The
Van Der Velden Strain
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The
subject of this article is one of the best European
distant pigeon racing strains at the present
time as results over the years confirm. Mention
the name however to the most knowledgeable fancier
and the response is usually a blank. Perhaps
this article may change all that. The van der
Velden partnership of father Chris and son Jap
live at the small village of Zuid-Beijerland
in the Netherlands, in an area which apparently
was won from the sea.
Chris started the sport a few years after the
second world war in 1948 and except for approximately
a decade of time he has always had pigeons since.
Always flying in earlier years with a good pigeon
latterly he has concentrated solely on the overnight
races and this dedication in a later partnership
with his son Jap has borne fruit. For the van
der Velden's have won many races indeed too
numerous to mention but which includes five
1st Dutch nationals.
The latter firsts were as follows: 1st nat.
Barcelona 2003; 1st nat. Mont de Marsan 2002;
1st nat. Bergerac 2000; 1st nat. Cahors 1996;
1st nat. Carcassonne 1994. Yes nationals won
within the period of approximately the last
ten years and not ages ago. Of which one was
enough to bestow national glory within the archives
of Dutch distant pigeon racing. Following upon
the families decision to concentrate upon the
overnight marathon classics in 1987 the loft
has gathered 1st inthe 'Keizer v.d Grote Fond'
(ZLU) Championship in 1992. But better achievements
lay upon the horizon for the van der Veldens
won the prestigious European Cup in 1995. Of
course the winning of the Dutch national from
Barcelona in 2003 was the creme de la creme
of their success so far.
The family has also registered twenty four times
in the first ten national prizes and one hundred
and thirty six times in the first one hundred
national prizes since winning the European Cup
in the mid nineteen ninetees. For about 15 years
prior to 1992 the van der Velden strain was
being formed based upon what has become known
as 'the Bleu' or the 'Old Blue Strain'. The
roots of this important aspect of the van der
Velden enterprise comes from about 1977 when
Chris bought pigeons from a D van Solingen from
Oost - Voorne. The latter birds were of the
Aarden and Stichelbaut bloodlines and an important
result of this buy was the birth of 'De Ouwe'
in 1978. The latter was the founding base of
the 'Blue Strain' for he turned out to be a
great breeder after winning 36th Netherland
national from Barcelona in 1981.
In
fact as a breeder of national prize winners
' De Ouwe' must rank among the top five in Western
Europe. This progenitor's descendants have already
won: 1st- 1st- 1st- 1st- 2nd- 2nd- 2nd- 3rd-
3rd- 3rd- 4th- 5th- 5th- 5th- 6th- 7th- 7th-
9th- 9th- 9th- 11th- 11th- 11th- 11th- 11th-
11th- 12th- 12th- 12th- 12th etc., national
prizes.
The
are many other outstanding representatives of
the Blue Strain in the van der Velden lofts
which also contributed to its development but
eventually like all master breeders because
of the possible negative effects of a too close
regime of inbreeding a programme of carefully
selective crossing was initiated. The latter
involved pigeons from the cream of European
lofts such as Batenburg and Son; Ch Vanoppen;
A Damen; K Ouwerkerk; and Th. Degens And most
importantly the crosses have been very successful
which is the basis for further overnight successes
from Barcelona and other marathon distances
in the future.
In
conclusion I look forward to the further development
of this strain because I believe that it is
one of the most exciting developments in the
world of long distant pigeon racing in modern
times.
by: Liam O Comain
