Jan Hooymans and his legendary Harry

Teams in three different countries

Since 2019, the pigeons of Jan Hooymans have been racing in three different countries. To begin with, Jan races in The Netherlands together with Christian van de Wetering, as Team Hooymans NL (Wijk en Aalburg, NL). In Belgium, we have pigeon fancier Gregory Bekaert who is responsible for Team Hooymans BE in Mol, and Jan is also racing together with John Crehan in Great Britain, as Team Hooymans UK (Salford, UK). In addition, Jan is still racing pigeons from his own loft in Kerkdriel as well, where he is competing in One Loft Races across the globe.

New Harry, successful across all lofts

Each of these lofts receives a number of young birds that were bred in Jan Hooymans’s breeding lofts. You won’t be surprised to hear that almost all of these birds are related to the legendary NL07-2007621 Harry. And it is worth noting that his grandson NL14-1219811 New Harry is now playing a key role as well in some of the most eye-catching results of Jan’s satellite lofts. This will become evident when we take a closer look at the palmares of each individual loft.

Jan Hooymans, Kerkdriel

Like we said earlier, the pigeon lofts in Kerkdriel are mostly aimed towards One Loft Races, besides the one day long distance competition. And the Hooymans pigeons have proven to be well suited for one loft racing. They took part in the final race of the Allflight Carnival OLR in South Africa on 9th of August 2019. This race attracts many internationally renowned fanciers. The final race of 648km was a demanding flight, with a velocity of 1.100 m/min. The first pigeon to arrive back home was a blue coloured hen of Jan Hooymans. However, she was a bit hesitant to enter the loft, and so she had to settle for second place in the final. Jan’s second pigeon that day took 19th place, another excellent result.

NL18-5002739 Silver Carnival, 2nd Final Carnival OLR

Unsurprisingly, her pedigree clearly features the invaluable Harry bloodlines. Her sire is for instance a son of Brother Armani (Pieter Veenstra) x Hilde, which is a sister of Harry. The dam of Silver Carnival is a daughter of Harry. Click here for her pedigree. Besides her 2nd place, she also won the following titles:

1st Ace Pigeon International Challenge  (all international entries)
1st Ace Pigeon Grand Average            (all training flights, hotspots and the final)

And the team from Kerkdriel was quite successful in the one day long distance as well. We take a look at a few top 10 placings NPO/Provincial:

NL18-5002031: 3rd NPO   Bourges        5,274 p. (full brother New Harry) see pedigree
NL17-1410221: 5th Prov. Pont St. Max. 15,344 p. (Daughter New Harry    ) see pedigree
NL17-1410154: 7th NPO   Salbris        5,753 p. (Daughter New Harry    ) see pedigree
NL17-1410398: 8th NPO   Chateaudun     2,796 p. (Grandson Harry        ) see pedigree

Team Hooymans BE, Mol

This was the first season in which Gregory raced with a team of young birds in his loft in Mol. And it was clearly a great success, judging from his two top ten placings in the PIPA Ranking Best Young Bird in the national races (4 prizes). Additionally, he was 4th National Champion KBDB in the longer middle distance young birds. He was also 1st Provincial Champion KBDB in the province of Antwerp longer middle distance young birds, and he was second in the ace pigeon championship in this competition. Those are excellent results indeed.

This fourth place in the PIPA Ranking was won with NL19-1022114. The sire of this ‘114 is a son of Harry x his Alexia (1st NPO Chateauroux). The dam is Nikkie, winner of a 1st NPO Orleans in 2018 for Jarco de Jong. She was bred from daughter Blue Brave (through Chr. v.d. Wetering). Click here for the pedigree of the 114. The 8th place in this PIPA Ranking, as well as the title of 1st Ace Pigeon shorter middle distance and 19th Nat. Ace Pigeon longer middle distance KBDB was won by another grandchild of New Harry: NL19-1022203. For the pedigree of this promising newcomer, click here.

