The Joe Murphy Column 25/1/19

[THE FIFER]

The Joe Murphy Column

 

 

As many of you know I’m an avid admirer of the De Weerdt family of pigeons and I have personally visited Kortemark in Belgium along with my good friend Guy Reed from the Isle of Wight. This trip has remained in my memory ever since and I often exchange emails with Bernard and speak to Guy on a regular basis. Like many of us in this sport we are either retired or coming towards retirement age.Bernard and his brother Freddy both come into that category with Freddy already retired, and Bernard hopefully within the next year or so. This I feel, may make a difference to the family with the time spent with the pigeons plus the input from the 2 younger members (their son’s). The desired dedication to the birds will bring top positions as usual and the certain degree of consistency will always be there as can be seen by the results over the last 2 years.

 

 

 

I am afan of fellow writer John Clements who has written about DeWeerdt in his famous“Long Distance Pigeon Racing” book. John always seems to try and emphasis overall performances and consistency in pigeons, and takes a discerning look at the results. I favor this view myself, which includes the spiritual, and looking at the big picture of pigeon racing with a positive outlook. For some people, getting a top national position is a lifetime’s work; however staying up there is even harder! In today’s racing though it has become more professional and even more commercial, and this is taking place, with less and less fanciers competing, implying that competition has become more intense. For the De Weerdts family this is an alien environment, as they still simply like to enjoy the sport of racing their birds, they are neither professionals nor commercial.Their goal is to continue to gaining top positions in International races and hopefully they will continue to do so for many more years to come. They will maintain to keep the De Weerdt family name staying into the next generation of pigeon history books. I and Guy wish for them well in 2019 there is no doubt they will survive despite these times of commercialism. Guy still prefers the ‘slow burn’, the ‘cool hand’ and the long term effect of consistency. This requires dedication, love, keen observation and patience which the DeWeerdt family hasi n abundance.

 

The De Weerdt family has stayed within the ideas set out by father Emiel andt his may be considered by some to be out of date. One might only wonder what they could achieve if the birds were given what todays fanciers consider the normal. Others may see them as true gentlemen of the sport, because their birds are raced in a most natural way. By this I mean; they are not subjected to drugs of any kind other than the legal requirement of the PMV yearly injection.They receive no additives of any kind. It is simply, good sound grain mixesl ike Versele Laga, Marrimans Natural and Vanrobaeys etc.: Grit and mineral from Natural Grannen and Natural pick stone when breeding. Occasionally, on a hard days racing, they are given glucose, and THAT IS IT:

 

I remember once asking Bernard about additives like garlic, and he said, 'I know my wife uses it in the kitchen’! The birds are brought to fitness mostly around the loft and short training tosses.They come into natural fitness as the races progress into the summer, and are raced on widowhood. It should be stated that the main difference for the De Weerdt family is that they focus now on the longer distance races and have completely stopped racing young birds, for nearly 30 years now. This means they can dedicate their time to the 10 most important races within their season, and if the truth be known they are even better and more consistent than 40/ 50 years ago. With most of their victories in classic races obtained during the last 2 decades. The main difference is, that during this era no 1^st nationals were won,but plenty of other top positions. We all know that 1^st national victories and public auctions, (which they never hold) put a loft in the spotlight, which means the reader does not always get a fair and true picture of reality. For the working De Weerdts perhaps this is a blessing, as their busy professional life causes only limited leisure time.

 

 

Guy Reed has giving me an update on the family De Weerdt of Kortemark recent results and birds;

 

 

 

Tsjip

 

4^th club Perpignan 2018: he is a grandson of ‘INITA’ 69^th national Barcelona:4^th Best National Barcelona, and half-sister to ‘BIA’ 1^st Provisional 6^th International Biarritz.

