Bart and Nance - the successful combination is on the right track
Quality loss
Bart and Nance Van Oeckel sold their entire collection of old birds, yearlings and youngsters in late 2014 when they moved to their new location in Oud-Turnhout. However, they decided to keep their foundation (F16 and a number of close relatives), as well as a group of late youngsters of 2014. The 2015 season was a transition year with ups and downs but Bart and Nance have made an impressive comeback in 2016, winning two provincial first prizes and eight top-20 prizes in the national competitions. Click here for an overview of their top-30 places over the past 10 years. This team's main objective is to get back at their best by 2018, and if possible to set an even higher bar. Their recent achievements show that they have every reason to be ambitious, especially with such talented pigeons as Zwarte Diamant (BE05-6054296) and his illustrious successor F16 (BE09-6107016).
Having to leave so many champions behind can really shake a pigeon fancier's confidence. Bart and Nance experienced this as well but they had great confidence in their F16 (winner of a 1st Nat. La Souterraine 2011). This pigeon has really matched their expectations to say the least. If Bart and Nance have learned one thing about their breed in recent years, it would be that breeding bird F16 really easily their expectations. He proved to be an excellent breeder indeed, not just on paper but in practice. The descendants of this exceptional pigeon continue to deliver new generations of successful breeders and racing birds. Out of curiosity Bart and Nance made up a list of all the youngsters and grandchildren of Zwarte Diamant and F16 that had won a prize per 50 in the last couple of years and they were quite surprised with the result. We were genuinely impressed as well; the youngsters of Zwarte Diamant and F16 have won no less than 64 prizes per 50:
- list of achievements of the youngsters of F16 (prizes per 50 only)
- list of achievements of the grandchildren of F16 (prizes per 50 only)
- list of achievements of the youngsters of Zwarte Diamant (prizes per 50 only)
- list of achievements of the grandchildren of Zwarte Diamant (prizes per 50 only)
The four valuable descendants of F16 in the collection of Bart & Nance today are, in order of age, Libourne Diamantje (BE14-6030417), Hungary Diamant (BE15-6059450), Ace Diamant (BE16-6056001) and Alberto Diamant (BE16-6056083).
Libourne Diamantje
Libourne Diamantje was renamed after she won a provincial first prize from Libourne, as well as a 4th zone 2,505 p. and a 20th National 5,195 pigeons. Libourne Diamant is a granddaughter of F16 x Miss Turbo from his father's side. Miss Turbo was 1st Ace Pigeon Oud-Turnhout in '05, '06 and '07, and she is also the grandmother of a 1st NPO 14,502 pigeons for pieter Veenstra. The dam of Libourne Diamantje is a granddaughter of the golden pair (Den Dikke Lowet x Lang Lowet) of Verreckt-Ariën. Click here for the full pedigree of Libourne Diamantje.
Hungary Diamant
Hungary Diamant won a 1st Provincial Montélimar (17th National 1,849 p.), which was quite a challenging race. The fastest pigeons reached a velocity of just under 1,100 m/min due to a slight breeze from northeasterly direction, and these are the perfect conditions for the Diamantjes bloodline. This racing hen was called Hungary Diamant because she arrived home just when the Belgian national football squad was playing Hungary in the European Championship. Besides her provincial win from Montélimar she also claimed a 105th zone Chateauroux against 6,573 pigeons. The sire of Hungary is a son of Zwarte Diamant and a full brother of Miss Poznan. Zwarte Diamant is also the great-grandfather from her mother's side. This makes Hungary Diamant a pure inbred to the number one stock sire of Nance and Bart. Click here for the full pedigree of Hungary Diamant.
Ace Diamant
Ace Diamant won the title of 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon young birds in 2016. He won a 70th Nat. Bourges 28,078 p., a 79th Nat. Chateauroux 14,762 p. and a 19th Nat. Argenton 19,592 p. The sire is BE14-6316876, a son of F16 x Golden Lady. This pigeon won a 4th Nat. La Souterraine, 4th Prov. Blois, 4th Prov. Montluçon and 7th Prov. Tulle. The dam of Ace Diamant is Big Mama, which is also the sire of the 45th best young birds in six national races in 2014 in the PIPA rankings. You can take a closer look at the pedigree of Ace Diamant here.
Alberto Diamant
Alberto Diamant is currently in 9th place in the PIPA ranking for best young bird in the national races (2 prizes). He won a 13th Nat. Chateauroux 14,762 pigeons and a 25th Nat. La Souterraine 16,613 p. The sire of Alberto Diamant is Gerry Diamant, which is a youngster from the pairing of F16 x Golden Lady, just like the sire of Hungary Diamant. He originates from Francinneke from his mother's side, which comes from some of the most renowned Albert Derwa-Luxem bloodlines. Francinneke is a daughter of Berkes renowned Son (BE10-2007030), arguably the most famous descendant of Paulien (BE06-2090139). Click here for the full pedigree of Alberto Diamant.
The first round of young birds of Bart and Nance has been through several selection rounds and has now won quite a number of great results. The second and third round have been trained before they did a couple of races from Quiévrains and Noyons and a race from Souppes. They closed the season with a flight from Chateauroux:
Chateauroux nat. 14,762 pigeons: 13-32-79-112-131-294-337-456-461-488-501-626-630 (45/122)
The 32nd National from Chateauroux was won by Cinneke Diamant (BE16-6056205), a full sister of Alberto Diamant and thus another granddaughter of F16. The fourth round did a number of races from Quiévrains and a race from Souppes. Last weekend three youngsters of F16 won a 2nd, 3rd and 4th prize from Quiévrain against 535 pigeons, which goes to show that Bart and Nance will have an excellent team of yearlings for 2017. They hope to put the icing on the cake in 2018, and we are confident that they will be able to reach their goals.