Besides, they also won a 3rd National Bourges of 28,446 pigeons (1st Prov. 7,093 p.) with Laura NL19-1022109. The sire of Laura is a son of James Bond (a full brother of Harry), and the dam is a daughter of none other than New Harry. Her magnificent pedigree can be found here. And the 13th prize winner in the national race from Bourges (of 28,446 p.) was in fact a grandchild of that same New Harry, who appears to have exceptional breeding potential indeed. The following top results in national races were all won with descendants of New Harry:

14th Nat. Chateauroux III KBDB 19,529 p. (grandchild New Harry)
37th Nat. Chateauroux III KBDB 19,529 p. (grandchild New Harry)
81st Nat. Bourges         KBDB 28,446 p. (grandchild New Harry)

Team Hooymans UK, Stalford

And the team from Stalford is proving to be a highly successful collaboration as well. John is racing a marvelous group of Hooymans pigeons that have been doing really well. They won 24 first prizes this season alone, including the following victories:

Worcester  768 p.: 1-2-3-4-5-6-etc. (1st prize NL18-305 from brother Blue Brave x daughter Harry x New Stareye)
Worcester  779 p.: 1-2-8-etc.       (1st prize NL17-709 from Son James Bond x daughter Harry)
Tewkesbury 968 p.: 1-5-8-etc.       (1st prize NL17-561 from brother Harry x daughter Dream Pair Mevr. Snellen)

NL19-1022668 Lilly Bear, 1st National Carentan 1,947 p.

The prestigious national race from Carentan (France) took off on 14th of September, and John claimed a national first prize of 2,002 pigeons with Lilly Bear. The sire of Lilly Bear is a son of the fantastic New Harry x daughter Harry and his own sister Alexia. The dam is a sister of Carnival Wonder (the best ever pigeon in the Carnival OLR in South Africa). Click here for the full pedigree of Lilly Bear.

Team Hooymans NL, Wijk en Aalburg

As many of you know, Christian has been racing with direct Hooymans pigeons from his loft in Wijk en Aalburg (The Netherlands) since 2015. And this has proven to be a highly successful project indeed. He even won a title of Best Fancier in The Netherlands WHZB/TBOTB in the highly demanding 2018 season, and he was 2nd National Champion one day long distance NPO as well. He claimed several more great results again this season, winning for instance his second consecutive title of 1st Provincial Champion Sprint Province 7 Central Holland. This championship takes into account all ±25 races of 100 to 500km, involving around 19,000 pigeons from 800 different lofts. He was also 6th National Loft Champion 2019 in the one day long distance NPO. Here are some of his most important pigeons this season:

NL18-5002140 Eva, 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon middle distance 2019 WHZB/THOTB

Eva was a 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon Middle Distance 2019 WHZB/TBOTB, after having already finished in 5th place as a young bird. This means she takes a top-five in the national ace pigeon championship two years in a row. Eva has quite a remarkable pedigree; her sire Brave Star is for instance a half brother of New Harry and Harry Jr.

NL18-5002454 Lieke, 8th Nat. Ace Pigeon Middle Distance 2019 WHZB/TBOTB

Holland’s 8th National Ace Pigeon middle distance, racing hen Lieke, lives in Wijk en Aalburg as well. Lieke is a direct daughter of rising star New Harry (or is he already a proper star?), paired to a pigeon of W.A. de Bruijn, as you can tell from her pedigree. We take a look at some of Lieke’s best results:

 1st Bierges      3,259 p.
 2nd NPO Sezanne 11,709 p. (teletext)
 3rd Lessines     4,097 p.
 7th NPO Roye     5,996 p. (teletext)
 7th Bierges      2,124 p.
 8th Nat. Ace Pigeon middle distance WHZB/TBOTB
 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon YLs    (Comp. De Allerbeste)
20th Nat. Ace Pigeon sprint (Comp. De allerbeste)

NL17-1410612 Brave Harry, 1st National S3&S4 Chateaudun (12,995 p.)