 

Great grandson of ‘TED’ and ‘IBAN’ two of De Weerdts finest multiple international prizewinners and Ace pigeons:

 

 

 

Mommy

 

1^st club Marseilles 2018:

 

Great grandson of ‘IBAN’ and grandson of ‘RIBAN’ sire of Pina 3 x International 26th Pau Hens, 136^th Perpignan & 243^rd Agen & full brother of ‘IBAN’.

 

 

 

Siebe

 

1^st club Perpignan. This hen made it the 11^th time De Weerdt have won 1^st Perpignan in what is the biggest club in Belgium.

 

He is a grandson of ‘IBAN’ and a Great grandson of ‘RALDO’, ‘BARCELONA RIK’ 4 xBarcelona & ‘TREES’ (1^st PrimusInter Pares national Barcelona 2003-2004-2005-2006-2007) 5^th National Bourges 23.155 birds: 8^th National Agen 21^st International Agen13,325 birds; Half Brother to ‘ELVA’ 11^th Perpignan 1^st prizewinner in the loft; Half-brother to 2^nd National Bourges A1, 1^st club Chateauroux.

 

 

 

Aagje

 

29^th National Agen 4477 birds;

 

102nd International Agen 13325 birds; 17^th International Agen hens 4563 birds; Granddaughter of ‘STOFFEL’brother to ‘IBAN’ a half-brother to Noel Perion’s 1^st national Barcelona 2^nd International Barcelona.

 

 

 

Andries

 

6^th club Barcelona: sire won 582^nd International Barcelona 25.294 birds;Grandson of ‘BALABAN’ 73^rd International Dax 17.526 birds.

 

 

 

Marie

 

1^st yearling Ace pigeon long distance 2018 in Fond club Kortemark. She is a grand daughter of ‘EMIEL’ 1^st International Bordeaux. Grandchild to ‘ZABA’ 1^st club 14^th National Perpignan, nest mate to‘KINA’ winner of 2^ndclub, 208^th National Perpignan & 37^th National Perpignan.

 

 

 

3033032/15

 

122^nd National Pau 2018 2,581 birds; Son of ‘VINCENT;’(1^st club& 157^th International St Vincent; 176^th International St Vincent (VINCENTis not in the PIPA rankings because of wrong ring number, now in stock) He is ahalf –brother to ‘FAVORI’ winner of 95^th National Marseilles at 8 years old, he previously won 5^th Perpignan and won 2 times Barcelona )

 

 

 

3033311/15

 

5^thclub Barcelona: he is a grandson of ‘IBAN’.

 

 

 

3057032/15

 

28^th club Agen and 6th club Perpignan he is related to the ‘Kave’

 

 

 

Lewsky

 

2^nd club Narbonne; 1^st Ace Pigeon extreme long distance; Sire winner of 61^st National Narbonne: Dam is 515 the 8^th arrival Barcelona hen 2018.

 

 

 

Beloware The PIPA rankings for ‘The Best Single Bird’ in each of the International sat Perpignan, Pau and Agen for 2017 and 2018. Each bird has to be featured in the result for consecutive years to gain a co-efficient to place them in this ranking. The family De Weerdt birds feature in the following:-

 

Perpignan 180 members: featured in this ranking: 95^th bird 3012775-11: 162^nd bird 3033174-15.

 

Marseilles- 105 members: 35^th bird 3161763-16

 

Agen -244 members: 163^rd bird 3057136-16.

 

Pau 85 members: 18^th bird 3007873-14

 

 

 

Above are some of the results for 2018 for The De Weerdt family birds on the Barcelona result we can see De Weerdt was 111^th ranking from 380 members over a3 year period 2016 -2018. These rankings in my opinion show how few birds score on the result more than once from these International locations, which demonstrates the degree of difficulty in the competition, and the fanciers who actually have birds who are capable of such performances. Also fanciers are featured who are not always in the media limelight on a regular basis. Well-known names are of course in the results, but it does show how difficult it is, even for those who are regarded as top fanciers. From Barcelona it is clear only a few who can make these PIPA results, especially on the 5 times ranking list,where there are only 17 birds, and NO fancier had more than one on the list.Many names on this list would also not be so well known to UK fanciers.

