GEERT & CLARA PHILLIPS

of Grembergen, Belgium

by Les J. Parkinson

This is an updated article on these world class fanciers, winners of:

1st National Champion Middle Distance KBDB 2004.

1st Olympiad Pigeon all Round Belgium Porto 2005.

4th National Champion Belgium Yearlings KBDB 2004.

I like to visit fanciers on the continent and one such fancier or should we say fanciers because they are a true racing partnership being Geert & Clara Phillips. There are a few not many but a few things that I have in common with Geert, Firstly we both started in the racing pigeon sport the same year 1970 also we both take on and work with the official side of the sport.

The way we started was somewhat different because I had pigeons as a 7yr old but in Geert's case he started when stray pigeon dropped into the Phillips household. I very much doubt if Geert Phillips could not have even began to realise what an impact that this stray pigeon would have on his life. That was 35yrs ago and pigeons are still playing a major part in the life of Geert Phillips, in fact they are along with his family his life. I have said it on many occasions that we are very fortunate to be in a position to visit so many top lofts whether on the continental or hear in the UK. If you are on the continent this loft at Grembergen is well worth a visit as they have a great record at National level and as anyone will tell you Geert and Clara Phillips will more than make you welcome. We have been there on several occasion's just to see how they are going on during our trips to Belgium and believe me they are an approachable couple whose lives now evolve around pigeons and everything that goes with them. There is no doubt about the fact that they are pigeons through and through with both working very hard at the hobby. As I mentioned at the start Geert is in a similar position to myself where has taken on an official post in the sport Geerts being with the East Flanders Federation as part of his work and one that has taken up in the region of 25yrs of his life. I am fully aware of the commitment that he has to put into that position and the time that it takes to make sure that everything is right, at times this can take you away from what you should be doing with the pigeons.

Geert & Clara are well known around the world especially for their excellent performances in the Bourges National. More importantly their latest performances during the 2004 season when they finished 1 st Middle Distance National Champion Old Birds KBDB. 1 st Olympic pigeon all round Porto. 4 th Middle Distance National Champion Yearlings 2004. These championships are with their 1 st & 2 nd nominated pigeons which brings to the fore just how good they are. No sending bulk and hoping for one out of the blue, their choice birds nominated for the races that matter. In the middle distances races they have now reached the top so it will be interesting to see where they go from here, will they stay the premier loft or will they move to another distance. I don't know because the Middle distance is where they have had so much enjoyment for many years so what every good pigeon fanciers has to ask themselves is there a good enough reason to change. There have been many top lines of pigeons to come from the continent that have become household names and made a big impression on the results. In this case this has been a real success story because Geert & Clara have a good winning National line that they now hold on to however we have seen little of their pigeons on the UK scene, who knows when that will change. When you win the National races there is always a big temptation because of the offers that arrive for them. This temptation came their way and they now admit to making the big mistake of selling the great "Zipa" who won 1 st National Bourges. When these offers come along many sell and that is something that many have regretted doing over the years. Temptation comes your way but that did not happen again because since then their other top National pigeons have stayed in the loft and helped the partnership to establish a National based winning line of their own. There are not many lofts who can boast such an impressive team of pigeons because many of their breeders previously made their name in the race team. Such pigeons as "Jonge Excellent" "Napan" and "Elpa", quality pigeons at their best. Other pigeons worth a mention in the breeding loft are "Sanex III" 1 st National Bourges 2000 and was the fastest of 57.004 pigeons. "lezil" best old bird from Belgium 1999 middle distance. "Lezi" 1 st Semi National Chateauroux and 1 st Provincial Bourges. "Untop" Bourges 2 nd Provincial, Bourges 9 th Provincial, Bourges 13 th Provincial. What about their modern day winners "Olympic Sazil" and "Sanja" real quality pigeons and pigeons that will no doubt follow in line and produce more winners to this excellent family. These are continuing generations of winners from the same line, something that we are all after in a team of racing pigeons. There is no doubt about it; Geert & Clara are one of the very best middle distance lofts on the continent. It is never always easy getting to the top in pigeon racing and even harder to stay there, these fanciers have done it. Geert is now in the half century bracket and started with pigeons when he was 13yrs old and has worked hard around pigeons ever since so he along with Clara do have a wide knowledge of the sport. Good pigeons are hard to come by with this family starting in 1983 with birds from the lofts of Raoul & Xavier Verstraete at that time the pigeons of the moment were the impressive "Zilveren" lines from the "Gouden-Bol-Line" plus the lines of "Monolito" that were followed with the "Panter Line" of Theo Gilbert that went on to produce "Rapido" "Cupido" and "Panter". I remember Planet Bros having the Verstraate pigeons in the 80's which was where my first attention was drawn to them and they are still successful today. Geert & Clara are like any other winning fanciers and always looking to improve so the next move came when they introduced the Hans & Silvain D'Hondt, Romain Legiest and Andre & Patrick De Smet pigeons to build a team to compete at the highest level. Bourges is the Middle Distance race that these lofts prefer to compete in, they are always looking for pigeons to bring into their lofts from the Bourges winners. With this in mind Geert kept up the search to improve his winning team and soon found a good addition via the "Nationaal 1" of Karel Schellens which came through Herbots Bros. The relentless search continued with the next pigeon to come in being from the Jan Withofs "Nationaal" who was paired to a direct daughter of the 1 st World Champion competing in the long Distance events. What made this line that much better was that the dam of this hen is also a sister to the highly rated "Supercrack 327" of Pros Roosen. The foundation was not there with the next few years seeing these lofts breed very carefully back to the Middle Distance Champions and the results started to come with top national performances. However as with all good lofts if it is don e right then you always get to the final hurdle and the results of the last couple of years have been out of the top drawer. A few results include 1 st & 2 nd Semi-National Chateauroux against 7.243 old pigeons, 5 th National La Souterraine. 5 th Semi-Nat Argenton 10,638 Yearlings. 5 th National Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB 1999. 6 th National Champion Yearlings KBDB 2003 etc.

