Eddy & Maarten Leutenez (Kluisbergen) winning Argenton National Zone as the icing on the cake !
25 Aug 2022
Those who don't know the father and son combination Leutenez in the pigeon world, have probably spent a few years on another planet. They wrote history in Gavere, Semmerzake, Kruisem and now in Kluisbergen. Eddy and Linda still live in Kruisem but since the season 2022 they are not actively participating in races anymore. The breeders find their home there and this way an important step has been taken in a plan that had been in the making for several years. Maarten rather unexpectedly succeeded his father as a passionate caretaker and racer. Eddy, who for health reasons should not come too much in direct contact with pigeons, got a more than worthy successor. The knowledge and experience of Eddy could be put to good use in Maarten's project. Linda and Eddy in cooperation with Maarten take care of the breeders in Kruisem. Meanwhile Maarten and his family built a beautiful house in Kluisbergen (Ruien) and the pigeon sport was at its height in this new place. Some years of transition were started under the name of Milan Leutenez but after the auction of most of the old racers, they started racing since the season 2022 under the name of Eddy & Maarten on the lofts in Kluisbergen. The circle is round again !
Reculer pour mieux sauter !
....is a beautiful French pronunciation. We take a few steps back to make a wide and strong run-up to the next jump. This is pretty much what has happened in the past two years. This year a restart was taken in Kluisbergen with youngsters and a (rather limited) team of yearlings. Maarten and Eddy are still fond of the youngsters as their beloved branch within the pigeon sport. The youngsters have given them so many good results in the past and so much pleasure that it is in their blood. However, nothing prevents them from shining with old pigeons and hens as well. They have proven this more than enough in the past. For the season 2022 they had set themselves two targets, namely the game with young pigeons and the day long distance and very long distance with yearlings. The season was started with 10 yearling cocks and 10 yearling hens. Within this team, 4 cocks were predestined for the very long distance races (Agen and Narbonne). And this small but strong team did more than excellent. These pigeons flew in a hard season, characterized by always hard weather, a beautiful palmares together.
On a local level this resulted in :
- 1st Tulle
- 1st Brive
- 1st Narbonne
- 2nd Agen
- 2nd Libourne
Provincial
- 2nd prov Tulle 2,010 b
- 4th prov Libourne 833 b
- 10th prov Agen 1,799 b
- 12th prov Brive 1,459 d
National top 150 national on every race with 2 times top 10 national. A very strong list of results !
28/06 : Tulle (594km) : 10th and 185th National against 6,842 yearlings
02/07 : Agen (787km) : 19th national against 7.331 yearlings
09/07 : Brive (642km) : 29th and 179th National against 5,885 yearlings
23/07 : Souillac (669km) : 143rd and 189th National against 4,637 yearlings
29/07 : Narbonne (848km) : 149th National against 6,013 yearlings
06/08 : Libourne (724km) : 10th National against 2,992 yearlings
All this resulted in some very nice rankings (of the currently known championships) :
- 12th National Ace Pigeon yearlings KBDB 2022
- 13th National Champion Pond yearlings KBDB 2022
The two strong yearlings that provided this result are :
- Bolleke Ace (BE21-4145155)
Bolleke Ace is a breeding product of a cock of (late) Alain Van Den Driessche (Sint-Lievens-Esse) coupled to the own basic strain.
12 NATIONAL ACE PIGEON LONG DISTANCE KBDB YEARLINGS 2022 !
CO-WINNER 13 NATIONAL CHAMPION (1+2) LONG DISTANCE KBDB YEARLINGS 2022 !
1 Club Tulle 135b. 594km 2022
2 Prov. Tulle 2.010b.
7 Nat. A2 Tulle 2.359 b.
10National Tulle 6.842 b.
1 Club Brive 131 b. 642km 2022
4 Club Brive 214b.
12 Prov. Brive 1.459b.
18 Nat. A3 Brive 1.819b.
29 National Brive 5.885b.
3 Club Bourges 674b. 420km 2022
35 Nat. A3 Bourges 3.521b.
213 National Bourges 24.221b.
6 Club Souillac 72b. 669km 2022
74 Prov. Souillac 1.312 b.
95 Nat. A2 Souillac 1.737 b.
189 National Souillac 4.637 b.
6 Club Argenton 356b. 484km 2021
8 Club Argenton 440b.
60 Nat. A3 Argenton 3.816 b.
6 Club La Souterraine 201b. 524km 2021
7 Club La Souterraine 212b.
62 Nat. A3 La Souterraine 2.337b.
11 Club Sermaises 312b. 290km 2021
28 Combine Sermaises 1.332b.
- Opolleke (BE4145210)
Opolleke is a breeding product from a brother of the top breeding pigeon De Poitiers of Marc Adam coupled to the own basic strain.
