2018

We have an update on what has been happening in 2018

The new pigeons that have been imported are:

Gaby Vandenabeeles

Benny Steveninck

Heremans

Please take a look on the website for the new pictures. Just click on the small image to get more information.

Jack Vanderlinden

Previously

I have been reminded by many that an update on results, recent acquisitions and future planning is well overdue.

I would much rather breed quality pigeons for sale and race successfully than talk about results achieved. However, I apologise for being tardy and hope that a brief summary of what has taken place at ADELAIDE PREMIER LOFTS over the past few years remedies the situation.

While I get many calls from satisfied purchasers of pigeons from APL I will mainly focus on high performance in feature races where entrants are trained and raced under exactly the same conditions.

The extremely versatile GABY VANDENABEELE pacesetters continue to excel at the highest level. If success can be measured by demand then success rates are high as demand for this line of pigeons has not tapered off.

The 2010 Australian Pigeon Punt was won by Scott Frame (winning $50,400) with a hen bred off a pair of Gabys purchased at APL. This courageous bird flew 540km into a head wind in 10 hours @ 890m pm with only 9 of the 363 entrants making it home on the day. When congratulating the winner the loft manager praised her saying that she was regularly in the first kit to return to the loft in the tossing programme. The Adelaide $10,000 of the same year flown from Roxby Downs (520 km) was a testing event with the leading pigeons not arriving until early on the second day. The nest-mate hens taking 2nd and 3rd places were bred by Leo Duits, the sire being an APL Gaby. A sister to these hens has been placed 3rd and 9th in SAHPA races. In the same year the bird of the year in the five race Adelaide Pigeon Club was bred by Andrew Muirhead down from Gabys purchased from APL. This cock won two of the events and was placed third in another in both fast and slow velocities. Incidentally, Andrew won t he 2007 Adelaide $10,000 with an APL Gaby. Other Gaby successes include: -- the most recent Hop The Water race flown was won comfortably by an APL Gaby. --The sire of t he winner of the 2012 SAHPA Sires Produce race (winning a car for its owner MV Lofts) was an APL Gaby.

SOUTH AFRICAN MILL.lON DOLLAR PIGEON RACE - flown January 2012. A bbph,the daughter of an APL Flor Engels hen, was an outstanding performer in the races leading up to the final. She was crowned best performed bird in the car races winning US$25,OOO for this feat. The same Flor Engel hen was responsible for Coulston and Clevelands 2011 SAHPA Lyndhurst Open winner when mated to an APL cock acquired directly from Flor Engel. Along with this performance on the world stage there have been many reports of good resu lts with this breed in local competition.

GOLD COAST $50,000
While the prizemoney was good I also got a lot of pleasure from the performance of the APL-bred birds flown in the event by Coulston and Van Derlinden. In summary: race 1 - 3rd of 491 entrants with 5 in the first 20. race 2 - equal 1st with 3 in the first 20. final race---576 km with 302 entrants. Leading bird 8hrs.52mins. with only 11 home on the day. 1st (22 mins. in front) 2nd then 13th 18th 20th 24th 38th on the second day and 48th on the third day at the close of which there were only 54 home. The winning bird was a blending of bloodlines sourced by APL directly from Heremans/Ceusters, Van Dyck and Gust Janssen (daughter of his renowned Olympiade cock). The second pigeon is off the revered Allen Goodger family. These pigeons have stood the test of time and on a given day are still competitive. The Gaby blood was prominent in some of the other six pigeons which made it home.

The HEREMANS/CEUSTERS stock sourced directly from Leo Heremans have been a revelation in the short period of time they have been at APl. Coulston and Cleveland won 1st SAHPA Lyndhurst Derby in 2011 with a daughter of two champion H&C producers which were responsible for 1st 2nd 5th in SAHPA races with the Lyndhurst Derby winner being SAHPA bird of the year. The impact of the H&C has been widespread with successes reported from Qld., NSW and WA.

OTHER NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES ---The sire of Leo Duits 1st SAHPA Coober Pedy 2012 is an APl Van Loon. --2 VRPU Federation winners and 1 VHA Federation w inner in 2012 are the results of purchases from APl.

The van Der Linden loft won the SAHPA short distance points and in doing so won the short distance bird of the year. Van Dyck pigeons were prominent in these results.

VAN LOON ---A son of Premier Olympiade winner of no less than 5 Federation races.

DE RAUW SABLON ---A pair bred in the purple. Sire: Son of Blue Prince Dam: Daughter of Gilbert(see below).

GEERT MUNNIK --The first of this breed will be making their Australian debuts in 2013. Again direct purchases from the breeder who was 1st National champion middle distance Holland in 2009 and has an imposing record in races up to 700km. The Munnik pigeons have earned a reputation for being fast and tough having developed a trait of good decision making which is critical in shorter races with very large entries. APL has two direct offspring of the super star Johnny Boy. The Munniks were specifically sourced to add speed to our middle to longer distance birds.

ERIK LIMBOURG - Regarded in Belgium as "the wonderboy of the Belgian pigeon sport" Erik is the winner of numerous National races and KBDB ace pigeon awards. It wasn't quick and it wasn't cheap but APL secured two pair of pigeons of the very highest quality direct from him. APL considers itself very fortunate to have bought a pair off GILBERT when mated to a sister of EAGLE EYE. Gilbert (2009 rung) won 1st INTERNATIONAL Bordeaux (approx 800 km) in 2010 by 20 minutes against 6686 yearlings and recorded the fastest velocity of the convoy of 13386 birds. In 2012 a son of Gilbert also won 1st INTERNATIONAL Bordeaux yearlings against 11,444 birds. In doing so he flew the 800km at 1300mpm in a little over 10 hours.

The fact that Erik finished 1st 3rd 5th 7th 9th 20th 34th 36th in the race speaks volumes for the outstanding quality and depth of his pigeons.

EAGLE EYE, himself a champion when raced by Erik, was sold at auction a few years ago for
something like 130,000 Euro.

The Gilbert x Sister to Eagle Eye children represent world class bloodlines. The bloodlines of the Limbourg birds to which they will be mated are of similar class.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?
APl is constantly on the lookout for quality pigeons to make available to Australian pigeon fanciers.

I look forward to helping fanciers find a positive addition to their loft.

Yours in the sport
Jack van Der Linden

 

 

Jack Vanderlinden

Breeding section