They have won again. Who? Heinz-Josef, Dirk and Heiko Freialdenhofen. Their victory was not that much of a surprise, as we have been reporting about this pigeon loft and their impressive achievements on a regular basis. I really enjoy writing about the kind people behind this pigeon loft and their super class pigeons. I still remember my first visit to Aldenhoven, when I got the chance of taking a closer look at their legendary Forrest Gump.
The international race from Agen
Let me first remind you that The Netherlands and Germany have had a separate release from Agen this year. The organiser of the international race from Agen, Bordeaux Télévie, had decided to lower the minimum distance for Agen in 2015. The ZLU, which brings together all the Dutch pigeons for the international races, believed that the race was increasingly trending towards a long distance race, and they hence decided to organise a separate release. Germany eventually joined them. This is why we had two different releases for Agen this season: a) the international race with French, Belgian and English pigeons, and b) a race for Dutch and German pigeons only.
This separate release will be a topic for debate among fanciers and organisers for weeks to come. The two releases did not take place at exactly the same time: The Netherlands and Germany released their pigeons at 6:30am, whereas the Belgian, French and English racing birds took off at 7:00 am.
The largest group was released at 6:30 pm, which had a total of 12,869 pigeons, consisting of 11,688 Dutch pigeons and 1,181 German pigeons. Belgium, France and England had basketed a few less pigeons, with a total of 10,150 racing birds.
Our article focuses on the joint release of Germany and The Netherlands, where the international first prize was won by the loft of Verweij-De Haan. They clocked their winning pigeon at 18:07’13” over a distance of 947.337km. He was the fastest of 12,869 pigeons with a velocity of 1,358.74 m/min.
It was once again the pigeon loft of Freialdenhofen & Sons that managed to win the national first prize in Germany. They clocked their national winner at 17:35’59”, having completed 859.722km with a velocity of 1,290.91 m/min. He finished in 11th place overall against 12,869 pigeons. The second pigeon of Freialdenhofen landed less than a minute later, at 17:36’11”. He finished in 12th place overall with a velocity of 1,290.52 m/min. The Freialdenhofen family had basketed 45 pigeons in total, and 25 of them managed to win a prize – an impressive result for the Freialdenhofen loft.
Their national winner is 06348-13-595, which has already won a 26th national prize from Agen against 1,348 pigeons with in 2014. Their second pigeon was 6348-14-914, another one year old. We assume you have been wondering about the origins of both these prize winners, and you guessed it right! The two pigeons originate from the bloodline of the inevitable Forrest Gump, the main topic of today.
Son Forrest Gump, national first prize winner
They are both related to the line of Forrest Gump! The national winner from Agen, 06348-13-595, now called Son Forrest Gump, is a direct son of Forrest Gump. His dam is Fenna, a hen of Murk & Son, and she originates from one of the best long distance breeds in The Netherlands. Fenna was bought in PIPA’s online auction in 2013. This hen won a 2nd NPO Bordeaux against 2,465 pigeons in 2010, she was 7th Ace Pigeon WHZB, and she won a 60th national Brive against 13,361 pigeons. The reason why she was selected as one of the partners of Forrest Gump, is the fact that she is a nest sister of the international winner from Bergerac against 6,919 pigeons in 2009. As you can see, only the very best pigeons will get a chance of being paired to Forrest Gump. This shows once again that the Freialdenhofen fanciers are excellent fanciers and breeders. Click here for the pedigree of Son Forrest Gump.
Son Forrest Gump, 1st National Agen Germany 2015
Grands Forrest Junior, national 2nd prize winner
The pedigree of second national Grands Forrest Junior 6348-14-914 is quite interesting as well. His sire is Son Forrest Junior 06348-12-137 and he is an inbred pigeon of Forrest Gump: his sire, Forrest Junior, is a grandson of Forrest Gump, while his dam, the 06348-08-912 is a granddaughter of Forrest Gump. This is an impressive pedigree indeed.
The dam of Grands Forrest Junior is a sister of Pozzato, NL 06-1437042, of Wijnands & Son.
She is a top class breeding hen, being the dam and grandmother of several national first prize winners and international champions. In addition, she is the sister of the 1st international Bordeaux 2004 against 9,001 pigeons. She is also related to several excellent bloodlines. Click here for the full pedigree of Grands Forrest Junior.
Grands Forrest Junior, 2nd National Agen Germany 2015
Forrest Gump, ace of aces
We think there is no reason not to consider him one of the very best breeding pigeons worldwide. This pigeon has bred an astonishing number of first class descendants, including both racing birds and breeders. Forrest Gump is a pigeon with sensational breeding value.
We included a few of the many top quality descendants of Forrest Gump 06348-00-789 in the loft of Freialdenhofen. His son 06348-05-420 Son Forrest Gump is the sire of Forrest Junior 06348-10-196, international winner of Pau 2012. Forrest Gump originates from the old basis of SG Freialdenhofen & Sons, which is a combination of the lines of the Saya brothers from The Netherlands and Yves Van de Poel/Buckley (Geetbets, BE). The dam of Forrest Junior was a daughter of Carcassonne, 06348-07-616, which has bred great descendants as well.
Forrest Junior has also been paired to Sister Pozzato NL 06-1437042 of Wijnands & Zoon, the dam of the first national Bordeaux 2009 against 1,451 pigeons. Feel free to take a closer look at the pedigrees of the national first and second prize winner, just to get an idea of the breeding strategies of Freialdenhofen. It is partly thanks to their excellent strategy that this loft has been so successful in the extreme long distance. Forrest Gump has bred an additional seven youngsters this season, which means he is still very much alive. He is kept in a nest box and he gets a lot of attention. It goes without saying he does not have to raise his youngsters on his own.
The Freialdenhofen family has obviously not just won national first prizes; their palmares includes several international top results as well.
Their best results at international level
We take a closer look at their most impressive results in the extreme long distance over the past ten years:
1st International Dax Euregio 1,132 p. 1999 1st International Montelimar 979 p. 2000 1st International Bordeaux 1,785 p. 2003 1st International Marseille Euregio 1,180 p. 2004 1st International Barcelona Euregio 1,280 p. 2009 1st International Perpignan Euregio 700 p. 2010 1st International Tarbes Euregio 438 p. 2010 1st International Pau 8,399 p. 2012 1st + 2nd International Bordeaux-Agen Hens 2,517 p. 2014 2nd International Bordeaux Hens 1,202 p. 2008 2nd + 3rd International Bordeaux Agen yearlings 8,845 p. 2014 3rd International Bordeaux 9,686 p. 2002
We at PIPA would not be surprised to see the Freialdenhofen pigeon loft take another major victory in the course of this season.