 

Forgive me for diverting a little, but as an example for difficulty, the fancier who was 2^nd in the Barcelona ranking for 5 times 2014-2018 is Kristian Vrebos: his bird was 45^th National on 2 occasions and was placed 2^ndin the ranking, with only 2 other birds gaining a higher National position in 5 years. The 1^st ranking bird had a marginal lead on coefficient because he was in high positions in each year. Eric De Meulemeester had the highest open position at 24^th National. Remember this is over 5 years,and this bird was 4^th in the ranking. As a matter of interest only 17 fanciers are depicted in thisr esult. My reason for mentioning this is because it seems fanciers are so often blinded by the light of the media who seem phasis is on the winners. For my money, the consistency of performance is far more important than the one time 1^st position, or fanciers and birds that are glorified through shrewd advertising. In my opinion the PIPA rankings give the reader a perspective worthy of contemplation.

 

 

 

I remember having some Janssen based pigeons once, and they used to eat a lot,and easily got fat if not worked hard. I have noticed that De Weerdts do not,and are easy to get fit. They have a great constitution and you can take liberties with them that you can’t with other family of birds. The De Weerdts are possibly the most related family of distance birds in Belgium. They have also been the backbone to literally dozens of very well-known names in the UK, who have made their name on the base of De Weerdt birds. In the results above, you will find in their pedigrees, all the familiar named birds that are synonymous with the De Weerdt track record. Names like Emiel, Iban, Ted,Masahiko, Inita, Raldo, Joan, Magnus Will, Roxanne, and all traceable back to birds like Spiritus, Liesbet, Anja Filip, Kouros etc.: This is only to mention, a tiny portion of named birds that only received names,because they had high positions in International races. I have heard it said that the DeWeerdts have not had such good results in recent years? Perhaps this is a bit harsh, considering that most would struggle to name fanciers who have an excess of 70 years with International racing. Interestingly,De Weerdt had the best yearling and the best old bird on the extreme long distance in the Club, but also the 2^nd best old bird. WASIEL (In2018 won, 12^th national Ace pigeon KBDB extreme long distance with 39^th national St Vincent 2.798 birds; 25^th national Perpignan 3.966 birds, 2^nd Ace pigeon Extreme Long Distance club beaten by his half- brother LEWSKY, scoring 100% from 5 Internationals 2^nd best bird in the club who did even better than Lewsky although lower ranked. They are also 4^th& 5^th provincial KDBD Ace pigeons and on the other hand WASIEL won 12^th nat KDBD Ace pigeon where he's higher ranked than his half-brother LEWSKY. So we may conclude that rankings are interesting but they need some explanation. Moreover birds like SIEBE (one of DeWeerdt’s best birdat the present time) won 2 top 10 national positions (which is very rare), but you won’t find him in any rankings as it was from 2 different races. I have always been of the belief that ‘Consistency is possibly harder than winning’however the De Weerdt family has done both.

DeWeerdt Family.

 

 

 

Freddie Emiel and Bernard DeWeerdt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TwoStories

 

 