17 NATIONAL ACE PIGEON LONG DISTANCE YEARLINGS – 4 RACES – PIPA RANKING 2022 !
2 Club Libourne 39b. 724km 2022
4 Prov. Libourne 833b.
7 Nat. A2 Libourne 1.006b.
10 National Libourne 2.992b.
6 Club Tulle 135 b. 594km 2022
6 Club Tulle 137b.
72 Prov. Tulle 2.010b.
149 Nat. A2 Tulle 2.359b.
185 National Tulle 6.842b.
7 Club Souillac 72b. 669km 2022
102 Prov. Souillac 1.312b.
129 Nat. A2 Souillac 1.737b.
278 National Souillac 4.637b.
7 Club Sermaises 232b. 290km 2021
7 Club Sermaises 312b.
21 Combine Sermaises 1.332b.
The youngsters are doing excellently
...the love for racing with young pigeons has also borne fruit in the 2022 season. From the start it was clear that the schwung in the team was and this resulted in very nice results. Until today no less than 10 first prizes were won including 1st National Zone Argenton 3,459 b, 2 times 1st Scheldeverbond from +/- 1,000 b. Also on every provincial race they played leaders such as 5th Provincial Orléans 7,205 b., 8th Provincial Orléans 7,205 b., 10th Provincial Montoire 3,781 b. etc. And what was somewhat to be expected (although this is more easily stated than realized) was that they would still bang on the national flights with the youngsters. Remember Oscar's 1st national Argenton a few years back?
Last weekend's Argenton announced itself as a rather tough flight. The pigeons had one more night of basket to deal with and the weather was quite tough for young pigeons.
But the Leutenez colony was on the roll, more than on the roll....
1st national Zone Argenton !
They came quite quickly on the radar of the entries with a real top pigeon and it appeared that this would remain a top performance. This top pigeon resulted in 1st club, 1st national Zone A3 and national 12th prize out of 22,869 pigeons.
But this was only the forerunner of a beautiful result that was put down by the young guard on this national race :
- Argenton (484km) : Club : 365 d. : 1-2-3-8-11-12-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-24-27-... (38/74)
- Argenton (484km) : Nat. A3 : 3,459 d. : 1-13-25-73-110-113-138-143-144-147-166-177-179-180-188-...
- Argenton (484km) : National : 22,869 d. : 12-72-120-...
In the preparatory flights to the national Argenton it was clear they were ready for it :
Pont St Maxence (175km) : Club : 286 d. : 1-2-3-4-4-6-7-8-9-9-14-15-16-17-22-23-27-28-... (60/75)
Pont St Maxence (175km) : Club : 367 d. : 1-3-4-5-5-7-8-9-10-16-17-18-19-25-26-...
Pont St Maxence (175km) : Combine : 1,143 d. : 1-22-25-26-26-28-40-41-42-42-71-73-78-…
It is the young cock Sergio (BE22-4108936) who takes care of the zonal victory at Argenton. He comes from the old Bollekeslijn/Gilbert of Erik Limbourg on his father's side coupled to a Herbots hen from the line of Big Boss x Marcella (1st nat Argenton). A successful combination of these two top lofts.
BE22-4108936 “SERGIO” :
1 Club Pont 286b. 175km 2022
1 Club Pont 367b.
1 Combine Pont 1.143b.
1 Club Argenton 356b. 484km 2022
1 Club Argenton 365b.
1 Nat. A3 Argenton 3.459b.
3 Prov. Argenton 5.661b.
12 National Argenton 22.869b.
4 Club Bourges 283b. 420km 2022
4 Club Bourges 296b.
26 Nat. A3 Bourges 3.368b.
51 Prov. Bourges 5.931b.
165 National Bourges 23.847b.
Another youngster that stands out above the others is Eagle Oscar. Several times he was already at the top in the current heavy season which emphasizes his class. He is a son of a full brother of the 1st national Argenton Oscar.
BE22-4108802 “EAGLE OSCAR” (FROM BROTHER “OSCAR” ) :
2 Club Toury 90 b. 308km 2022
2 Club Toury 124b.
10 Combine Toury 312b.
2 Club Orleans 333b.
3 Combine Orleans 1.106b. 335km 2022
5 Prov. Orleans 6.814b.
5 I.Prov. Orleans 7.205b.
4 Club Montoire 391b. 384km 2022
10 I.Prov Montoire 3.781b.
4 Club Pont 286b. 175km 2022
5 Club Pont 367b.
26 Combine Pont 1.143b.
15 Club Pont 396b. 175km 2022
18 Club Pont 497b.
60 Combine Pont 1.578b.
18 Club Argenton 356b. 484km 2022
18 Club Argenton 365b.
147 Nat. A3 Argenton 3.459b.
231 Prov. Argenton 5.661b.
That old strong Bollekes base
It is the old strong base of top breeding hen Het Bolleken that continues to do it today. Every top pigeon of this year is a descendant of this famous hen. In her wake, as a strong sire, we also find Oscar, who as a former national winner Argenton passes on his strong genes. Grandchildren of Oscar already flew 1st price in the Scheldeverbond of 885 pigeons and the 72nd national on the past Argenton is also a grandchild Oscar.
The old strain (read Het Bolleken, Milan, Oscar, Alaphilippe, Trapke etc...) has been successfully completed with pigeons from Alain and Dirk Van Den Driessche (pigeons that were bought on the total sale of this colony some years ago), Erik Limbourg, Marc Adam and friends of the house Jo and Raf Herbots with whom they have been exchanging pigeons or breeding together for some years. Also long distance icon Emiel Denys completes this list. Emiel bought Trapke (all-round topper) from Eddy and Maarten and descendants of this, coupled with Sophia (1st international Narbonne with Emiel) are at the basis of the success this year in the long distance, namely Agen and Narbonne.
In summary, we can safely call the 2022 season for the Leutenez loft very successful. It was rebuilding and that was done successfully. Once again a proof that the old basis, here and there completed with some talented contributions, has all the talents to perform at the top.
There are still some nice flights to go, but with these results and rankings this can be called a grand cru year.
Congratulations from the Herbots team!
Geert Dhaenens
