National event
The only one day long distance race for old birds in The Netherlands took off on Saturday 1st of August, and Issoudun was the release site of choice for all sectors. However, the heat protocol threw a spanner in the works, as the national race got split up: sectors 2 to 4 would get a different release site. Sectors 3 and 4 were released in Fay aux Loges, where a total of 22,000 pigeons took off at 9 in the morning. 14,000 of them came from sector 3.
Derksen v/d Keuken takes the win with Maxime
After 7 hours and 18 minutes in the air, racing hen Maxime of the Derksen v/d Keuken combination reaches her home town Almelo, after a 591km trip. She had a velocity of 1346 m/min. This not only resulted in a victory in Sector 3 of more than 14,000 pigeons, she was also the best in sector 4, where none of the 8500 pigeons that had been released simultaneously with sector 3 reached a higher speed. In fact, Maxime had the highest speed across all the sectors that took part in this Dutch one day long distance race on Saturday 1st of August.
Maxime 1st National Fay aux Loges
Their national winner is clearly not a one trick pony. Race winner Maxime NL17-1699472 is one of the absolute stars of this combination from Amelo. This is her list of achievements:
- 1st National Fay aux Loges sector 3 14,036 p.
- 1st Ace Pigeon one day long distance province 9 2019
- 5th Best Allround pigeon national competition WHZB/TBOTB 2019
- 7th Best Ace Pigeon old birds in The Netherlands 2019 - 12 prizes PIPA Ranking
- 4th Bierges 7559 p.
- 4th Quiévrain 3337 p.
- 8th Vierzon 1189 p.
- 12th Bierges 2319 p.
- 13th Boxtel 2114 p.
Maxime is raced in total widowhood. She tends to easily mate with fellow hens, which Anthony and Edwin are not fond of. She did so again before being basketed for Fay aux Loges. Together with her friend, she defended her spot in one of the bottom corners of the loft. Clearly, it has given her the motivation to make it back home from Fay aux Loges as quickly as she could. Maxime was bred from two racing birds.
A strong season so far
This has been quite a strong season for Anthony and Edwin. And the role of loft caretaker Gerben Ekkel should not be underestimated. We take a look at some of their best results with the old birds in the 2020 season in CC3 of province 9:
- Beek en Donk 114 km 3863 p. 10-11-12-22-23-29-45-47-48-etc.(59/118)
- Dizy le Gros 357 km 2483 p. 1-11-12-14-22-etc.(42/74)
- Chalons en Champagne 412 km 1980 d. 2-6-10-12-16-17-24-27-29-37-38-etc.(29/40)
- Dizy le Gros 357 km 1697 p. 1-4-9-10-13-14-30-31-38-39-41-etc.(28/46)
- Fay aux Loges 591 km 1032 p. 3-4-5-9-11-13-18-21-31-35-42-44-etc.(25/56)
- Fay aux Loges 591 km. 599 p. 1-2-4-5-7-8-9-10-11-12-15-16-19-21-23-etc.(25/45)
And we also introduce you to the two winners in Dizy le Gros:
NL18-1509694 winner Dizy le Gros 25 July
The race from Dizy le Gros on 25th of July was an easy target for two year old widower NL18-1509694. The sire of this racing cock comes from G & S Verkerk, bred from Goofy x Feline. The dam of the winner is daughter Suarez, a fantastic breeding hen. She is the (grand)mother of a 1st Quiévrain of 9049 p. and a 1st Nijvel of 8,085 p.
Mayra, a new star in the one day long distance
And there was another race winner in Dizy le Gros on 27th of June, a racing hen. It was NL18-1509650 Mayra that gave the combination its first victory since the postponed start to the 2020 season. It is not entirely coincidental that she is a full sister of the aforementioned 18-694. Mayra claimed an ace pigeon title middle distance in CC Midden Twente in 2019. And besides her victory in Dizy, she had already excelled with a 3rd NPO Chateauroux of 2871 p. and a 5th NPO Bourges of 3571 p. She is holding a second place in the ace pigeon championship one day long distance in province 9 at the moment.
The young birds are in good form as well
The old birds' season is already about to come to a close. But the most interesting young birds' races are yet to come. The team has high expectations for their young birds, given their victory in Boxmeer of 4594 p. and an excellent overall result in the last (until further notice) young birds' race from Beek en Donk (9-12-14-15-16-18-19-27-29-etc. of 3764 p.). We will be keeping an eye on them.