I particularly enjoyed the story of one of Filip’s birds known as ‘THE KAVE’Belge 12 3154686. ‘KAVE’ which is slang for chimney, and you may be wondering how he obtained this name. Two days after the national Poitiers race in 2014 the pigeon did not return from his daily exercise which was very odd considering he had already flown very well in the racing season.Filip was at a loss for his disappearance and wondered if a bird of prey had killed him. Then exactly 7 days later his neighbour came outside, and was looking at his chimney pot, as he suspected that something wild was in the chimney. Freddy assisted his neighbour by opening up the chimney and came across the chequer cock that appeared to be fine,but of course was black with soot. The cock was placed in a nest box and recovered quickly. He completed a very good full moult that year. The family was indeed lucky that this did not happen during the winter time, as the neighbours could have had his fire burning and that would have been the end ofthe bird. The following year, The KAVE was entered into the Agen International but did not win a place. However, Filip was so surprised at how ‘full of life’he was after the Agen race, that he decided to basket him for another attempt at an International race, this time from Marseille. Thee vening weather of the Marseilles race in Kortemark was not good, with dark clouds and drizzle falling. To get a bird on the day was looking less likely,because of the weather. Then at 20-41 hours they saw a flash of wings and onto the loft dropped ‘The KAVE’ to win 1^st provincial, 61^st Belgium national & 168^th International from an entry of 10,104 birds. It may be nice tofinish with another story this time from Bernard about Wasiel and Lewsky. Morethan 30 years ago a young son of FILIP got lost from the roof and was reported by Eric Wasielewsky in France. They did not have the time to collect the bird and sent Eric the ring-card. Eric raced this cock who proved to be a champion.So the following year, he visited the De Weerdt loft and bought a hen to mate with the cock, and they bred him a ‘WINNER’ who won 1^st National from Barcelona in 1997. In 2002, Eric moved to another location and his birds wer auctioned, but because of the old age of national winner he decided not to sell him, but donated him to the De Weerdt family, as a gratitude for all the success he obtained with their birds. They put him in a separate section, and he bred one final youngster, who became the great grandsire of Wasiel and Lewsky. Whilst having dinner with Bernard and Annie and other friends one time, my partner Carol was having some banter with the family and said ‘Come on Bernard its time you won another one, with a big smile on her face! Bernard replied, ‘From Barcelona? How many times do you want me to do it? (This brought lots of laughter from everyone present

 

Now,dear readers, keep in mind they have won 1^st & 2^nd Barcelona International hens, 1^st Provincial Barcelona, 1^st National Barcelona, 2^nd & 15^th International Barcelona Overall, plus dozens of other Barcelona positions, many times in thetop 2%.

 

This story could be continued regarding results and breeding details and I would refer you to an article compiled together with Scottish scribe Joe Murphy that can be found on Elimar entitled ‘Update on the racing pigeon Family DeWeerdtof Kortemark’ by Joe Murphy: Compiled by Guy Reed.

 

 

Scottish Photographs

 

This week I have attached photographs from Jim Hannah with the first ‘RONDY’ raced by Gordon Wilson of Turrif from the north of Scotland who won 1^st North section from SNFC Roye flying 582 miles. The next 2 birds are from the West Caplaw Loft of Liam Byrne with‘VERONICA’S BOY’ winner of 1^st & 4^th section from the SNFC Gold Cup and ‘HIS EXCELLENCY’ winner of 1^st section also from the SNFC Gold Cup.

 

Joe’s Joke

 

An aircraft was about to crash. There were 5 passengers on board, but only 4 parachutes. The first passenger, Holly Madison said, ‘I have my own reality show and I’m the smartest and prettiest woman at Playboy, so Americans don't want me to die". Shet ook the first pack and jumped out of the plane. The second passenger, John McCain,said, ‘I’m a senator, and a decorated war hero’. So he grabbed the second pack and jumped. The third passenger, Donald Trump, said, ‘I’m going to be the next president of the United States, I’m the smartest man in our country, and I will make America great again’. So he grabbed the pack next to him and jumped out. The fourth passenger, Billy Graham, said to the fifth passenger, a10-year-old schoolgirl, ‘I have lived a full life and served my God as best I could. I am content to meet my maker and let you have the last parachute’. The little girl said, ‘That is okay, Mr Graham. There's a parachutel eft for you. The smartest man in America took my schoolbag".

 

 

Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or you can also view onlineeditions on: www.elimarpigeons.comwww.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk - www.Pigeonbasics.com- Pigeon Racing the Basics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.comwww.internationalracingpigeon.com or

 

https://sites.google...alracingpigeon/

 

Who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland

 

 

 

© Compiled by Joe Murphy & Guy Reed

[THE FIFER]