Robert Ben, Calais

[Kyleakin Lofts]

Robert Ben, Calais, France.

 

Lately, many voices have bemoaned the tale that money has ruined the

sport. How many of those voices would, I wonder, when a man arrived

at their door offering a suitcase full of cash for their best pigeon politely

send him away with the message they do not sell pigeons. And how

many of those would, when their daughter pointed out that it was a

great deal of money and the pigeon may die the next day, simply

suggest to her that if she wants she should call and ask him to return.

And how many of those would, when the deal was completed, give that

money to their children. Of course all this pre supposes that they have a

pigeon worth a suitcase full of cash, and there are not many of those

around, but “SUPER BEN†the now famous “048†was just such a pigeon

and Robert Ben just such a man.

There have been many rumours about Robert Ben one of which,

probably the most accurate, maintained he was a one pigeon man. Well

if Robert Ben is or was a one pigeon man how is it that in the year after

he sold that “One†pigeon he managed to win 3rd International Dax with

another pigeon and 1st International Hens from Pau with yet another.

These, amongst many other top positions, put him into 5th Place in the

2005 IATP rankings for International racing and that 5th place made

Robert Ben one of only two people who have managed to achieve the

top 20 positions in the IATP ranking in each of the three years it has

now been running. Over those three years Roberts ranking positions add

up to 27 against that other mans total of 39, and this alone stakes for

Robert Ben a reasonable claim to be The Most Outstanding International

Pigeon Flyer of recent times.

Robert is the second eldest of ten children. He was born during the

years following the second war and was brought up, during those

austere times, in humble but happy circumstances within a large and

close family living in Calais. Calais, to the English, means the first step

into France whether by Ferry from Dover or tunnel from Folkestone and

for many years has been synonymous with cheap fags and even cheaper

booze. Calais is of course much more than this, although it has shown

itself very adept at providing appealing shopping for visitors whether

they are just making a day trip or starting out on a much longer journey.

The ferries and harbour are an important element of the towns business

and the enlarged EU has enormously boosted the British/Continental

trade much, if not most of which travels via Calais. If you have an

evening to spare you could do worse than book a table at the “Au Cote

d’Argent†situated right out on the sea front alongside the harbour

entrance where, while enjoying some excellent food, you can monitor

the wide array of ferries that constantly traffic back and forth making

this one of the worlds busiest ferry ports. Fish and fishing have had an

historical importance to Calais and there still is a small fishing fleet but

its near neighbour, Boulogne, has always boasted a larger trade and

modern patterns of fishing have only served to consolidate that position.

Calais over the centuries has attracted many industries from lace to

telecommunications and it is in telecommunications that Robert spent

most of his working life. Though his first job was in the building trade

he quickly moved to spend many years at the large Alcatel factory in

Calais. He retired from that employment a couple of years ago, whilst in

his mid 50’s, under yet another excellent French government scheme

which encourages people to retire early in order to provide employment

opportunities for younger people.

He is now enjoying that retirement and although his income is not great

Robert displays a healthy lack of concern for wealth that only those who

posses little can afford. Robert’s wealth lies within his family and

primarily with his mother, who he both lives with and cares for, and his

two daughters together with their children. The rest of the family is both

large and close and if you are visiting it is not long before one or more

of his six brothers or five sisters comes calling. The other large part of

his life is of course pigeons, which we will come to shortly, but while

they have a great importance for him it is surprising how much of a back

seat at times they must take. If he is up during the night with his

mother for instance, which because of her age and frailty he often is,

then the next morning the pigeons will have to wait until he is ready to

give them the attention they need. Part of the secret of his success lies

here, I believe, because in all of this you will see no sign of brusque,

rigid regularity but instead the gentle, caring hand of intimate friendship

which is as sure as it is sincere.

 

Early years.

 

Robert was brought up within an animal caring family. His father kept

pigeons and so Robert had an early introduction to the sport and while

one of his brothers, Rene, is also currently a pigeon fancier, whose

name you may well see in the international results, another keeps

canaries and yet another dogs. Robert himself began racing when he

was 14 years of age and in those early days was mainly concerned with

shorter races. Over the years he became more and more proficient and

established himself as one of the best flyers in his area.

