Maarten Poels (Berbroek) wins 1st Prov. Bourges Limburg against 707 old birds (and the fastest of 1,790 old & yearlings)

Berbroek - Maarten Poels achieved another impressive feat by taking a provincial victory. During the national flight from Bourges, his pigeon managed to take first place against 707 old birds. Moreover, this pigeon was the fastest of 1,790 old birds and yearlings combined. Nationally, this resulted in a handsome 32nd place against 6,713 old birds.

Albert

The winning pigeon, with ring number BE22-5023114, has been named "Albert", named after Maarten's grandfather. "My grandfather was always my adviser and I want to honour him with this. My feeling says that this pigeon will become the new ancestor of the loft, which is why I decided not to play him anymore," Maarten said.

Albert's career started modestly, as a young pigeon he only flew for port. As a yearling, he did not yet immediately stand out as the best pigeon in the loft, but he did manage to regularly rank in the top 10% during speed and small middle distance races but his nest brother did better each time. A breakthrough came during a national race from Châteauroux, where "Albert" was the first pigeon in the loft and finished 37th provincially out of 1,600 pigeons and 4th locally.

This year Albert showed his potential with a 178th place out of 9,487 pigeons from Sens and a 14th place out of 280 pigeons from Bourges. His performance improved as the season progressed, with a first prize locally and a 16th provincial from 1,672 pigeons in Argenton. His brother, with ring number 113, also did well, but had to give way several times to "Albert".

Albert's impressive performances did not stop there. Among others, he achieved a 2nd place locally and a 256th national from 9,753 pigeons from Sancoins, followed by a first place locally and an 8th provincial from 992 pigeons in a new flight from Argenton. His performance culminated in the recent Bourges flight, where he won 1st provincial out of 707 old birds and was the fastest of all old and yearlings combined, giving him 32nd place nationally out of 6,713 birds.

Pedigree

Albert's sire is the absolute top Poels breeder, who himself has won several national top placings against a large number of pigeons and produced the 1st national Chateauroux in 2019. Maarten's 1st provincial winner (74th Nat. out of 10,574 yearlings) on Vivonne this year is also a grandchild of this pigeon. "When an early prize is flown at home, 9 chances out of 10 the "Goedewitveer" line from Clerinx is in it," says Maarten.

Albert's mother is from Marcel Wouters' total sale through EPW, and this pigeon immediately caught Maarten's attention. Maarten, who works at EPW, was given the opportunity to breed a youngster from this hen as he knew this pigeon would sell too expensively for him to buy it himself and the rest is history. Her impressive lineage, with names like Den Ad, Olympic Niels, Di Caprio and De Leeuw in the pedigree, adds to Albert's excellent genetic background.

End of Season

Maarten Poels looks back on the season with satisfaction and is considering a final participation in Bourges with some pigeons, and with his youngsters he will probably participate in the flight at St.-Soupplets for the benefit of Kom-Op-Tegen-Kanker in Limburg. The youngsters were not darkened and will probably be stopped after this flight.

With these successes, Maarten Poels again shows his class in pigeon racing and looks hopefully to the future, where Albert will play an important role in his breeding programme.
Congratulations Maarten, from the entire Herbots team!

Maarten Herbots