Further reading on Sylvain Verhestraeten

Sylvain Verhestraeten (Herentals, BE) thrives with descendants of Channel nr 1 and her sons Jaguar 004 and Pichanel

by Jorgi Ferrari on 07/01/2019 & added to in July 2023

Sylvain Verhestraeten won a 1st National Chateauroux of 12,071 pigeons in 2013 with racing hen Channel Nr. 1. This national victory also led to the discovery of an invaluable new bloodline in Herentals, in the form of her sons Jaguar 004 and Pichanel.

This national victory from Chateauroux in 2013 also led to the discovery of a fantastic bloodline, which the fancier from Herentals has put to good use. Sylvain explains how he went about it: "Chanel Nr. 1 (BE13-6084890), our national winner, and Picasso (BE12-6095595), our 20th National Ace Pigeon KBDB 2014, were both sold in late December 2014 through PIPA. These talented two pigeons moved to the loft of two great champions, namely Freddy and Jacques Vandenheede. Their investment proved an instant success, as two direct youngsters of Chanel Nr. 1 claimed a title of 7th and 14th National Ace Pigeon KBDB for the Vandenheede brothers!"

"On top of that, Fausto, another son of Picasso, became 4th National Ace Pigeon Long Distance KBDB 2016 for team Vandenheede", Sylvain adds.

(See report later on in this article from 2023 Bourgers on the Vandenheede Brothers, it shows that Sylvain’s pigeons are still making a HUGE impact in the brother’s loft and performances!)

Pichanel

Sylvain is super successful with the descendants of Chanel Nr. 1 in his own loft as well. She was paired to Picasso when she bred none other than Pichanel, BE14-6135073.

"The two breeding birds Chanel nr 1 and Picasso were paired once more in late November 2014, just before the PIPA auction. It was then that they bred Pichanel, which was a true gift", Sylvain remembers.

Pichanel was quite a gift indeed; his descendants have had some fantastic results over the years in Herentals:

His son ‘The Playboy’ BE18-6048677 is one of the pigeons with which Sylvain won a 1st Provincial and 3rd National Champion Sprint KBDB 2018 young birds. The Playboy wins 9 prizes per ten as a young bird, including:

3°-1744; 10°-2143; 14°-1451; 20°-2795; 33°-1504; 42°-2384; 43°-2096

Another son  ‘The 78’ BE17-6063578

This son of Pichanel had a bit of trouble in the 2018 season, despite a great start: he won the following prizes from Quiévrain in the first five weeks of the season:

1st 241 birds; 2nd 360 birds; 3rd 231 birds, 15th 2,093 birds

Unfortunately, when he was about to arrive home from a flight in the sixth week of the season, he was attacked by a goshawk in mid-air. It happened right before Sylvain's eyes. "Fortunately, he was able to break loose from this aggressive bird of prey", Sylvain recalls. "However, I saw that his entire tail wing had been pulled off. It took him five weeks to fully recover, and on 24th of June he claimed a 6th of 256 pigeons." Sylvain continues: "He had re-gained his confidence on 22nd of July, when he went on to win a first prize of 402 pigeons. I submitted his results to the KBDB and he still managed to get a 28th National Ace Pigeon Sprint KBDB 2018."

Grandson of “Pichanel” is ‘Piccolo’ BE17-6063441 wins :

1st Prov Ace KBDB Sprint 2019; 4th Nat Ace KBDB Sprint 2019; 1st Ace S.O.T.E.O 2019; 4th Ace S.O.E.T.O 2018, winner of 6x1st Prizes from Quievrain (NO duplicates) :

1st 897 birds; 1st 890 birds; 1st 839 birds; 1st 805 birds; 1st 567 birds; 1st 525 birds 

‘Piccolo’ BE17-6063441 has gone on to be sire, g.sire and g.g.sire of many winners for Sylvain and others.

One direct son is ‘Young Piccolo’ BE-19-6111040, he was :

2nd Prov Ace KBDB Sprint 2020, 6th Nat Ace KBDB Sprint 2020, scoring the following prizes, all from Quievrain  :

2nd, 2,681 birds; 2nd, 2,594 birds; 3rd, 2,198 birds; 10th, 1,666 birds etc ….

Another son of “Pichanel” is the Soixante-Neuf BE18-6048669 claims two first prizes and 11 prizes per 10 as a young bird:

1-298 (3-2143); 1-205 (5-1660); 12-2384; 34-2305  etc …

He goes on to win 1st Prov Ace S.O.E.T.O 2019; 2nd Nat KBDB Championship 2019

1st Quievrain 1,731 birds; 5th Quievrain 717 birds; 5th Quievrain 675 birds etc …..

Bang up to date and yet another son of “Pichanel” is the “617” BE-22-6148617 he claims 1st S.O.T.E.O 14thMay 2023 from Quievrain, 1,141 birds, winning by a clear 22mpm !!

Jaguar 004

Chanel Nr. 1 was also paired to stock sire 002 (BE05-6075002), and together they bred Jaguar 004 (BE14-6135004), which is now one of Sylvain's top breeders, alongside Pichanel. Jaguar 004 became 5th National Ace Pigeon KBDB in 2016, and in 2017 he claimed the title of 1st Olympiad Pigeon Sprint in Brussels! Jaguar 004 wins seven clear first prizes over the course of his racing career.

