Crehan & O’Conner – 17 pigeons – 2,312 euro/pigeon
It has become an annual tradition for John Crehan to sell his best racing birds on PIPA, all bred by Jan Hooymans. The most expensive bird was sale 2, winner of three second prizes; he goes to Taiwan for 7,600 euro. The second most expensive bird was sale 1, a brother of Baron Harry with two first prizes, which goes to the United Kingdom for 4,400 euro. The 17 pigeons raised 39,300 euro in total and will be moving to China (5), Taiwan (5), Belgium (1), The Czech Republic (1), France (1), the United Kingdom (1), Japan (1), The Netherlands (1), and oland (1).
Gordon Brothers – 16 pigeons – 2,153 euro/pigeon
One of the best lofts in Ireland has decided to offer for sale their collection of André Roodhooft pigeons on PIPA, along with some talented racing birds. The most expensive bird is a full brother of Sandra, 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB for Andre Roodhooft; he goes to the USA for 3,800 euro. Two pigeons were sold for 3,600 euro: sale 3 goes to China, sale 6 to the USA. The 16 pigeons raised 34,450 euro in total, and will be moving to China (7), the USA (6), Ireland (1), Japan (1), and Taiwan (1).
Carlo Gyselbrecht – 5 pigeons – 2,100 euro/pigeon
A small but high quality group of youngsters of Carlo Gyselbrecht was put up for auction. Just five pigeons were offered for sale, and the most expensive one was sale 2, a double grandchild of New Laureaat, and it was sold to Taiwan for 5,000 euro. The second most expensive bird was sale 5, sold to a Belgian loft for 2,100 euro. The 5 youngstesr raised 10,500 euro in total, and will be moving to Belgium (2), Taiwan (1), the United Kingdom (1) and France (1).
Wojciech Handerek – 9 pigeons – 2,239 euro/pigeon
Poland's leading fancier has decided to sell his pigeons exclusively on PIPA, and with great success. He had an excellent average again this year, raising 2,239 euro on average for a group of young birds. The most expensive young bird was a youngster of his 1st Olympiad Pigeon Dakar, paired to a daughter of New Laureaat, which was sold to Romania for 3,400 euro. The second most expensive bird is a nest mate, which goes to Taiwan for 3,000 euro. The 9 youngsters were sold for 20,150 euro, and will be moving to Romania (3), Taiwan (2), Trinidad & Tobago (2), The Netherlands (1) and China (1).
Chris Debacker – 6 pigeons – 1,375 euro/pigeon
A smaller auction of Chris Debacker, with young birds that were all inbred to stock breeder Nick. The most expensive youngster was sale 1; he is a full brother of top bird Camillo, and was sold to China for 2,700 euro. The 6 youngsters raised 8,250 euro and will be going to China (4), Taiwan (1) and Belgium (1).
Mark Gilbert – 9 pigeons – 2,689 euro/pigeon
Mark Gilbert had probably his best season ever in 2018, claiming three national first prizes in the international extreme long distance classics. New Laureaat featured extensively in the pedigrees of his national winners, and so Mark decided to host a New Laureaat Special, selling 9 youngsters closely related to New Laureaat's best youngsters in his collection. The most expensive youngster is a full brother of a 1st National Agen 2018, a grandchild of New Laureaat & Kleine Jade. He goes to Taiwan for 5,000 euro. The second most expensive bird is a half brother of the 1st National Poitiers. This youngster is a double grandchild of New Laureaat, and will be moving to Taiwan for 3,400 euro. The 9 young birds raised 24,200 euro in total, and will be moving to Taiwan (9), China (1), the United Kingdom (1) and Japan (1).
Golden Algarve One Loft Race – 32 pigeons – 4,500 euro/pigeon
Rui Emidio, the organiser of the Golden Algarve One Loft Race, has been selling the winners of his OLR on PIPA for a few years now. The pigeons have been getting increasingly expensive, which shows that his One Loft Race is on the rise, being one of the world's most prestigious races already. This year's race was particlularly demanding, making the strongest birds stand out. The winner over 500km had an impressive 24 minute lead over the second pigeon in the final. This winner was bred by Schute-Kornelius in Germany, and he was sold for no less than 60,000 euro to the Ganus Family Loft in the USA. The second most expensive pigeon in auction was the 3rd ace pigeon, bred by Henk Simonsz, and it was sold to China for 9,600 euro. The 32 pigeons raised 144,000 euro in total, and will be moving to Germany (7), Taiwan (7), China (6), the USA (5), Ireland (2), Belgium (1), Bulgaria (1) and Switzerland (1).
Here is a picture of the winning pigeon, purchased by the Ganus Family Loft - USA
Flanders Collection – Leo Heremans collection – 26 pigeons – 1,078 euro/pigeon
Flanders Collection owns one of the world's most unique Leo Heremans collections, and it includes youngsters and brothers/sisters of Bolt, Gilbert, etc. They sold 26 youngsters of their best Heremans breeders in auction. The most expensive youngster was a grandchild of Euro, which goes to China for 5,200 euro. The 26 youngsters were sold for 28,025 euro in total, and will be moving to China (6), Poland (5), Taiwan (4), Germany (4), Ireland (2), Japan (1), The Philippines (1), France (1), the United Kingdom (1), and Belgium (1).
Flanders Collection – Dirk van den Bulck collection – 36 pigeons – 3,708 euro/pigeon
One of the most popular breeds of today is that of Dirk van den Bulck: numerous top lofts at home and abroad have attributed their success to the Van den Bulck bloodlines, and that explains the overall success of this auction, with 133,500 euro overall revenue for 36 young birds. The two eye-catchers of this event were 2 youngsters of Kittel, paired to his own dam Olympic Rosita. One youngster was sold to Iraq for 31,500 euro, the other goes to Sangers Pigeons in The Netherlands for 18,200 euro. The pigeons were sold to fanciers from 13 different countries: the United Kingdom (10), Belgium (6), Germany (5), China (3), the USA (3), The Netherlands (2), Poland (1), Romania (1), Taiwan (1), the Czech Republic (1), Iraq (1), Canada (1), and Malta (1).
Mike Ganus – 21 pigeons – 3,381 euro/pigeon
Mike Ganus not only purchased the most expensive pigeon today in the Golden Algarve auction, he also had an auction of his own, selling 21 youngsters for 71,000 euro in total. The most expensive bird is a youngster of Laura Is A Big Winner Today, winner of the SAMDPR for Mike Ganus himself. This youngster goes to the USA for 7,800 euro. The second most expensive pigeon is a youngster of Said in Spun Silver (2nd in the final of the SAMDPR 2012) paired to the 2nd in the final of 2014. This youngster goes to China for 7,000 euro. The third most expensive youngster also goes to China for 5,400 euro. It is a youngster of Sun City, the sire of two different SAMDPR winners. The 21 youngsters were spread across the USA (6), China (5), Bulgaria (3), Germany (2), South Africa (2), the United Kingdom (1), Ireland (1) and Kuwait (1).