A soaring start backed by his mentor Gaby Vandenabeele
In 2010 Bert Vanden Berghe left his combination that he joined a few years back, instead building a brand new loft in his backyard. It was the start of a successful new career, with the support of loft caretaker Wim Dewitte. This team started to perform really well fairly quickly, partly thanks to the invaluabe advice and the equally invaluable pigeons that they got from grandmaster Gaby Vandenabeele. The team won a 3rd and 4th National from Libourne in 2012, and then came their exceptional 2013 season, in which they won two first prizes Nat. Zone, a 1st National Agen with Fyther, and a 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance Old Birds with Gloria. Bart was now convinced that it took top quality bloodlines to achieve great results..
Bert Vanden Berghe and loft caretaker Wim Dewitte
All the stars of 2017 have an excellent pedigree
With this idea in mind, Bert started to look for new investments in the wake of his 2014 auction. He invested heavily in pigeon breeds that had excelled in races across the globe, and these investments really started to pay off in 2017, as you can tell from the pedigrees of his strongest pigeons of last season.
078/14: son Super Romeo (Vandenabeele), grandson Champion (Hebberecht)
Chequered racing bird BE14-4234078 won three national prizes per ten last summer, and almost two prizes per 100:
Brive 9,132 p.: 55th Limoges 9,132 p.: 102nd Limoges 14,937 p.: 808th Jarnac 5,134 p.: 376th Tulle 7,447 p.: 638th
Sire: BE12-3088052 Super Romeo
Super Romeo is 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance Yearlings 2013 and a half brother of van New Bliksem (1st Nat. Tulle 2014). Their sire is the renowned Vandenabeele breeder Rudy, a son of the iconic breeder Bliksem.
Dam: BE09-4331525 Kathia
Kathia is a pure Chris Hebberecht from long distance star Champion x daughter Gentleman. Champion became 1st Prov. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance and 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance in 2005; Gentleman became 4th Prov. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance the year before.
This is quite a noble breeding pair. Click here for the pedigree of BE14-4234078.
An impressive accommodation and the beautiful surroundings
078/16: inbred Bliksem (Vandenabeele)
Racing bird BE16-4151078 claimed a 9th National Agen of 5,335 pigeons in 2017. He did great in the race from Libourne as well, winning a 110th National of 3,950 pigeons. This is a great performance, mainly founded on the legendary Bliksem, the great-grandfather of both the dam and the sire of 078/16. Click here for the rest of the pedigree of BE16-4151078.
536/15: Harry bloodline (Hooymans) and Aryana (Vandenheede)
Racing bird BE15-4071536 was responsible for one of the most notable results of 2016, together with 535/15: a 2nd National and an 11th National won by two nest brothers in one and the same race (Brive). The 536/15 did great this season as well, winning for instance a 117th Nat. Limoges of 9,162 pigeons (54th Zone 3,339 p.) and a 554th Nat. Cahors 5,639 p.
Sire: NL13-1395711 Son Alexia
The chequered 711/13 not only bred the two nest brothers of Brive, he also gave birth to racing bird BE16-4151089, 9th place in the final and 4th Ace Pigeon Sisi One Loft Race China 2016. He comes from son Harry x Alexia. The world renowned Hooymans breeding and racing bird Harry, which won a 1st NPO Blois and a 1st NPO Chateauroux, is in turn a grandson of Bliksem. Alexia (1st NPO Chateauroux) is a full sister of Harry. This pigeon is in other words a 100% Hooymans from the Harry bloodline.
Dam: BE13-4258484 Paciencia
The blue coloured Paciencia is a direct F&J Vandenheede bred from De Majoor x Aryana. De Majoor is a full brother of top class racing bird Blauwe Prins (2nd Prov. Vierzon, 4th Nat. Bourges, 11th Nat. Bourges, etc.), which was sold for 156,000 EURO in the public auction of Pros Roosen back in 2011. Their sire is top breeder Freddy, and his full brother became the grandfather of New Freddy, 2 x 1st Provincial and 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Longer Middle Distance 2010. Aranya became world famous after winning a 1st National Argenton of 5,763 pigeons.
These are again two parents from some highly renowned bloodlines. Click here for the full pedigree of BE15-4071536.
De 536/15, 2nd National Brive in 2016
221/14: bloodline Wittenbuik and Bliksem (Vandenabeele) and Champion (Hebberecht)
Racing bird BE14-4234221 won a 430th per 30 in the national race from Limoges last year, against 14,937 pigeons. He was very close to claiming a top prize, eventually settling for a 2nd Prov. Vierzon 7,056 pigeons. This is an excellent feat, and he follows in the footsteps of his two parents, which are in fact the best two racing birds in Bert and Wim's collection in recent years: Fyther and Gloria.
Sire: BE11-4291405 Fyther
Fyther claimed the first national victory for Bert: a 1st National Agen 5,507 p. and the fastest of 10,790 p. He comes from Goliath (a full brother of 2nd in final Million Dollar Race and a grandson of 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance 2005 Champion of Hebberecht) x Sandrine (a great-grandchild of top breeder Wittenbuik).
Dam: BE11-4291462 Gloria
Gloria is a natural born racing bird, having won a 1st Nat. Zone Limoges 5,742 p., and claiming a 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Long Distance Olds KBDB 2013. Her daughter BE13-4186089 proved to be just as talented: she won a 1st National Guéret 9,754 p. as the fastest of 17,430 p. Her sire is Royal Blue, multiple winner and a grandson of Wittenbuik. The dam is mona, a daughter of Bliksem and breeder of a 3rd Nat. Argenton 7,045 p. and a 3rd Prov. Tours 4,503 p.
Breeding a talented racing bird from your best two pigeons is something quite unique, but it shows that the apple does not fall far from the tree. Click here for the full pedigree of BE14-4234221.
Ready for more
The pedigrees of their best pigeons of 2017 clearly show that they are on the right track. It always pays off to invest in renowned bloodlines, and as Wim told us, it never hurts to listen to Gaby Vandenabeele's advice. It looks like we can expect many more top reusults from this loft in Wortegem-Petegem in the next few years.
Wim, Bert and Bert's daughter, together with Gaby Vandenabeele after their national win from Guéret in 2014