The thought of long distance was always nagging at his mind though

and especially the draw and appeal that only Barcelona can produce. So

about 20 years ago he made the decision to change and race the

Internationals. He needed new pigeons of course and being the man he

is set out on a totally new course with care and consideration. Robert

doesn’t rush into anything and when it comes to buying new pigeons he

does so with great deliberation. His method, modified by time and

experience, is simple but requires thorough, sound preparation as well

as judgement and it has certainly brought success. Robert likes to

examine the race results, particularly Barcelona, over several years,

three at least, to find somebody that he feels is achieving success but

who is on the way up rather than necessarily at the top of the pile, then

he will go and try to acquire stock. It was this systematic approach that

took him to Holland in 1989 and to Peter van den Eijnden of Deurne

who at that time was the hottest property in International racing.

Roberts first approach was to write letters to Holland but these brought

no useful reply so off he set with a dictionary and a sound idea of what

he was looking for and returned with four van den Eijnden pigeons. One

of these was a blue chequer hen, NL1737311/89, full of the breeding

that was making Peter van den Eijnden famous. She was bred from two

pigeons not old enough at that time to have proved themselves in

International Racing but their parents were from the cream. On her

fathers side her grandsire was NL967148/83 “Geschelpte 48 van het

Bangâ€, a pigeon that Peter van den Eijnden at that time regarded as

one of his best stock cocks being a son of the famous “Het Bang†who

was herself a daughter of the legendary “DE 55â€, while her grand dam

was NL371326/82 “Geschelpte 26†the only pigeon remaining at the

van Eijnden loft of a group of 42 young birds bought from Adrianus v d

Wegen, but one who can be seen running through the pedigrees of the

racing team of that time. On the mothers side the grandparents are yet

another grandson of “De 55†paired to a grand daughter of the “Spin

Aarden 1â€, so you might hope that a hen with this lineage would

produce the goods and of course she did because apart from breeding

some excellent racers she is the grandmother of the greatest racer of

them all the 048, “Super Benâ€

Roberts approach to buying pigeons is deliberate but as you will see luck

has her part to play. So while the “SUPER BEN†was bred by design both

good and bad luck preceded his arrival. Robert went to Peter van den

Eijnden in 1989 and bought his first four pigeons. His plans at that time

spread over several years because he was aware that you cannot throw

anything into the International races and expect success. So he chose

the blood lines he wanted with care and he knew it would take several

years for the young to mature into racers that would be competitive.

He has made several more trips to Holland over the years since and

notably in 1991 bought 21 youngsters from the loft of Mevr. Sprenkels.

In 1993, just as he was about to launch into his first long races disaster

struck when his lofts were attacked and most of his pigeons stolen. To

this day he does not know who was responsible but believes that it may

well have been some local ne’re-do-well who took them for their meat.

