Father Karel and his son Kas Meijers: a successful pigeon racing combination
A fresh start with Heremans bloodlines
Karel and his son Kas Meijers have always been very fond of races of up to 400km. And they have repeatedly excelled in this type of competition since their return in 2017. When looking for pigeons that were suited for this particular discipline, they came across none other than Leo Heremans (Vorselaar, BE). They obtained several pigeons from him, and these have become an integral part of the pigeon family of father and son Meijers. A telling example of this golden generation of breeders is BE07-6379882 Juan Carlos. He still lives in their breeding loft, and we will talk about him in a bit more detail.
Juan Carlos, one of the very best Heremans breeders
BE07-6379882 Juan Carlos, a supreme breeder for Kas & Karel Meijers
The combination obtained several top class breeding birds from Leo Heremans in 2007, including BE07-6379882 Juan Carlos. This cock has bred an impressive number of highly talented racing birds over the years with an extensive palmares. And Juan Carlos is still part of the 2020 breeding team in Oud Ootmarsum. The pedigree of Juan Carlos, which can be seen here, includes a number of illustrious pigeons with which Leo Heremans managed to dominate the competition. The first grandfather of Juan Carlos is BE01-6455003 Olympiade, a 2nd National Ace Pigeon sprint KBDB 2002 and Leo's top bird in the Liévin Olympiad. Many other fanciers have have made it to the top thanks to breeding bird Olympiade. Juan Carlos's other grandfather is BE02-6113793 de Platschijter, another successful breeder that helped Leo raise the bar. Platschijter is for instance the sire of BE03-6192634 Den As, a 1st Ace Pigeon middle distance Turnhout & 2nd National Ace Pigeon Ave Regina middle distance 2004.
(Grand)children of Juan Carlos have won:
NL08-603 1st Strombeek 1184 p. NL08-604 1st Maaseik 2144 p. NL11-1305904 6 * 1st PDV de Othmarvliegers 1st Chimay 4271 p. (fastest province 9 of 17,526 p.) 1st Venlo 1342 p. 1st St. Quentin 189 p. NL12-923 1st Nijvel 4411 p. 1st Peronne 214 p. NL12-924 14th National Olympiad Pigeon YBs NL15-1333635 1st Ace Pigeon Natour District 2 Prov. 9 2016 1st Ace Pigeon Natour CC de Grensstreek 2016 1st Quiévrain 329 p. NL11-267 1st Ace Pigeon sprint CC De Grensstreek ‘13 1st Ace Pigeon middle distance Province 9 2014 11th National Ace Pigeon middle distance 2014 1st Nivelles 5628 p. NL16-1176121 1st Laon 1390 p. 1st Quiévrain 124 p.
NL2016-1176121 - the hen of a new super class pair
NL16-1176121 granddaughter Juan Carlos wins a 1st Laon 1390 p. and she is now part of the New Superpair, along with Matthew
This hen not only has several first prizes to her name, she is also an invaluable breeder, especially when paired to NL16-1176079 Matthew. Matthew is a son of BE-6313918 Superbreeder 918. This 918 comes straight from Stefaan Lambrechts, and he is a brother of a 2nd National Ace Pigeon YBs KBDB. Direct youngsters of this new superpair NL16-1176121 x Matthew (including racing birds NL17-721, NL17-722 and NL18-918) have won at least 17 prizes per 100, including a 3rd Boxtel of 6519 p., a 4th Duffel of 4153 p., a 6th Boxtel of 15,643 p. (Province 9-N) and a 9th + 11th Quiévrain of 13,404 p. (Prov. 9). For the pedigree of NL16-1176121, click here. For a full list of achievements of their direct youngsters, click here.
NL16-1176079 Matthew is the male half of the New Superpair, together with a granddaughter of Juan Carlos
Youngsters of Juan Carlos show their qualities again in 2019
We could tell from the achievements of his direct youngsters in 2019 that Juan Carlos is still an invaluable breeding bird. This is their palmares from last season:
NL19-1340723 11th Quiévrain 1068 p. 14th Tilburg 2656 p. 85th Duffel 2382 p. NL19-1340724 17th Tilburg 2656 p. NL19-1340795 13th Niergnies 715 p. 26th Tilburg 2656 p.
An extensive list of achievements of Juan Carlos's descendants can be found here.
A solid foundation
Their collection of Heremans pigeons has proven to be a solid foundation for top level pigeon racing. Meanwhile, Karel and Kasd did not bask in their glory; they have continued to invest in their breeding collection, obtaining pigeons from the following Belgian top lofts: Gust Jansen, Marcel Wouters, Stefaan Lambrechts and the Comb. Maegh-AS. They also looked for reinforcements in The Netherlands, with for instance a joint breeding with André and Bert Leideman (Hardenberg). Thanks to these pigeons, Karel and Kas can look toward the future with confidence.