The race from Chateauroux IV marks the end of the longer middle distance season 2015. It might sound like a cliché, but 2015 has been yet another marvellous season for Benny Steveninck from Hamme.
He has won an astounding number of top prizes this season, which shows that his pigeon family is currently one of Belgium’s strongest longer middle distance breeds.
His pigeons have won no less than four provincial first prizes, and Benny’s racing birds have also won 5 second prizes and 4 third prizes. His dominance was further demonstrated with 25 top 10 prizes at provincial level!
Benny Steveninck finished in the top 10 in the zone no less than six times, while winning two national top 10 prizes. Keep in mind that the wind conditions were generally not in his favour this season. Despite this, he still managed to win 13 national top 50 prizes and 27 top 100 prizes. Below is an overview of only his best results, which makes for a spectacular list:
Bourges I - Provincial – 4,668 yearlings: 6-9-35-63-68-84-100 Bourges I – Provincial - 3,316 old birds: 2-14-18-23-68 Chateauroux I - Provincial – 5,865 yearlings: 4-9-26-30-33-65-72-99 Chateauroux I – Provincial - 3,751 old birds: 2-4-40-89 Gueret - Provincial – 4,432 yearlings: 3-4-5-13-27-29-43-52-66-87 Gueret – Provincial – 2,829 old birds: 4-9-73-87 Montlucon – Provincial – 3,700 yearlings: 1-11-37-39-60 Montluçon – Provincial – 2,172 old birds: 3-9-15-92 Limoges – National – 8,303 old birds: 9 Limoges – Provincial – 2,201 olds: 2 Chateauroux – Provincial – 4,206 yearlings: 1-2-4-6-9-15-25-41-76-89 Chateauroux – Zone B1 – 5,700 yearlings: 3-7-11-25-33-42-63 Jarnac – Provincial - 623 old birds: 3 Jarnac - Zone B1 – 1,994 old birds: 4-29 Tulle – Provincial – 1,321 olds: 1-11 Bourges – Provincial – 2,388 yearlings: 1-37 Argenton – Provincial – 2,733 young birds: 9-55-65
Chipo bloodline continues to win provincial, zonal and national results in 2015
Chipo needs no introduction. He has developed into one of the leading breeders of modern day pigeon racing. His bloodline appears to have made numerous lofts highly successful, including of course his own loft. Chipo originates from a crossing of Sylvain Verstraete (Dendermonde, BE) x a daughter of 1st Nat. La Souterraine of Eddy Leutenez (Kruishoutem, BE) from his father’s side. The dam of Chipo comes from Johan Van Damme (St. Gillis Dendermonde, BE).
We take another look at his impressive prizes as a racing bird:
In 2003:
1st Prov. Ace Pigeon middle distance young birds KBDB 2003 1st Dourdan 571 p. 1st Dourdan 375 p. 2nd Dourdan 1,316 p. 9th Dourdan 1,268 p. 10th Dourdan 964 p.
In 2004:
1st Dourdan 614 p. 1st Dourdan 231 p. 1st Dourdan 101 p. 17th Dourdan 848 p. 41st Bourges 2,306 p. etc.
In 2005:
3rd Dourdan 217 p. 7th Toury 427 p. 5th Dourdan 194 p. etc.
However, he only started to show his true potential as a breeder, in lofts in Belgium and abroad, and of course in Benny’s own loft. Unsurprisingly, all provincial winners of 2015 are related to the number one stock sire of this loft.
These are some of the most well known youngsters of Chipo:
BE04-4138100 Chihaut 100: 6th National Ace Pigeon middle distance 2006 / 2nd subst. Olympiad Pigeon Oostende Cat. B
BE05-4323998 Chihaute 98: 3rd National Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2008 / 2nd Provincial Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2008 / 4th Provincial Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2009 / 7th Provincial Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2005
BE05-4323999 De Crack: 1st Provincial Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2007 / 3rd National Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2007 / 3rd Provincial Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2006 / 1st Provincial Bourges
The next generation(s) has seen many great champions as well:
BE13-4096962 Sun: 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB longer middle distance 2013 with the following provincial prizes:
La Souterraine: 1st of 3,343 young birds Argenton: 3rd of 3,942 young birds Chateauroux: 7th of 2,728 young birds Bourges: 23rd of 4,099 young birds
Sun is a daughter of a grandson of Chipo x a direct daughter of Chipo.