In any event he was left with about 20 yearlings and so it was not until

1996 that Robert actually entered the International arena. Even this

late entry date proves interesting because John Clements, the UK’s

expert on International racing who is primarily interested in the top 2%,

states

that he first noticed Robert Ben in 1997, so to come to notice within a

year is quite some achievement and this a year before the “048†was

even hatched. But then the “048†was noticed just as quickly because in

1998, as a young bird, he was placed 283rd from 1,996 pigeons in a race

from Le Mans, 347 km (216 miles) and then 1,894th from 21,652

pigeons from Poitiers, 497km ( 309 miles). As a yearling, in 1999, he

was placed 111th from 2,028 pigeons from St.Vincent, 841km ( 523

miles), and this preparation set him up to make his International debut

in the 2000 season and below you can see just how he performed:-

Distances: Barcelona 1,064 km 661 miles Perpignan 920 km 572 miles

Race Nat. Position Nat. Birds Int. Position Int. Birds

Barcelona 2000 164th 1,731 3,372nd 26,597

Perpignan 2000 3rd 1,765 119th 18,246

Barcelona 2001 3rd 1,590 44th 25,760

Perpignan 2001 21st 1,646 206th 20,859

Barcelona 2002 85th 1,901 2,792nd 26,928

Perpignan 2002 34th 1,664 667th 18,264

Barcelona 2003 2nd 1,835 20th 20,204

Perpignan 2003 3rd 1,515 3rd 16,800

Barcelona 2004 1st 1,933 5th 24,900

Perpignan 2004 6th 1,598 21st 18,192

You can see from this why some mistakenly thought Robert a one

pigeon man, after all with performances like that how many pigeons do

you need, but at the same time this is very much a one man pigeon, a

Robert Ben pigeon. I invite you to speculate how many races “Super

Ben†would have been allowed to compete in after those early

performances in any other hands. I have no doubt that had it been

anyone but Robert Ben this pigeon would have been wrapped in the

security of an intensive breeding programme many years ago. Instead,

because Robert loves his pigeons and racing so much the “048†went on

to achieve probably the greatest set of International racing results that

have or are ever likely to be seen.

 

The lofts.

 

So how was this wonder pigeon bred. On the Dam’s side he is a direct

result of Roberts stock selection methods as his mother is a first

generation product of his initial purchases from Peter van den Eijnden

and Sprenkels. On the sires side there is just the same quality of blood

stemming directly from the loft of Chris van de Velden, whose own

record in International races has been incredibly high and consistent

over many years. While Chris van de Velden has cultured his own very

successful long distance family he has also experimented with the best

Holland can produce in this instance drawing on a blend from the best of

Chris v.d. Heuvel, the famous “De Witbuik†of Bass Battenburg, A.

Kooy’s “De Pau†and a touch more Peter v.d.Eijnden via A.P. Overwater,

yet another of today’s top International racing lofts.

It seems no wonder that this pigeon did so well when you look at the

quality of his ancestry. The v.d. Velden pigeon though came with just a

touch of the luck referred to earlier because Robert did not set out to

buy this pigeon but obtained it from a friend who already owned it. So

after a truly phenomenal racing career the “048†is now hopefully

enjoying his retirement with his new owner Mr Hiroshi Kijima of Tokyo,

Japan.

 

The young bloods.

 

The 2005 season could well have been an antic climax following the

departure of the “048†but when I visited Robert in May I found him

happy, confident and eager for the real racing to begin. He pointed out

a pigeon that he said I should look out for, “Not the “048â€, but a very

good pigeon nevertheless.†he said. His word proved true as it was this

pigeon, F2000-681271 a medium sized dark chequer pied cock that

came racing home to take 3rd International Dax from 11,898 pigeons as

well as 1st National from 1,411 pigeons. While Robert says he is not the

“048†many might think him a worthy successor as just three weeks

before he had taken 213th International Pau from 8,438 pigeons as well

as 60th National from 1,606 pigeons and then three weeks after Dax he

was back to Perpignan where he was positioned 2,656th International

from17,653 pigeons and 179th National from 1,940 pigeons. His full

International career began at Dax in 2002, while he was still only a two

year old, where he took 345th National from 1,396 pigeons then in 2003

he was 11th National Dax from1,336 pigeons and 31st National Perpignan

from 1,514 pigeons and in 2004 he was 96th National Pau from 1,335

pigeons, 35th National Dax from 1,714 pigeons and 353rd National

Perpignan from 1,598 pigeons. You will have no doubt noticed that he

has improved year by year into his fifth year. What does his sixth year

hold I wonder? Again the breeding of this pigeon contains the elements

of deliberation and luck we have seen before. His sire, F98-361057, is a

pigeon who himself gained several good positions from Barcelona and

Perpignan and was bred from NL 91-2393715, one of the original

Sprenkels purchases and grandfather of the “048“, when paired to a hen

from a van de Eijnden - Sprenkels cross, all part of Roberts plan. His

mother was not part of that plan however but as luck would have it she

fitted in perfectly.

F2000-681271 1st National, 3rd International Dax 2005

In 1996 a stray came into Roberts loft from Holland. He tucked a note

through the ring and released the pigeon when fit and as a result the

owner, Mr Groenleer, sent Robert a letter of thanks. Later, when Mr

Groenleer was on his way to England, he called at Roberts home and

took him six pigeons. These birds were all bred down from Jac Steketee

stock and one of them, NL96-2351283, is the mother of Roberts latest

Dax champion. Unfortunately there is no pedigree of this pigeon

available and although Mr Groenleer has searched, whilst in the middle

of moving home, he cannot trace the exact parentage. Jac Steketee of

course is a very familiar name on the International scene and is

responsible for a long succession of high achieving pigeons both raced

by himself and many others. He has established over many years a close

knit family which not only produce winners themselves but seem to

blend well with many of the other long distance families of the moment

and Steketee blood can be found in many of the Dutch champions.

