It is fair to say that the national win for Ignace and Sabine came as a complete surprise. The wind was coming from the west and the northwest, and so they had expected the national winner to come from the other side of the country. The two fanciers were looking to the east, when Sabine suddenly saw a pigeon approaching the loft from the southwest. That pigeon was Pinokkio, the crack of this loft and obviously their first nominated. He was clocked at 14:14’41”, which means he had covered 528.737km with a velocity of 1306.55 m/min. It was an achievement that gave him the national victory against 7,676 old birds.
Pinokkio had already won a 1st provincial and a 1st national in the zone in the closing race from Gueret last season, but he did even better this season. This is the list of achievements of this outstanding racing pigeon:
-Pinokkio BE10-3170627
’14 Gueret Nat 7,676 p. 1
’13 Gueret Prov 249 p. 1 (7 Sept)
N.Zone 265 p. 1
Nat 2,656 p. 7
’14 Poitiers Prov 2,451 p. 31
Nat 12,379 p. 69
’14 Bourges Lok 429 p. 1
Prov 2,899 p. 6
N.Zone 3,085 p. 6
’13 Issoudun Prov 465 p. 12
N.Zone 507 p. 16
’12 Poitiers Lok 457 p. 2 (9 June)
Prov 1,827 p. 23
’12 Poitiers Prov 1,043 p. 15 (26 May)
’13 Gueret Prov 1,932 p. 53 (22 June)
’13 La Souterraine P 1,318 p. 93
Nat 9,548 p. 234 etc…
Click here for the full list of achievements
Sire De Fernand BE03-3152214
This pigeon is a son of Den 3 BE02-3108003 (Willy Cokelaere) x Clubke BE01-3142983, a half sister of the 1st Prov. Tours and the 2nd Prov. Argenton (from a half sister of the 1st Prov. Tours and 2nd Prov. Argenton (Willy Vanhoutte x W. Cokelaere). The sire of Pinokkio is winner of:
’07 Souillac 269 p. 1
Prov 926 p. 10
’04 Bourges 302 p. 8
Prov 1.084 p. 69
Nat 19.061 p. 993
’05 Brive 872 p. 56
’07 Brive 580 p. 54
Nat 16,007 p. 995
Dam: Zwart Bont Nestpenner BE07-3206171
Top class breeding hen and the dam of several successful descendants. She is a daughter of the outstanding breeder Witterugge BE02-3026095 (sire of several first prize winners and a half brother of Clubke, grootmoeder van Pinokkio. He comes from the line of W. Vanhoutte x A&H Reynaert) x ’t Blauw Bontje BE04-3099538 (a first class breeding hen from the breed of W. Cokelaere). This Witterugge is a true stock sire, having bred ace pigeons in the sprint competition, as well as prize winners from Barcelona.
Click here for the full pedigree
Ignace and Sabine had basketed 10 pigeons for Gueret, 7 of which have managed to win a prize in the club:
Gueret 222 olds: 1-48-69-74 (4/6) Nat. 7,676 olds: 1... Gueret 197 yearlings: 16-23-54 (with 1st + 2nd nom. in the lead and a 3/4)
Het accent ligt op de grote halve fond en fond
Ignace and Sabine have been racing pigeons from their current location from 2003. They focus primarily on the longer middle distance and the long distance with a team of old widowers (cocks). They have been really successful in both competitions, winning several first prizes season after season.
They have a group of about 60 widowers, divided over four lofts. However, Ignace told us they do not race per separate loft. Instead, they basket nearly all pigeons for different races every weekend. A number of pigeons are selected from the different lofts, depending on the upcoming race. The racing pigeons breed youngsters in winter, but they are not paired again later on. The racing pigeons can spend a day (and a night) with their hen from time to time during the early season. They are fed separately in their living boxes, and this means they are fed individually before basketing as well. They can eat as much as they want; any leftovers are taken away in the evening. Ignace en Sabine leave nothing to chance, and so they work with nothing but top quality pigeons that are taken great care of. That explains why their pigeons perform at such a high level!
Sabine is a true pigeon whisperer, and she gets them to do what she wants. There is a close connection between fancier and pigeon, partially because she feeds them a lot of peanuts, which the pigeons of Ameel-Vanlake are really fond of. And we all know that a woman can do wonders in your pigeon loft. Congratulations!