BE14-4059884 Fantasia: 1st national Tours of 24,097 young birds
Fantasia is another inbred Chipo (grandson Chipo x Granddaughter Chipo)
A full brother of Chipo has showed to be just as talented as Chipo himself. He is the sire of Gueret:
BE08-4216930 Gueret: 1st National Limoges of 16,893 yearlings / 1st Provincial Gueret of 3,067 young birds
The stars of 2015
Again, we will only have the time to discuss the very best pigeons of 2015. Each of these racing birds are of exceptional quality, and are heavily based on the Chipo bloodline!
BE14-4059989 – Symon: 1st Provincial Chateauroux, 5th Provincial Gueret, 6th Provincial Bourges, etc.
This is one of the stars of this season. He won a first prize from Chateauroux II (11/07) against 4,206 yearlings, while finishing in 5th place against 5,700 pigeons in the zone and in 13th place national against 18,658 pigeons. He also won a 5th provincial prize against 4,432 yearlings (62nd national) from Gueret I a few weeks earlier, as well as a 6th provincial against 4,668 yearlings from Bourges.
The sire is Chihaut 99, a son of Chipo. Chihaut 99 won a 2nd Provincial Gueret against 2,345 pigeons, a 10th provincial Argenton against 1,295 pigeons and an 11th provincial Vierzon against 3,614 pigeons.
The dam is a daughter of a sister of Chipo. She won a 14th Argenton 5,950 old birds, a 21st La Souterraine 4,459 pigeons, a 28th Bourges 2,184 pigeons, etc.
BE13-4096716 – Smart Lady: 4th provincial Gueret, 4th zone Montluçon (2014), 11th provincial Chateauroux, 5th National ace pigeon KBDB 2015 longer middle distance old birds, etc.
This top class racing bird won no less than 4 provincial top 40 prizes in the longer middle distance this season. These are her prizes for 2015:
Gueret: 4th provincial against 2,829 old birds Chateauroux II: 11th against 2,202 old birds Argenton: 26th of 2,400 old birds Chateauroux I: 40th of 3,751 old birds
She also won a 4th zonal against 3,494 yearlings from Montluçon in 2014.
Her sire, a direct Bart & Jurgen Geerinckx, was purchasd in a PIPA auction. He is a son of his Miss Magic, 5th National Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2011 and 1st Olympiad Pigeon Nitra Cat. D in 2013. Miss Magic also won a 1st provincial Montrichard 4,409 pigeons and a 2nd provincial Blois 1,357 pigeons.
Her dam is a daughter of De Crack (see earlier), 1st Provincial Ace Pigeon middle distance 2007 and 3rd National Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance 2007, and winner of a 1st provincial Bourges. De Crack is a son of Chipo.
BE14-4059809 Pepchi: 1st Provincial Montluçon, 16th National Tours (2014), etc.
Pepchi was another top quality bird bred by Benny in 2014. He showed his potential in his year of birth, winning a 4th national zone B1 Tours against 3,829 young birds. In addition, he finished in 16th place national against 24,097 young birds.
He continued to win prizes in 2015, including a 1st provincial Montluçon 3,700 yearlings. He had to settle for fifth place in zone B1 against 5,677 yearlings.
The dam of Pepchi is a daughter of the inevitable Chipo. In addition, she is a sister of the 3rd National Ace Pigeon KBDB and the dam of the 1st National Limoges.
BE14-4059828 Jen: 2nd Provincial Chateauroux, 26th Provincial Chateauroux, 27th Provincial Gueret, etc.; 2nd best yearling PIPA ranking 7 prizes and 6 prizes longer middle distance, 11th National Ace Pigeon KBDB 2015 longer middle distance yearlings, etc.