In their excellent seasonof 2004, that ended for this couple from Grembergen with these titles: The title of the 1st KBDB Middle Distance Champion of Belgium 2004 was achieved with the following results. 1st and 2nd nominated 15/5 Dourdan 2nd 1 st . 22/5 Dourdan 1 st 5 th . 05/6 Dourdan 1 st 7 th . 12/6 Dourdan 1 st 6 th . 26/6 Chateauroux 1 st 5 th . 17/7 Bourges 4 th 17 th . For their title of 4 th National Champion of Belgium Yearlings 2004 the results that came into consideration: 1 st & 2 nd nominated, 15/5 Dourdan 2 nd 1 st . 22/5 Dourdan 7 th 16 th . 29/5 Dourdan 13 th 35 th . 05/6 Dourdan 6 th 3 rd . 12/6 Dourdan 9 th 1 st . 26/6 Chateauroux 3 rd 2 nd . 17/7 Bourges 5 th 15 th . The world-class performances that we have already included are just the tip of the ice burgh because there are a few that not a great deal of Belgium fanciers can live with their excellent results. However before extending the results a point worth bringing to your attention is that the success achieved also brought problems. They dominated the middle distance events in their area from Dendermonde to St. Niklaas. This success upset a few and it was clearly very difficult for the competitors to accept that and you can only guess what happened next. In almost all the local middle distance clubs the doors were closed in front of the Philips pigeons. The village of Grembergen became excluded from the clubs' districts! Geert and Clara were forced to switch to middle long distance. This was the chance for Geert & Clara to prepare their pigeons and to take their revenge in sport that had tried to prevent them from competing at their chosen distance. Please note that when reading through the performances of these pigeons they are not repeated, they are the prizes won. Their thirst for the top spot was as ever unquenchable. The first winner came from Bourges in 1992, when ZIPA won 1 st National Bourges against 11,315 yearlings. Afterwards a series of provincial victories followed, with other results being 3 rd National Bourges against 9,759 old pigeons in 1993. In 1996 the 'wonderpigeon' "NAPAN" won 1 st Nat. Bourges 15,131 yearlings! In 1999 "LEZI" and "LEZIL" respectively won 1 st & 2 nd Semi-Nat Chateauroux 7,243 old pigeons, "Lezil" was also 5 th Nat KBDB Middle distance Ace Pigeon 1999. Geert and Clara struck again in 2000 by winning 1 st Nat. