Rik Cools (Ruiselede, BE), a multi-winner at provincial level

Rik's pigeon family has always been synonymous with exceptional achievements in the longer middle distance. He is always one of the main favourites at provincial level, always a force to be reckoned with. This is what you get if you dominate the competition season after season. Rik Cools has been particularly tough to beat with the hens, and we have all but lost count of his provincial victories. It goes without saying that he added several championship and ace pigeon titles to his palmares again in 2020. The Cools pigeon family gained a reputation mostly thanks to the bloodlines of such renowned birds like Marieke and Lady Messi. In 2020, he added a provincial victory from Chateauroux to his already extensive list of achievements, plus several ace pigeon titles in the provincial championships KBDB. The Cools racing bird feels particularly at home in the longer middle distance.

Remarkable strength in numbers

Rik Cools has never had to rely on one single superstar, he always has a few irons in the fire. 2020 has been an unusually short season but he did claim many great results nonetheless, for instance with the help of the fantastic Evita (BE19-3029526), winner of a 1st provincial Chateauroux of 5,555 pigeons, and the fastest overall of more than 9,000 pigeons. She had had some more top results earlier in the season as well, for instance in La Souterraine and Bourges. It made her a top contender in the ace pigeon championships as well, both at provincial level and in the KBDB championships. She originates from the lofts of Chris Debacker from Beveren-Leie, with which Rik exchanges pigeons on a regular basis. The two pigeon breeds are in fact closely related to each other.

The other stars of 2020 were Felicienne (BE20-3106463), winner of a 2nd prov. Blois of more than 6,000 pigeons, and Erna (BE19-3029474), winner of a 4th prov. La Souterraine of almost 2,5000 pigeons and a provincial ace pigeon KBDB. Or how about the two year old Loes (BE18-3030070), a 7th prov. ace pigeon KBDB longer middle distance? She managed to win a 4th prov. La Souterraine, 28th prov. Issoudun and 82nd prov. Chateauroux last season. This racing hen is in fact related to such prestigious bloodlines like Vandenabeele and Chipo of Benny Steveninck, which shows that this is a very valuable racing bird.

Rik won the championship title in his longer middle distance club by quite a margin, racing against some very strong names every week. And the results of the ace pigeon championship clearly show that this pigeon family has been racing at a high level all year round. Rik had started the season with just 5 (!) old birds, and 4 of them ended the season among the club's best performing pigeons. The team of yearlings did perhaps even better: Rik had 22 yearlings at the start of the season and 10 of them scored high marks in the PIPA ranking for best yearling across 5 nationals! One of the eye-catchers is Elise (BE19-3041133), which was 6th prov. ace pigeon KBDB in the longer middle distance thanks to five absolute top results.

The younger generation shows its potential right away

The team's newcomers did not disappoint either; they defended the honour of the Cools family. Fientje (BE20-3106459) was 1st ace pigeon in the club and she was very close to a provincial championship title but she had to settle for 2nd prov. ace pigeon KBDB long distance young birds instead. This is her palmares: 7° prov. Blois (6,042 p.), 15° prov. Fontenay (8,334 p.), 44° prov. Chateauroux (4,785 p.), 49° prov. Bourges (3,777 p.), 103° prov. Blois (5,474 p.). It goes without saying that she has been one of the top performers at provincial level.

Another typical Cools racing bird would be Fleur (BE20-3092484). She rose to the top rather quickly, and she successfully combined sprint, middle distance and long distance, resulting in a title of 5th provincial ace pigeon KBDB all-round. This is the type of racing bird many fanciers can only dream of. This is her palmares: 1 / 889 Pontoise , 1 / 526 Pontoise, 13 / 1,189 Fontenay, 40 / 903 Fontenay, 157 / 6,042 Blois.

Achievements in other lofts

The Cools family stands for years of top level racing thanks to a team of top class breeders. So we were not surprised to hear about the many fanciers that have successfully introduced these bloodlines into their own family. Theo Weytjens from Zutendaal won a 1° national Bourges young birds of close to 30,000 pigeons this season with a pigeon closely related to Cools, through Royal Dark and Sofie. And Tom Van Gaver from Moortsele had a great season as well, winning for instance a 1st national Brive with descendant of the aptly-named Blue Super Cools. Tom also claimed a national ace pigeon title KBDB with Little Ricky (BE18-4070489), whose grandfather is a 100% Cools. And let's not forget his good friend Chris Debacker from Beveren-Leie, who claimed several first prizes with pigeons of Rik Cools. It would take us too far to talk about all of Chris's provincial winners, ace pigeons or national top finishers with Cools origins. Meanwhile, Leo & Gerry Dockx from Koningshooikt had a very strong season in part thanks to the Tarzan bloodline. This Tarzan is another 100% Cools and winner of a 1st national ace pigeon title KBDB. In 2020, Leo and Gerry dominated the national competition in La Souterraine, Issoudun and Chateauroux with descendants of their renowned Tarzan. The list of fanciers that reached a new level thanks to the introduction of the Cools bloodlines is almost endless.

It seems like Rik Cools is following in the footsteps of neighbouring fancier Gaby Vandenabeele from of Dentergem, supplier of super class pigeons. Rik Cools is has been developing a pigeon family that excels both at home and in other lofts.