Kévin poses proudly after winning his 3rd national race in his career
While the first prognosis would have sent the early pigeons to Flanders (following the wind), both national winners of the race from Bourges I were finally won in the south of the country in the area of Mons-Borinage (province of Hainaut). The winner in the yearling category is the white chequered hen from Kevin Saudoyez who was the strongest in front of another hen from Famille 3D (the winners in the old bird category) and a pigeon from Germain De Paepe. The national winner has been clocked in Tertre at 12h08''56 for a distance of 387 kilometers, so an average speed of about 1,254.28 m/min (2nd highest speed from the whole convoy).
After the first arrival, the others pigeons came home smoothly with the following results:
26/05 Bourges provincial - 1,669 old birds: 8-13-14-21-34-38-54-78-95-116-... (11/14) 26/05 Bourges provincial - 1,585 yearlings: 1-3-15-18-21-40-42-49-77-88-100-117-124-127-129-135-143-... (27/47) 26/05 Bourges national - 20,280 old birds: 37-57-58-86-216-232-314-... (11/14) 26/05 Bourges national - 19,129 yearlings: 1-8-80-97-102-257-302-390-... (26/47)
So, no less than 8 x national top 100 positions!
3x 1st national in 3 years
Kevin is far from a stranger on the Belgian pigeon scene. Everybody heard of him him for the first time in 2016 when he won the 1st national Argenton against 18,363 pigeons (with the highest speed from 31,939 pigeons). The same year, he also won the 2nd National Ace GMD Yl KBDB. After this, it was clear that the insiders would continue to hear his name: he continued in 2017 with a second national victory, this time from Châteauroux against 4,391 yearlings. Now, he made it again the last weekend with this time the 1st national Bourges I against 19,129 yearlings, his third national victory in 3 years in a row! It makes Kevin one of the leading specialist of the longer middle distance races in Belgium, a feat that this young fancier (29 years) will celebrate this year, his 10th year only in the pigeon sport!
A simple & easy system
Kevin races his birds on the total widowhood system and he started the season with 39 cocks and 39 hens. The pigeons are housed in separate lofts and the sexes are separated by a simple sliding door. There is no love room like in most of the lofts racing with this system. Before basketing, the pigeons are sometimes put together, sometimes not. It depends on the general atmosphere in the lofts and of the conditions of the previous race. Kevin insists on the fact that it is important to change the method of preparation, otherwise the pigeons can become tired of it. For Bourges, the pigeons were directly put in the basket without being put together. The national winner was then taken from her perch with the result we all know today.
Difficult start of the season
If he did well on the first race he was not expecting it, the start of the season has been quite difficult for Kevin Saudoyez. All his preparation had been delayed: the pigeons were paired too late this year (in February) and they had to raise a couple of youngsters before being separated. Then, the training at home only started in March while the previous years, the pigeons were already in very good shape at the same time. And then, lots of yearlings were only basketed a few times last year. That's why the start of the season has been a little bit less good than the previous years if you check his results. However, the pigeons showed some improvement signs last week during the interprovincial race of Vierzon. Following Kevin, this race has been a turning point for them. This being said, you could in any case notice it by yourself while checking his results on the first longer middle distance race of the season:
19/05 Vierzon - 9,260 old birds: 14-88-149-196-198-263-282-460-... (14/14) 19/05 Vierzon - 5,462 yearlings: 142-167-168-172-190-320-... (13/53)
- Stella (BE17-1001053)
This hen was bred out of the third round of last year and she has not been basketed a lot of time during her birth year. In 2018, she won some small prizes, the preparation being what we all know:
14/04 Noyon 190/1,303 p. 21/04 Pont 330/1,420 p. 28/04 Ecouen 194/1,225 p. 05/05 Toury 62/701 p. 12/05 Toury 192/715 p. 26/05 Bourges 1/19,129 p.
The winner from Bourges is a hen bred out of a joint breeding with Dany Dusausoit (Beloeil), who is a former national winner in Belgium. It shows the perfect relationship between the two men. They regularly exchange pigeons which are then kept for several years and the hen which just booked this national victory was bred in Beloeil. She is a daughter from the pair Raoul x Floor, both super racers at Dusausoit's, each of them with a national top 10 position after their name. Click here to check the pedigree of the national winner from Bourges I.
Dany Dusausoit & Kévin Saudoyez
We would like to congratulate the Saudoyez family on this fantastic third national victory!