With such talented pigeons in his breeding loft, it was no surprise that new top class pigeons would soon emerge. And that is exactly what happened in Sylvain's loft: Jaguar 004 is now the sire and grandfather of several top class birds that have won many, many top prizes in the very competitive Tienverbond Union …..

‘Jacko’ BE-17-6063543 was raced by Sylvain as a young bird only, he scored some good prizes, including 2ndNoyon, 2,694 birds, but Sylvain thought that this cock’s future was at stock, so he soon retired him to the breeding loft.

The dam of ‘Jacko’, was bred by Dirk Van Den Bulck and carries all his best bloodlines, such as “Blauwe Leo”, “Broer Goede Rode”, “4000 Hen”, “Van Loeck Duivin” etc ….

This pairing proved to be an INSTANT success …

‘Sylvain then paired “Jacko” onto a pigeon he had from Jan Breockx (partnership of Breockx Neils), he calls her the “Broeckx Hen” – these are a SUPER breeding pair !!!

This pair bred the 1st Ace Prov S.O.E.T.O of 2019, a pigeon called “Kitano”

A super racer (and better breeder) :

1st, 1,231 birds; 2nd, 675 birds; 2nd, 645 birds; 3rd, 890 birds; 3rd, 483 birds …

‘Kitano’ won 1st Ace S.O.E.T.O Sprint 2019 – being a g.son of ‘Jaguar 004’

“Kitano” not only raced super well, he also started breeding winners for fun!!  Paired onto a hen from “The 41” of Gert Heylen x full sister to “De 002” first came “Lisa”, she won 1st Noyon, 2,465 birds as a young bird. The nest-mate brother to “Lisa” is BE-20-6111027 ‘027’, now called “Blue Turbo”, he was an ABSOLUTE superstar when racing as a yearling !!

He won the following prizes, all from Quievrain :1st, 2,434 birds (winning by a clear 2 minutes);  2nd, 3,026 birds; 2nd, 1,712 birds; 4th, 1,205 birds; 5th, 1,666 birds; 9th, 2,559 birds; 9th, 1,191 birds; 9th, 1,012 birds (no duplicates)

2nd Nat Ace KBDB Sprint 2021 (with a better co-efficient than the 1st Nat Ace KBDB)

Jagi 005

Jagi 005 is the full sister (nest-mate) of Jaguar 004, and she turns out to be almost just as talented as him.

She is the dam of many TOP pigeons, such as Blue 54, BE17-6063554. This racing cock claimed a title of 1st Ace Pigeon in Noyon in the Tienverbond Union with the most prizes won. He wins 15 prizes in 15 races, including:

1st, 630 birds; 2nd, 586 birds; 12th, 644 birds; 13th, 2,485 birds; 14th, 458 birds etc …

Just to prove what a fantastic first cross the Breockx pigeons are with Sylvain’s bloodlines, Blue 54, BE17-6063554 was paired to the “Breockx Hen” in 2019, to breed “Het Jubeleeke”, a blue pied hen, paired to a cock of Jan’s from the ‘Olympic 306’ line, she bred : BE-21-6083637, as a young bird a winner of 1st, 392KM, 847 birds; 14th, 392KM, 864 birds and 19th, 136KM, 971 birds etc ……  for Jan Breockx.

Another super pair of breeders on the Verhestraeten loft in 2021 / 2022 is “Dictator” (son of Pichanel, bred in 2020) when paired to “Witpen Jagi” (daughter of Jaguar 004, again bred in 2020), this top pair, bred in 2021 “Vivaldi” – he won 1st Ace S.O.T.E.O Young Birds 2021 :

The nest-mate to “Vivaldi” is “21/133”, as a yearling he won 1st Quievrain, 239 birds, then a few weeks later won 1st Quievrain, 927 birds !!

Another full brother to “Vivaldi” is “Duccatti 227” – this cock as a yearling won the 1st Prize in the very competitive local Herentals Club THREE weeks running !!!!

“Vivaldi” was paired onto “Lisa” in 2022 and they bred “514”, 1st Quievrain, 359 birds ..    in the very first years breeding !!

It's also worth noting that these results have been won in the HOTBED of sprint racing in Belgium !!

Competing against some household names, such as :

JOHNNY PANIS; VAN DIJCK DANNY; COOLS JOS; SMOLDERS HARRY;

MARIEN F. & K.; DONCKERS JOHAN; VAN DEN BULCK DIRK;

BOECKMANS GUSTAAF; DANNY DOCKX; PATRICK BOECKX;

KRIS VAN MASSENHOVEN; DONCKERS-VAN VUGT  to name just a few …

Other references  :

The original “Chanel No.1” – 1st National Young Birds Chateauroux, 12,071 birds 

Dam of “Pichanel” and “Jaguar 004” – once in a lifetime pigeon

Chanel No.1 is from the Jos Claes family of pigeons, that will sprint and also go that bit further on hard days, all round pigeons, Chanel No.1's g.g.sire is a cock called "Den Opa", he won 15x1st's (he was a sprinting sensation, one of the BEST ever pigeons to race in the Antwerpen Union) and his children bred winners for fun. 'Chanel No.1' won 1st National Young Birds from Chateauroux with over 12,000 birds - she went on to breed some fantastic racers and breeders.

Other references  :

The original “De 002” – BASE BREEDER – sire of “Jaguar 004”

Sire of over 50x1st’s and g.sire of at least 7 x ACE pigeons