding pair with Mieke Dikke (BE10-5110400), a pure Verreckt-Ariën pigeon. Together they have bred quite a few highly successful racing birds, including Amaryllis, Amazing, Amour, Amaai and Amazone, which have won ace pigeon titles, national top 100 prizes and regional victories: 1st Reims 597 p., 1st Melun 342 p., 1st Chimay 280 p., 1st Sourdun 139 p. , 2nd Nanteuil 270 p., 2nd Melun 342 p., 2nd Argenton 171 p., 2nd Marne 142 p., and 2nd Nanteuil 109 p. They have also won a 25th national Argenton 6,797 p., 35th national La Souterraine 19,155 p., 44th national Gueret 7,681 p., 73rd national Chateuroux 6,005 p., 70th Sezanne 9,694 p., and 125th Orleans 10,526 p., as well as the titles of 1st ace pigeon ZOL (South East Limburg) '13, 1st Ace Pigeon TFC '13, 2nd Ace Pigeon LFC '13, and 3rd Ace Pigeon LFC '13.
Click here for the pedigree of Rosse 32
Click here for the pedigree of Mieke Dikke
Descendants of Blauwe Beer
1st prov. Melun 1st Ace Pigeon middle distance ZOL 2nd prov. Chateauroux 3rd prov. Chateauroux 4th nat. Bourges 4th nat. Chateauroux 5th National Ace Pigeon KBDB longer middle distance ‘14 21st nat. Argenton 37th nat. Bourges
You can find the pedigree of Blauwe Beer here
Crossings
We have seen in the past that heavily inbred pigeon breeds allow for great crossings, and this was also the case with the old breed of Karlo’s grandfather: the pairing of Rosse 32 x Mieke Dikke proved in invaluable combination. In fact, several other pairings have given spectacular results as well:
Lange Leon (BE11-5035753) x Crême au Beurre (BE09-5000270)
Lange Leon is a grandson of Dikke Lowet (BE97-6499247) x Lang Lowet (BE97-6499255), the stock pair of Verrect-Ariën. Click here for the pedigree of Lange Leon. Crême au Beurre is a granddaughter of Jos. You can find the pedigree of Crême au Beurre here.
The '097-13 and '250-13 are two youngsters of Lange Leon and Crême au Beurre. These two racing birds have won a 3rd national Chateauroux 12,071 p., a 9th national Chateauroux 5,884 p., a 38th national Nevers 11,579 p., a 41st national Gueret 9,815 p., and a 46th national Tours 3,947 p. for Karlo.
Bingo (BE07-5116286) x Last Daughter Lang Lowet (BE09-5026800)
Bingo is a son of Jos, while the name of Last Daughter Lang Lowet speaks for itself. You can find the pedigree of Bingo here. Click here for the pedigree of Last Daughter. This pairing of Van Rompaey- Verreckt-Ariën has given a number of great results, including a 1st Sourdun 1,199 p., a 41st national Chateauroux 5,884 p., a 66th national Gueret 9,815 p., and a 96th national Argenton 19,303 p.
Futuro (BE11-5047121) x Dagmar (BE09-5000214)
This is yet another successful pairing with great youngsters that have won many prizes: 10th national Chateauroux 6,005 p., 16th national Chateauroux 6,005 p., 35th national Issoudun 5,708 p., and 51st national Montlucon 21,827 pigeons. Futuro is a grandson of Moluca (1st nat. z C Limoges 2,429 p. ’09 and 1st nat. z C Limoges 919 p. ’10) of Verreckt-Ariën. Click here for the pedigree of Futuro. The grandfather of Dagmar from his father's side is Jos; he is also related to Rosse '09 via his dam. You can find the pedigree of Dagmar here.
The old breed of Jos Van Rompaey was not only successful in pairings with Verreckt-Ariën. Several other bloodlines have resulted in great combinations as well:
Donkere Streel x Diana Ross:
Donkere Streel was 1st Ace Pigeon middle distance ZOL and originates from the combination of Edmond and Freddy Streel (Vreren, BE). This cock was paired to a daughter of Rosse 009, and he became the sire of several prize winners: 1st Laon 288 p., 13th national Argenton 6,797 p., 17th national Nevers 11,579 p., 48th national Nevers 2,981 p., 52nd national Argenton 7,691 p., 64th national Argenton 6,801 p. and 89th national Bourges 8,005 p.
Pintiman
Pintiman won a 1st provincial Orleans 3,683 p. (fastest of 19,346 p.) and a 2nd provincial Gien 4,044 pigeons. Karlo had obtained him from the loft of René Mignolet from Binderveld. This pigeon combined very well with the Van Rompaey pigeons. He became the sire and grandfather of the 4th national Argenton 9,970 p., 2nd provincial Gien 4,733 p., 14th national Argenton 6,797 p.,14th national Chateaouroux 5,884 p., 40th national Chateauroux 6,005 p., 50th national La Chatre 21,180 p., 51st national Chateauroux 12,071 p., 103rd national Issoudun 16,615 p.
Fernand
Fernand comes from Schroyen-Hendrix from Heusden-Zolder. This cock proved an excellent in breeder in Sint-Truiden, especially when paired to daughters of Rosse 009. He is the sire of Inès, Super-15 and Super 16, three pigeons that have won about 10 first prizes in the club, a number of ace pigeon titles and other great results, including 1st provincial La Souterraine 642 p., 2nd national La Souterraine 4,698 p., 2nd provincial Gien 2,346 p., 11th national Bourges 10,035 p., 6th provincial Montlucon 1,936 p. and 98th national Chateauroux 4,316 p. You can find the pedigree of Inès here.
Daluka
This hen was 5th national Ace Pigeon longer middle distance yearlings KBDB 2014 last year, and she originates from a joint breeding with Danny Senden (Herk-de-Stad, BE). The sire of this national ace pigeon is a great-grandchild of Jos and Blauwe Beer.
A reference
Karlo Van Rompaey has an impressive list of achievements, and it is no surprise that his pigeons are used as a reference point when fanciers are waiting for their racing birds to arrive home from a national race. A pigeon that can beat one of his is almost sure to take a provincial or national top result. We think this will continue to be the case in the seasons to come, as Karlo can rely on a high quality pigeon breed, which he plans to further improve in the following years.