Zwartje Kenji
The provincial first prize winner Zwartje Kenji (BE13-2063150) owns her name to the fancier Kenji Schmitt, who passed away last year. The pigeon was born in Kenji’s loft in Averbode, before moving to Tessenderlo last season, along with all other young birds of the first and second round. The reason was that Kenji had decided to no longer compete in races from his own lofts. It was no coincidence that the pigeons were moved to Tessenderlo, because Kenji had worked in Guido’s lofts in late 2012 and early 2013, taking care of a team of young birds together. Zwartje Kenji has won the following prizes this season:
31/05/14 Bourges I prov. 52/2871
07/06/14 Sourdun club 7/1586
21/06/14 Montluçon prov. 16/1900
30/08/14 La Souterraine II CFW 18/1179
07/09/14 Guéret II prov. 1/293
nat. 19/2429
She is an original Kenji Schmitt that originates mainly from the bloodline of Lichte Vic (BE92-6617819), the super class breeder of Patrick Claes. Both the sire and the dam are grandchildren of this breeder. The dam of Zwartje Kenji has a proven record as a breeding hen; she is for instance the dam of Goodnight Gracie, winner of a 35th and 60th national and a 9th in the zone. Click here for the full pedigree of Zwartje Kenji.
Provincial quartet
The winning hen finished behind one of her loft mates in four consecutive races at provincial level, and these finished high up in the national ranking as well. Here is a quick summary of these successful pigeons:
Halfsister Rossini (BE12-5060663)
The provincial success story started with the 663/12 Halfsister Rossini. This blue coloured hen won the following prizes in the national race from Châteauroux on 9 August:
Provinciaal 750 olds: 2nd Nationaal 4316 olds: 4th
She also won a 3rd provincial old birds and a 28th national 3184 old birds in the race from La Souterraine three weeks later. She has had quite a season:
24/05/14 Gien prov. 4588 olds: 7 31/05/14 Bourges I prov. 3143 olds: 35 07/06/14 Chateauroux I prov. 2280 olds: 58 21/06/14 Montluçon prov. 1508 olds: 166 12/07/14 La Souterraine I CFW 1363 olds: 52
We are not surprised about her achievements, given her impressive pedigree. She is a grandchild of Blauwe Bliksem x Violette from her father’s side, and this pair has proved its value in many different lofts. Their grandchild Rihanna won an Olympiad Title for Thibaut-Boons (Sombreffe, BE) in 2013, while another grandchild called Gina won the title of 1st National Ace Pigeon Longer Middle Distance for Deno-Herbots (Leefdaal, BE) in 2008.
She is related to quite a few provincial first prize winners and to the line of Vandenabeele (Wittenbuik) from her mother’s side. Her dam had already bred Rossini, national winner from Argenton 2007. Her great-grandfather is stock sire Pantani, winner of a first national Bourges II 1998. In fact nearly every Loockx pigeon is related to him. You can find the full pedigree of 663/12 here.
Valencia (BE12-5060572)
One week later the blue coloured cock Valencia, 1st prov. and 12th nat. Ace Pigeon longer middle distance yearlings 2013, put in an impressive performance as well:
Provincial 630 olds: 3 National 3671 olds: 8
He performed equally well in the race from La Souterraine two weeks later:
Provinciaal 521 olds: 10th Nationaal 3184 olds: 51st
He is also related to the lines of Pantani and Vandenabeele, just like Halfsister Rossini. His sire is a half brother of Kai-Mook, 1st Olympiad Pigeon Middle Distance Poznan 2011. His grandmother from his father’s side is a daughter of the 1st national Bourges II yearlings 2004 and a grandchild of Pantani. The dam of Valencia is also related to the Vandenabeele breed, and she is also a Pantani descendant. Valencia earned his place in the breeding loft after two excellent seasons as a racing bird. Unfortunately, he did not return home from the season’s final race from Guéret. This was particularly bad news for Guido, who will only add olympiad pigeons to his breeding team straight away. All other pigeons have to earn their place by performing well for several seasons.
Kai-Mook, 1st Olympiad Pigeon Middle Distance Poznan 2011
Halfsister Mrs. Blue Sky (BE11-5035191)
Guido’s chequered 191/11 managed to take a provincial top three prize in three consecutive weekends, while excelling in the race from Tours on 23 August:
Provinciaal 368 olds: 3rd CFW 1098 olds: 1st Nationaal 3947 olds: 5th
Guido also won a 9th provincial and a 20th national with this 101/13.
As you can tell from the name of this chequered hen, she is a half sister of Olympiad Pigeon Long Distance 2009 Mrs. Blue Sky from her mother’s side. She is also a great-grandchild of Pantani via her sire, which means she originates from nothing from the best. Click here for the pedigree of 191/11, which also includes the list of achievements that enabled her to gain a place in the breeding loft.
Another pigeon that illustrates how well the bloodlines from Tessenderlo combine, is the BE11-5035112, a full sister of the 191/11 we mentioned earlier. She can now spend her days in the breeding loft after a successful racing career, along with her sister. Her last feat came in the national race from Châteauroux on 9 August:
Provincial 750 olds: 4th National 4316 olds: 7th
Halfsister Rossini, Valencia and Halfsister Mrs. Blue Sky, along with Zwarte Kenji, are the successful quartet that dominated the provincial competition for five weeks, winning several top three prizes in Limburg.
Goods and bads
Guido can look back on a successful second half of the season, with several pigeons performing at a top level. However, the first part of the season has been quite disappointing. “It started going for the worse after the race from Montluçon on 21 June, after which every single race has had its issues: a release from Argenton at 12:10 in bad weather, a release from Guéret on Monday with an exhausted team of pigeons arriving home, and pouring rain throughout the race from La Souterraine.” Click here for an overview of Guido Loockx' best results of 2014.
The highlight of his season was without doubt the 1st provincial prize from Guéret, which was a crowning achievement after a number of excellent weeks. Unfortunately, the loss of his provincial ace pigeon Valencia spoiled the mood for him. Perhaps he will be somewhat more forgiving in the future when it comes to selecting racing pigeons for the breeding loft?