F99-268713 1st International (Hens) Pau 2005

The other principal performance of 2005 came from F99-268713, a small

to medium blue chequer pied hen, when she won 1st International Hens

Pau from 1,665 pigeons, 21st open International from 8,438 pigeons and

18th National (which includes 5 pigeons flying too short a distance to be

recognised in the International) from 1,696 pigeons. On her previous

excursion to the Pau International, in 2004, she had been placed 90th

National from 1,335 pigeons, so on this occasion a pigeon still improving

in her sixth year. This hen results straight from Roberts planning. Her

father, NL96-1202172, is a one of four pigeons Robert bought on

another of his trips to Holland when he went to Lei Kurvers of Hulsberg

in 1996. This cock was paired to a hen, F98-361085, that Robert bred

from the same Sprenkels cock mentioned above, NL91-2393715, and

another product of Eijnden/Sprenkels, F92-810434, a pairing which has

produced a stream of pigeons to put in multiple performances at

Barcelona like F99.268719 for instance.

F99-268719 3rd National, 170th International Barcelona 2005

In the 2005 International Barcelona race this compact little dark chequer

cock was 170th International from 25,815 pigeons and 3rd National from

1,920 pigeons. This is the second time he has achieved 3rd National

from Barcelona, the previous occasion being 2003 when he was also 54th

International from 20,204 pigeons finishing just behind his loft mate the

“048†himself who was 20th International. In all this cock has flown

Barcelona on four occasions, getting into the prizes on each occasion,

and also has 10th /1,598 and 39th/1,514 National to his credit in the 2004

and 2003 International Perpignan races respectively.

 

Methods.

 

I know that many would like to hear that by giving two drops from this

bottle and one from that each day for a fortnight you will produce an

International champion, but that is not the story that comes from Robert

Ben. It is actually very difficult to define what it is that makes Robert

such a successful champion. Much of what he does seems to defy most

accepted teachings. He doesn’t have a strict routine and if you listen to

his daughter, Virginie, she will tell you that he is quite disorganised so

much so that on occasions he forgets there is no food left and the

pigeons have to go without for a day or more until she is able to fetch

some. Robert cannot drive and does not have a car so he is dependent

on friends and family to ferry him about, the only independent means of

transport he uses, apart from “shanks ponyâ€, is his bicycle.

Consequently he has no real training schedule and the pigeons actually

get very little training at all. Then there are the lofts. Robert keeps what

some would consider quite a lot of pigeons as he likes to send a team of

30-40 cocks to Barcelona. The lofts are hardly big enough for the

number of pigeons he wants to keep, because if you want a team of 30-

40 for Barcelona you have to keep a lot through the earlier stages of

their lives just to qualify on age let alone performance. Much of the

available space he has is devoted to these racing cocks limiting the

space available for yearlings and two year olds who do not get a nest

box, are not paired and lucky if they ever get to see a hen in those

years. The young birds, which in some years are raced but in others

not, are kept amongst the breeding pairs for most of their first year

while the widowhood hens are confined to a space beneath the house,

which is only just adequate for their needs. As for food, well the birds

are fed but when I asked if the food was measured out Virginie nearly

collapsed with laughter, seemingly begging the question - could her

father be that organised, so no they are fed in hoppers with food before

them most of the time. Please do not draw the wrong impression from

this because you cannot cultivate a loft full of International champions

or bring up such a charming and talented daughter as Virginie if you are

completely disorganised. Robert loves his pigeons very much and cares

for them extremely well just as Virginie loves her father very much and

is only able to speak of him in this way out of a close, familiar respect.