He has had an impressive 2015 season as well:
Chateauroux II: 2nd Provincial against 4,206 yearlings Chateauroux I: 26th Provincial against 5,877 yearlings Gueret: 27th Provincial against 4,432 yearlings Bourges II: 51st Provincial against 2,392 yearlings Argenton I: 60th Provincial against 4,749 yearlings / 50th zonal B1 against 6,099 yearlings Bourges I: 63rd Provincial against 4,668 yearlings Chateauroux III: 27th Provincial against 976 yearlings
He originates from the lines of Houben and Kanibaal from his father’s side.
The dam is a granddaughter of Chipo, bred from a daughter of his son Chihaut 98 (see earlier), or the winner of a 7th , 2nd and 4th Provincial Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively!
BE14-4059856 Chey: 1st Provincial Bourges, 4th Provincial Chateauroux, etc.
This is yet another successful racing bird. Chey won a provincial first prize from Bourges II against 2,932 yearlings, and he was close to a provincial victory a few weeks earlier as well: he then finished in 4th place against 4,206 yearlings, behind two loft mates.
Chey is another inbred pigeon to Chipo. His sire is a grandson of Crack (see earlier), one of the most famous sons of Chipo.
The dam of Chey is Els, a granddaughter of Chipo and daughter of a sister of the 3rd National Ace Pigeon KBDB middle distance and the dam of a 1st national Limoges.
BE13-4096705 Star: 1st Provincial Tulle, 47th Provincial Brive, etc.
Star is another pigeon worth mentioning; he is the winner of a 1st provincial Tulle against 1,321 old birds, finishing in 53rd place in the zone against 3,206 old birds. He won a 86th national prize against 8,621 old birds.
He had also won a 47th provincial Brive against 2,120 old birds.
The sire is a crossing of two Olympiad Pigeons: 1st Olympiad Pigeon Sprint Poland and a daughter of a 1st Olympiad Pigeon Dortmund.
The dam is the last daughter of stock sire Chipo, paired to the dam of a 1st National Limoges and a 1st provincial Gueret.
BE12-4048077 New Lucky 77: 5th best old bird PIPA ranking 7 longer middle distance races, 9th provincial Montluçon, 12th provincial Chateauroux III, 24th provincial Chateauroux II, 28th provincial Bourges II, etc.
The last pigeon in this series is New Lucky 77, perhaps the most talented pigeon in the racing team. This hen has quite an impressive list of achievements. She won 6 provincial 100 prizes in the longer middle distance in 2015 alone:
Montluçon: 9th Provincial 2,172 old birds Chateauroux II: 24th Provincial of 2,202 old birds Bourges I: 68th Procincial of 3,316 old birds Chateaouroux III: 12th Provincial of 544 old birds Bourges II: 28th Provincial of 1,257 old birds Gueret: 87th Provincial of 2,829 old birds
She won the following prizes in 2014:
Gueret I: 6th national zone B1 of 1,101 old birds Bourges II: 12th national zone B1 of 1,193 old birds Montluçon: 30th national zone B1 of 2,162 old birds Argenton II: 15th Provincial of 404 old birds She finished in 28th place in the PIPA ranking longer middle distance 7 prizes
2013 was a great season for her as well:
Issoudun: 4th Provincial of 682 yearlings La Souterraine I: 14th national zone B1 of 1,723 yearlings Chateauroux II: 17th Provincial of 1,130 yearlings
New Lucky 77 comes from the renowned Chipo line as well. She is a daughter of Chihaut 98.
To conclude
The Chipo bloodline has enabled Benny Steveninck to make history in pigeon racing in Belgium and abroad. It would be impossible to list all the fanciers that have achieved great results with the help of this Chipo bloodline, either directly or indirectly. Benny has won 13 top three prizes at provincial level this season alone, with nothing but descendants of this outstanding stock sire. Chipo was a great racing bird himself but his descendants have been even more successful. This new generation has a promising future as well, and it will be a matter of time before Benny Steveninck can add a few more top prizes to his already impressive list of achievements.