- donderdag 25 juli 2019
Unfortunately the future of our sport does not look good. Every year there are fewer fanciers and fewer clubs. And consequently fewer birds in the races. Therefore is kind of contra dictionary that more and more money is involved in a sport that is not flourishing at all.
Crazy prices are paid for record birds and even for babies that have not proven anything, only because of its pedigree. It is well-known who are the buyers of those expensive birds: Chinese! But what do Chinese not buy today?
NO PANIC
I personally have no problem with all that money, but there are others. Fanciers who claim that money is killing the sport. They say pigeon sport has become a sport of the elite, the common people have no chance to compete those people that are loaded with money. However…This is far from true.
Lots of those guys that spent fortunes on birds did not find themselves better racers later on. This is not that strange. Even the best pigeons in the world produce junk. All those champions that were so lucky as to have possessed a super racer will confirm this. Albert Derwa is honest with that. He owned ‘Paulien’ one of the best racers ever and it was a renowned breeding hen as well. Albert about ‘Paulien’: This was a good breeder indeed. Every year she gave me a good youngster. ‘A’ (!!) good youngster and no blabla about ‘supers only’.
Furthermore there are numerous examples of fanciers that became great champions without having invested money in pigeons. Louis Stabel and his son Eugene are such people. They race super at short distance, fantastic at middle distance and they are national top at little long distance. They are not interested in fancy names and pedigrees, pigeons that can win is what they want and what they have.
FAMILY
Back in the 80-ies father Louis became more than just average. In those days he was close friends with Mr. Sas from the neighbouring little town of Poppel. When you say Poppel, you say Louis van Loon and this Mr. Sas mainly had van Loonbirds.
Stabel got the van Loonbirds from Mr Sas and Stabel became a well-known name from then on. One bird of Sas, a hen, became the basic bird of the family. No less than 5 descendants won a S-National or Provincial race.
Other good birds Stabel got from locals such as Verhagen van Gorp, in those days a great name, and he got a fantastic breeding hen from Verhoeven, who had direct Janssenbirds. Of course an ambitious man such as Louis never stopped importing birds. When you think you have the best pigeons of the world and need no other birds to improve yourself that is the beginning of the end. Where else than in your own area can you judge best the quality of pigeons? So most birds he imported he got from fanciers against whom he raced. Son Eugene prefers not to mention names since he was successful with pretty many birds and he does not want to forget any.
MIRACLE BIRD
It was in the mid-eighties that Stabel had a real miracle bird. Would this bird have been in the loft of a great name the whole world would know about it. Again he got it from a local (H Verhoeven), and he even got it for free. In the two day races there was no better bird in Western Europe. In 1984 and 1985 it won in races from 1.000 km the following prizes NATIONAL:
- Bergerac National (1984) 15.069 p – 16th
- Sint Vincent National (1985) 19.344 p – 7th.
- Dax National (1985) 13.308 p – 3rd. (from this race it won a car). So ‘Miracle’ is certainly not exaggerated.
AND THEN
In 1989 Stabel won his first serious championship in a big competition and from then on he won one title after the other. Local, provincial and even national. A local title does not always mean much but in this case it is different. Stabel lives in an are that is known for its strong competition. Meanwhile the son, Eugene, also became interested. He raced under his own name and within 2 years he was National Champion youth. Then he joined his father and they became a team. In 1993 they won 1st National Orleans sector (9.569 p).
In the years that followed the father and son partnership only became better and better and to-day they are even National top. They race many birds indeed but the prize percentage is breath-taking in many races. They certainly did not owe the many titles they won to the many birds they raced because for those championships only the nominated birds count. As for result we will restrict ourselves to 2018.
RESULTS 2018
Release station in bold.
Quievrain 4.414 p.: 9,11,30,32,57,60,63,68,71,72,116,135,184,185,193,199,216,228,238,238,240,253 (59/127). This means 59 prizes (1 per 4) were won from 127 birds entered.
Quievrain 4.765 p.: 6,8,22,24,27,28,36,40,51,58,62,66,68,75,78,79,89,100,115,126,128,133,(68/127).
Peronne 5.658 p: 16,33,38,39,45,70,72,73,81,91,95,105,107,117,122,163,164,170,188 (89/127))
Pont St Max 6.373 p:
8,13,20,47,139,193,197,212,224,247,271,308,321,334 … (67/126)
Melun 2.457 p:
8,14,40,42,60,98,107,175,178,185,194,197,201,209,225 (58/122)
Morlincourt Provincial 17350 p: 2,9,22,26,27,29,52,55,104,105,107,112,116,134,136,150,153,155,157,159,228,248,306,319,335,336,351,367,376 …… (81/124) 20 in first 1%
Pont St Max Samenspel HVB 1798 p: 2,8,17,20,37,41,52,54,56,57,64,70,72,74,117,148,168 (35/78)
Issoudun 554 km. Union Rayon 4 1696 p. 12,13,20,28,40,44,64,76,87,116,118,123,146,158 (23/45)
Pont St Max 303 km. Provincial 12.280 p:.
5,7,10,13,14,36,40,47,75,96,111,128,189,190,198,262,265,274,285 (65/110)
Argenton 606 km
Club 285 p.: 1,7,9,13,15,21,23,28.
Union Rayon 4: 1254 p.: 10,21,26,43,51,84,86,105,111,115,124 (21/41).
Take care:
These are not the best results of the last few years, but a summary of ONE year only. Furthermore only prizes won in the first 10% are mentioned!!! Note also the distances: Quievrain is 155 kms. Argenton 606! Talking about all-round birds.
STRIKING
So Stabel is one of those champions that did not invest much money to get birds that are dominating the races so often. Father and son are just a little smarter than most fellow fanciers and keep things simple. Even the lofts are simple, because those guys do not care about luxury. What they do care about is good birds, regardless there origin. Another striking thing is the versatility of the bird. They are typical all round pigeons that can win from 100 km. but also from 600.
IN CONCLUSION
It would lead too far to mention here all their Aces and Winners in a great competition. The loft is loaded with good birds. As for these many fantastic birds, their results, their origin and the off-spring I gladly refer to their site:
The site is both in Dutch and in English. In it son Eugene also describes their racing methods. As you may know to-day they are mainly the hens that are dominating the races in Western Europe. With Stabel this is no different as you may see. Special attention should be paid to the miracle birds Esmee and Romy.
Those birds themselves were ‘once in a lifetime’ racers, but as breeders they were second to none as well. Also the brothers and sisters of Esmee bred numerous winners and her bloodline can be found in many top-racers of to-day as well. The site does not only present their fantastic racers and breeders but is educational as well. Locals say ‘if you want to win a 1st prize, you first should beat Stabel. Father, son and even wife (and mother) are very dedicated and what is ereally important as well. They are honest people !
Once more for further detailed information see: www.stabelduiven.nl
