Comb. Verweij- de Haan (Mijdrecht, NL) come close on Barcelona thanks to their new super breeder Red Ross

For Michel and Peter, 2023 was an exciting year as they bought a completely new loft in January. Everything was new, including dimensions, layout, breeding boxes, etc. After having performed on the old loft for years, it is always the question whether this will also be the case on the new loft. The first real test for this loft was Pau. Slightly more nervous than usual, Peter and Michel were waiting on the arrivals. It was a great relief when their pigeons immediately realized a top result on this new loft. With the 4th, 37th, 45th and 92nd National they started off with a great series. Fourteen days later Barcelona was flown, the latest goal for Peter and Michel. Starting with the 5th National, they can look back on this race with satisfaction. The past 3 years, they started with the following results on Barcelona: 

The 5th National 2023 but also the 35th National 2022 were won by children from their super breeder Red Ross. 

NL16-1886226 Red Ross

Red Ross can rightfully be called a unique breeder. As far as we know, Red Ross is the only pigeon to have bred 3 different Top 10 National winners in 2 years' time. His son Barca Rocco won 5th National Barcelona 2023 across a distance of 1,201km against a staggering 4,832 pigeons. His daughter Jessie Rose, full sister Barca Rocco, won 10th National St. Vincent 2022 across a distance of 1,063km against 2,308 pigeons. Last but not least, his daughter Milos Rosie won 8th National Agen 2022 across a distance of 969km against 6,174 pigeons. We also have to mention his daughter Barbara, she won a/o 18th National Agen and 35th National Barcelona. Moreover, she became 1st National Ace Pigeon Perpignan 2021-2022. Looking at the pedigree of Red Ross, we find the super breeder Jones is his father. His mother is another phenomenon, namely Red Rose. 

Mother (Red Rose) of Red Ross is granddaughter of Milos x Olympic Heintje and has been an important pigeon on the lofts of Michel and Peter for years. She was crowned a/o as 1st Ace Pigeon Perpignan ZLU 2014-2016, 2nd Int. Ace Pigeon Pau 2015-2016 and 3rd European Ace Hens Int. races 2016. Besides her impressive racing career, Red Rose is also a very important breeder and (grand)mother of 34 (grand)children winning a National Top 100 result. 

Below, the three children of Red Ross which won National Top 10 results - Barca Rocco, Jessie Rose and Milos Rosie - will be introduced further.

NL20-1364980 Barca Rocco

After liberation on Friday 7th July at 07:00AM, Barca Rocco arrived on the lofts in Mijdrecht on Saturday morning at 08:26:01AM. Across a distance of 1,201km from Barcelona he achieved an average speed of 1,041m/min. Barca Rocco is, as mentioned above, a son of Red Ross. Mother of Barca Rocco is another top breeder, Jessie. She is also mother of Jessie Rose (10th National St. Vincent). See the complete results list of Barca Rocco below: 

NL20-1364993, Jessie Rose

Another star bred from Red Ross x Jessie, thereby a full sister to Barca Rocco, is this Jessie Rose. She was pivotal on the lofts in Mijdrecht in 2022, winning top results on the National classics St. Vincent, Perpignan and Pau. Unfortunately, Jessie Rose didn't return from a training race of 164km past season. Her impressive results on the international races of 2022 can be found below: 

NL21-1068097, Milos Rosie

The yearling hen Milos Rosie won 8th National Agen Yearlings against 6,174 pigeons. This was good for the 2nd Provincial (1,185 p.) and 53rd International (33,781 p.) Milos Rosie is another daughter of Red Ross, paired to top breeder Miss Milos. Miss Milos is (grand)mother of countless top pigeons on their own and other fanciers' lofts. 

On other lofts, (great)grandchildren of Red Ross also achieve outstanding results. See some of the references below: 

• A grandson of Red Ross at Nico Pronk (Nationaal Champion Extreme Long Distance ZLU '23) became 3rd National Ace Pigeon Perpignan 2021-2023
• In Denmark a grandchild of Red Ross became 1st National Ace Pigeon '21
• At Vergenaerde Denolf (BE), a great grandchild of Red Ross wins 4th National Barcelona '23 and 5th National Narbonne '22

Besides exceptional performances with the descendants of Red Ross paired to a/o Jessie and Miss Milos, other super breeders also delivered incredible talents. For instance, New Frenkie won 4th National Pau as son of New Kopie TOON (recently deceased) x MG780. Unfortunately, New Frenkie was lost on Perpignan past season. The hen MG780 is a daughter of Miss Gijsje (Arjan Beens) and full sister of MG430 of Jelle Jellema. This MG bloodlines has also proven itself on the lofts in Mijdrecht.  

The bloodline which runs through the colony of Michel and Peter like a red thread is that of Milos. A grandchild of Milos (from brother Miss Milos x Jessie) won 51st International Perpignan this year. As mentioned above, Milos Rosie (8th National Agen) is a daughter of Miss Milos who in turn is a daughter of breeding phenomenon Milos. Read everything about the exceptional Milos here. The 1st International Barcelona 2022 of Team Delhove-Paesmans (BE) is also a grandchild of Miss Milos, and thus a great grandchild of Milos. Besides mother of Milos Rosie, Miss Milos is mother of a/o the following cracks: 

Foundation of super breeders 

Michel and Peter have been amongst the best extreme long distance fanciers on the National and International level for years. They have bred an incredible 10 National and 4 International Ace Pigeons. Their International Ace Pigeons are: 

• Miss Milos : 2nd European Ace Hen International races 
• Red Rose   : 3rd European Ace Hen International races 
• Sky            : 2nd European Ace Hen International races 
• Jessie Rose: 1st European Ace Hen International races 

Now, after some time, Michel and Peter are focussing on the extreme long distance classic from Barcelona. Having won 10th, 35th and 5th National in the past 3 years, they show to have the quality required for this race. With top breeders such as Red Rose, Jessie, Miss Milos, MG780 and superstar Red Ross they are all set for Barcelona in the coming years.