"It all started with the super racer Jelle (BE12-4019241), Kristof says, who won the 1st Provincial in Antwerp on a very tough Libourne in 2013 with a 30 (!!!) minutes lead (11th National against 6,134 pigeons). The following year he showed that this victory was no stand-alone achievement, as he won 2x 2nd Provincial from Limoges and Montauban and thus became 1st Provincial Ace Pigeon Long Distance KBDB."
Jelle his genes have spread throughout the entire Mortelmans loft with great success. His offspring are astounding and many top racers have Jelle blood running through their veins. A good example is Spolle, a grandson of Jelle who took the provincial win twice, on Libourne and Montauban, and finished as 10th National Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance KBDB in 2015. The father of De Spolle is another breeding gem from Ranst, the so-called Witpen Bont Koppel (BE11-1583973). A breeder that is unmatched as he is father of 10 (!!!) pigeons taking between 1st and 10th place in the provincial results of a (extreme) long distance race.
Ace pigeons...
Winning the 1st National Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance 2016 is still one of the highlights for Kristof in his pigeon career. After winning a 22nd National Barcelona, he confidently basketed his Barcarcas Red Ace on Narbonne and this turned out to be a golden move. The Red Ace finished 2nd National against 4118 pigeons, which turned out to be enough to win the ace pigeon title. A daughter of this Red Ace became the dam of Pauline (BE16-6279126), who this year added another provincial title to Kristof's palmares with 1st Provincial and 22nd National Barcelona 2021.
Kristof managed to win another ace pigeon title in 2018. This time, it was Ludo (BE15-6204628) who achieved 2 top results with a 4th Provincial and 118th National St. -Vincent and a few weeks later a very strong 1st Provincial and 7th National Perpignan.
Marseille...
After Kobe's great performances on Marseille, I will always have a special feeling about this race, says Kristof. Kobe flew Marseille 4x and 4x prize, including the 1st Provincial and 19th National on this classic. Winning the 1st National on this race is really a dream come true, Kristof continues. It was already dusk and I never dared to think that a pigeon could still arrive, but when this happened..... pure adrenaline! It was Den Dave (BE19-6187554) who accomplished this feat. Released in the morning at 07h00 and clocked at 22h06, good for the 1st National Marseille 2021, something only a few pigeons are capable of.