Brave Harry is a son of top breeder Blue Brave, winner of a 17th Nat. Ace Pigeon Sprint WHZB/TBOTB 2015 and now a tremendous breeder. The dam of Brave Harry is a daughter of the phenomenal Harry x New Stareye. Click here for the pedigree of Brave Harry. Besides his 1st National Chateaudun, Brave Harry wins several other top results, including 15 prizes 1:100, as well as several ace pigeon titles:

 6th National Ace Pigeon olds WHZB/TBOTB 2019
 8th National Ace Pigeon one day long distance NPO 2019
10th National Ace Pigeon Allround Allerbeste 2019

In addition to their 1st National Chateaudun S3 with Brave Harry, the team also won a 2nd National Chateaudun. This second national was won with racing hen NL18-5002127, and she is related to a full sister of New Harry. Click here for the pedigree of NL18-5002127. Here are her best results at national/NPO level:

 2nd NPO Chateaudun S3     8,435 p.
 3rd NPO Chateaudun S3/S4 12,995 p.
82nd Nat Nanteuil S3      14,422 p.
67th NPO Roye              5,996 p.
66th NPO Nanteuil

Ambitions come true

New Harry lives up to the expectations: his youngsters and grandchildren have already won the following ace pigeon titles in 2019, even though his breeding career has only just started:

 1st Prov. RPRA UK young birds +250 miles            (grandchild New Harry)
 1st Ace Pigeon Pattaya Int. OLR PIPR 2019           (grandchild New Harry)
 2nd Prov. Ace Pigeon Antwerp Middle Distance YLs    (youngster New Harry)
 6th Nat. Ace Pigeon Allround (Comp. De Allerbeste)  (grandchild New Harry)  
 7th Nat. Ace Pigeon olds (Comp. De Allerbeste)      (grandchild New Harry)
 8th Nat. Ace Pigeon MD 300-500 km WHZB/TBOTB        (youngster New Harry)
 8th Nat. Ace Pigeon GMD YLs Belgium 4 pr. PIPA ranking          (grandchild New Harry)
 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon one day long distance 500-750 km WHZB/TBOTB (grandchild New Harry)
 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon YLs (Comp. De Allerbeste)       (youngster New Harry)
15th Nat. Ace Pigeon YLs (Comp. De Allerbeste        (grandchild New Harry)
20th Nat. Ace Pigeon Sprint (Comp. De Allerbeste)    (youngster New Harry)
22nd Nat. Ace Pigeon 100-750 km WHZB/TBOTB           (grandchild New Harry)
19th Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB one day long distance YLs  (grandchild New Harry)
24th Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB one day long distance YLs  (youngster New Harry)

And here are the best results of 2019 in the different satellite lofts:

 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon MD (300-500 km) WHZB-TBOTB              (Team Hooymans NL)
 1st and 3rd Nat. Chateaudun 12,995 p.                       (Team Hooymans NL)
 1st Nat. Carentan UK       2,002 p.                         (Team Hooymans UK)
 1st Prov. Bourges KBDB     7,093 p.                         (Team Hooymans BE)
 1st Regio Tewkesbury       4,209 p.                         (Team Hooymans UK)
 1st Tewkesbury             1,701 p.                         (Team Hooymans UK)
 1st Lessines               4,097 p.                         (Team Hooymans NL)
 1st Bierges                3,259 p.                         (Team Hooymans NL)
 1st Bierges                2,124 p.                         (Team Hooymans NL)
 1st Open NW Grand Nat. Portland                             (Team Hooymans UK)
 1st Region Hullavington                                     (Team Hooymans UK)
10th Nat. Messac            4,084 p.                         (Team Hooymans UK)
2-2-3-3-5-7-8-9-10 bij NPO/Nat. races 2019                   (Team Hooymans NL)
2nd Prov. Ace Pigeon KBDB Antwerp GMD YBs                    (Team Hooymans BE)
4th and 8th PIPA ranking Best young bird Nat. Races (4 pr.)  (Team Hooymans BE)
And several other first prizes and top 10 placings in important competitions