Jac Steketee

[Kyleakin Lofts]

Jac Steketee of Bruinisse

 

I have meant to write something about Jac Steketee for a number

of years now but have held back because of his concern over

publicity. That part of the story goes back many years and I will

not pretend to know the ins and outs of it but what I do know, as

a result of that lack of publicity, few in the UK had really taken

much notice of his name until quite recently.

 

The lofts

 

I first came across the name Steketee when I went to interview

Robert Ben and discovered that one of his great pigeons was part

Steketee. Although Robert was quite deliberate in his breeding

plans this part occurred by accident as in 1996 a stray came into

his loft which he clearly liked because he made a note on a piece

of paper and tucked it into the pigeons ring before he released it.

Later he got a letter of thanks from the owner Mr Groenleer and

later still, when Mr Groenleer was on his way to England, he took

Robert six pigeons which were all bred down from Jac Steketee

stock. One of those pigeons turned out to be a great breeding

hen, one of those golden strokes of nature. Unfortunately Mr

Groenleer could not help with the pedigree of that pigeon when I

enquired of him several years later but it became quite clear that

Jac Steketee was a very well know name in the Netherlands

whether he liked publicity or not. So I enquired further.

 

The beginnings.

 

Like many fanciers Jac comes from a pigeon family but his first

hobby wasn’t pigeons at all but fish. He was very successful with

tropical fish aquaria winning many regional titles before he

moved on to pigeons. It is easy to understand this affinity with

water and what lives in it when you see where he himself lives.

Bruinisse is a village on the edge of one of the islands that go to

make up Zeeland, or Sea Land, that coastal area between

Antwerp and Rotterdam. The area is actually a complicated mix

of islands and water where the estuaries of three major rivers,

the Rhine, Scheldt and Meuse finally find their way to the sea. It

has also become a very famous area for racing pigeons.

It was not until the early 1970’s that Jac started with pigeons

himself and it was in 1975 that he obtained stock from a man

who became a firm friend and who’s pigeons left their mark on

many lofts and fanciers from that time, Jan Cools of Nieuw

Vossemeer. Jan Cools of course was a long standing friend of

Jan Aarden and many exchanges of pigeons had taken place

between them which provided a very sound base for the start of

any loft. It was with these pigeons that Jac first flew in the St.

Vincent National of 1977 where he scored highly and he was from

that time hooked on long distance racing. The following year Jac

obtained pigeons from Jo Hendriks of Twello and it was this

blend that formed the basis of his family of birds that has proved

so successful right up to this present day.

 

Picking out individual pigeons to mention can at times get quite

difficult especially here as Jac has had so many but two that

stand out for me are “De Marseille†and “Stayerâ€. Starting with

“De Marseille†NL82-903065 he was a great racer and was 4th

National Marseille, clearly from where he takes his name but

much more important than that is how often he appears in the

pedigree of successful pigeons that followed him in many, many

lofts. The sire of “De Marseille†was NL77-2083788 “De Stam

Doffer†or “De Stamvader†(The Tribe or Clan Cock) from Jan

Cools who appears in even more pedigrees so which do you pick.

 

Agtmaal and clearly these had real blending potential with his

own pigeons. It actually worked out a little better then even he

hoped as one of the eggs produced the Dam of “Stayer†and the

other a very good racer. “Stayer†was an exceptional racer and

crowned National and International Ace Pigeon of the ZLU in

1996, primarily for his performances at Perpignan over several

years. Again you will find him and his close relatives in the

pedigrees of many successful lofts and pigeons.

 

Great families of pigeons do not confine themselves to one fancier

though and for many the test of a family is whether they can

stand the transition to other fanciers. It is perhaps in this regard

that the Steketee family really stand out as they have played their

part in many of the great success stories of recent years

including Piet de Vogel and Frans van Peperstraten. One other

name that is well known in the UK is Jan Polder of Middleharnis

who has won worldwide fame with his performances. Jan went to

Jac Steketee in 1985 and bought 15 latebreds and from breeding

with those pigeons soon shot to fame with pigeons like ‘Witstaart’

(Golden Barcelona bird 1995-1997), ‘Husky’ (International Ace

Pigeon Pau 1998-2002), Black Magic Woman (National Ace

Pigeon Pau 2004 – 2006) ‘Rainbow Warrior’ who won three

National top 10 positions a new record in Dutch pigeon racing,

and then in 2005 ‘Victoria’ won 1st National St. Vincent.

That Steketee blood runs through them all and when we look at

the pedigrees of pigeons like “Nadal†above or his sister

“Doloresâ€, 16th National Barcelona 2005, we see only a couple of

generations back “De Marseille†and his sire “De Stam Dofferâ€.

 

The performance level of Jac Steketee and his pigeons carries on

to this day. Looking at the 2012 Barcelona result we find that Jac

Steketee sent an entry of 10 pigeons and timed 3 in the ZLU

(Dutch National) result. His first pigeon was 10th National, that is

10th from an entry of 6,392 pigeons and 1,159 fanciers and it was

27th International from an entry of 25,320 pigeons. Then if we

look at the 1st Dutch National pigeon, 6th International, for A.

Schults, also from Bruinisse, and we look at the pedigree of that

winner we find, just a couple of generations back, “De Marseilleâ€

of Jac Steketee with of course his sire “De Stam Doffer†and then

in another line a sister of “Stayerâ€. I hesitate to mention it, well

not really as I am very proud to mention it as much for Jac

Steketee as anyone else, but if you look at the pedigree of the 1st

UK National and 475th International in that very same race you

will see just a few generations back that very same “De Marseilleâ€

 

Jac Steketee despite his shunning of publicity has firmly

established himself as one of the most important names with one

of the most influential families of pigeons in the modern age of

International pigeon racing. None of this happens by accident

and certainly you cannot maintain a presence at the top of the

game for as long as he has without great skill. Jac Steketee has

that skill and he has great confidence in his ability and

knowledge but he just doesn’t like shouting about it. He is simply

a very nice man and an exceptional pigeon fancier.

 

Nigel Lane

Jac Steketee 2013

[paddymac]

Another Jan Aarden based family that have flown well.

[BLACK W F]

Another Jan Aarden based family that have flown well.

yes they are a cracking type my mate introduced them from the best of Steketee and Jan Polder a few years ago