Jan Hooymans and Piet Broeders
A brief introduction
Jan Hooymans (46) from Kerkdriel is an established name in pigeon racing. He runs a successful fertilizer company that produces fertilizer for mushroom farms. He is a fancier with a worldwide reputation: fanciers from all over the world have noticed his remarkable results. He became a national star in the early 1990s, achieving excellent results and top prizes in the marathon races, especially Barcelona and other ZLU races. In the past ten years he has been doing great in the one day long distance competition as well. His assistant Piet Broeders (57) has been taking care of the pigeons since 2009, while Jan shifted his focus to breeding new pigeons and waiting for the pigeons to arrive home. Piet has full responsibility for the racing team and it is fair to say they are in great hands: this pigeon loft has been more and more successful since 2009.
His top class pair “Het Stamkoppel”
The dream
Jan Hooijmans houses a fantastic breeding pair in his loft. I have visited quite a few lofts as a PIPA reporter but I cannot remember ever having seen such an amazing pair. This pair consists of Jonge Bliksem (a cock of Gaby Vandenabeele) and Dirkje (a hen of Gerard Koopman). Dirkje is the last daughter of Koopman’s Kleine Dirk. This pair has bred excellent racing birds that turned out to be top class breeders as well. After a while they decided to no longer use their descendants in the racing loft but to move them to the breeding loft immediately. This is understandable, as the amount of descendants you can breed from a pair is limited. This basis (the pair and their descendants) is now an integral part of the Jan Hooymans breeding loft and with this collection he wants to realise his dream: turning this into a world famous breeding pair. He wants to show that they breed outstanding pigeons in the first, second, third and further generations. These are the races in which he wants his pigeons to excel:
- the one day long distance races of 500 to 850km (in his own loft as well as in other lofts);
- the race from Barcelona, with pigeons that have 25% stock pair origins
- one loft races worldwide
A closer look at his dream
The one day long distance races of 500 to 850km (in his own loft as well as in other lofts)
The youngsters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of this pair have proved that they are capable of winning top prizes in their home loft. They have won several top 10 prizes as well as important victories. The main goal however is to be just as successful in other lofts. Why? A top quality pigeon should be able to show his talent in more than one loft. If a pigeon can only excel in one loft he might not be that talented after all. Its achievements could also be the result of an excellent caretaker or an efficient approach. “What is the point of having pigeons that can only win prizes in your own loft?” says Jan. “In fact it could even raise suspicion.” That explains why the fancier from Kerkdriel is very pleased to see his pigeons perform well in other lofts. He thinks this is just as important as winning top prizes in your own loft. This really proves the quality of his stock pair and their descendants.
The race from Barcelona, with pigeons that have 25% stock pair origins
Jan thinks the descendants of his pair can do more than win top prizes in the one day long distance. It was his good friend Cor De Heijde who made him aware of this. Jan is now working to create a pigeon breed for Barcelona using Cor’s pigeons. These pigeons will originate for 75% from Cor’s best pigeons and for 25% from his own stock pair. Cor has already won top prizes in the ZLU races from Bordeaux and St. Vincent with pigeons that relate for 50% to the stock pair of Jan, which sounds promising for the classic from Barcelona. Time will tell if the two grandmasters can excel in this race as well.
One loft races worldwide
The third competition in which Jan would like to show the ability of his top pair are the one loft races, which are organised all over the world. He takes part in several races every season and during my visit he was told that he had just won the first and second prize in the final race of the Balkanic Fair Play One Loft Race. This was not his first great result in a one loft race and we assume there will be more to come. Last year he won the car race in the one loft race of South Africa. It seems his pigeons are gaining an excellent reputation in the one loft races as well.
Top results in recent seasons
The very best descendant of Jan’s stock pair is Harry, the best one day long distance pigeon of The Netherlands in 2009. Just take a look at his impressive list of achievements on the picture above.
These are a few of the other successful descendants of his stock pair, which are listed with their best result:
Cees, nestbroer Harry (2nd Blois against 4,829 pigeons)
5th Chateauroux against 5,979 pigeons)
Donkere Herman (3rd Blois against 5,653 pigeons)
Laatje 56 (2nd Salbris against 7,599 pigeons)
Ome Sjaak (4th Chateauroux against 4,604 pigeons)
Cheryl (10th Chateauroux against 5,979 pigeons)
Doutzen (10th Chateauroux against 5,620 pigeons)
Alexia (1st Chateauroux against 5,620 pigeons)
You can read more about this pigeon family on the website of Jan Hooymans.
Several other descendants of this stock pair have won great results. It would be impossible to include them all but we have included a few of them: Arno won a 2nd prize from Nijvel against 8,887 pigeons (a son of Harry) and Kim won a first from Nanteuil against 7,125 pigeons. Kim was bred from James Bond (a son of the stock pair) and Vivian (a hen of Wal Zoontjes).
The stars of 2013
In 2013 Jan had five pigeons with a teletext notation. The first of them (Kleine Mario) won a first prize from Blois against 4,401 pigeons. Kleine Mario was bred from Mario (an inbred to Wittebuik of Gaby Vandenabeele) x Janette (a daughter of the stock pair and the dam of the 3rd pigeon in the Balkanic Fair Play One Loft Race). A daughter of Harry, the 020 from 2012, won a sixth prize in that same race from Blois.
Jan had three teletext notations in the race from Bergerac: he won the first, second and fourth against 1,490 pigeons. His first pigeon was Victor, a cock that was bred from a daughter of his stock pair. The second prize was won by Antwan, a son of Harry paired to his half sister. The winner of the fourth prize was the 056, which is a son of Harry as well, paired to Cavendisch, the best sprint pigeon in the WHZB competition 2009. The impressive achievements of the youngsters and grandchildren of this stock pair indicate that this is quite a bloodline. Keep in mind that we have included only a few of the top prizes that were won over the years.
Jewels of the Sky
Jan will be selecting a few very special youngsters from his bloodlines to be included in the Jewels of the Sky auction on PIPA. This is a great opportunity to obtain a pigeon from this amazing pigeon breed. Jan and Piet, thank you for guiding us around the loft!