She is well aware, as am I, that his easy going appearance stems from

the very high level of competence and confidence he has. Like many

great men in their field he is so comfortable within his environment that

little seems to worry or hurry him. He may well temporarily forget where

he has put something, and don’t we all, but in the back of his mind he

knows full well what it is and what its value is. As far as pigeons are

concerned Robert is very well organised and maintains a detailed ledger

containing all the details of his pigeons, their breeding, their

performances, and any other information he sees fit. Most of this

information he also holds in his head and he can reel of pages of detail

which all bears up well to scrutiny against the written record.

 

The system

 

So how does he do it? There is no doubt that a principal feature lies in

stock selection. Robert obtains the best blood he can from the highest

achieving International lofts. He then breeds from this stock often

crossing new introductions with his more established lines and then tests

and proves the progeny over their first two years of life by sending them

to a number of races. While they are sent to several races in this time

they are not strained nor are they expected to turn in great

performances because this is also a period when he allows them to grow

and develop. Robert primarily races widowhood but in these first years

the cocks are not given the extra stress of pairing, mating and rearing

but are allowed to develop with plenty of food and exercise within that

friendly, competitive environment found in any group of young males.

During this time they are not sent to any great distance and while they

are not expected to turn in great performances he keeps a careful eye

on them nevertheless, and the good generally start to show.

As three years old they will be paired for the first time but they do not

rear. The racers are paired at the end of March, and sometimes when he

was working this would be delayed until early April, they are then

allowed to sit the eggs for 10 days before being separated and put onto

widowhood for racing. As three year olds they will be expected to

perform, although not necessarily to the highest level, because as the

performances above show these pigeons mature with age and

experience and are likely to improve through their fourth, fifth and even

sixth years.

As part of the International team, the main part of which is geared to

the Barcelona-Perpignan combination, they would be expected to fly

several preparation races. In 2004 for instance this consisted of Breteuil

150km (94 miles) on 11th April, Montesson 225km (141 miles) on 18th

April and Chateaudun 320km (200 miles) on 2nd May before going onto a

two weekly cycle of Bourges 430km (269 miles), Limoges 570km (356

miles) and finishing with Tulle 630km (393 miles) on 12th June. This left

a two week rest before Pau and three weeks before Barcelona. In 2005

he refined this slightly by starting one week later and taking out the

Limoges race. While the Pau team went to Bourges on 21st May with a

three week gap before Tulle on 11th June the Barcelona team instead

went to St. Junien 570km (356 miles) on 28th May before Tulle. This

means that the pigeons are flying some 2,325km (1,453 miles) in

training races before their International programme. The actual racing

team consists of one section of 25 widowhood cocks, a second section

of 20 widowhood cocks and a third section of eight widowhood cocks, all

three year and older pigeons that race the full programme. There is then

a section of 10 single hens, which again are older pigeons, who race the

programme and finally a section of 40 younger cocks, yearlings and two

year olds, which are kept single and race the preparation races to put

themselves in contention for a nest box in the widower sections in their

third year. The pigeons are flown around the loft for an hour twice each

day but as he says they do not fly all of that time and he does not keep

them flying with a flag or any other device. Instead they have a period

of unfettered freedom when they can take off and land as they wish.

Feeding is simplicity in itself as they have a normal commercial mixture

to which very little is added and they eat as they wish. Grit and mineral

blocks are available at all times. The theme really is one of contentment

and familiarity, plenty of food, good exercise and relaxation which all

engenders a love of home and no doubt a strong desire to return to it.

 

The future.

 

If he could Robert would like more space both to provide more room for

the pigeons he has and to expand slightly the number he keeps. He has

no great ambition to have wildly expansive lofts but just feels that with

a slightly larger team he could better participate in the whole

International programme. He does incredibly well as it is though and I

think the one thing we can all take away from his experience is that you

do not have to be have vast wealth or the latest and most expensive

equipment, or assistants, loft managers, use drugs or excessively

expensive additives, but you do need good pigeons. Robert has

established himself as one of the very best International flyers in Europe

and I am sure he will have many more happy years sitting out on the

steps by his backdoor smoking furiously and timing in pigeon after

pigeon after pigeon as his team returns triumphant yet again from

Barcelona, Perpignan or anywhere really that he cares to send them.

 

Nigel Lane 11th October 2005

[fieldwalker]

Interesting😀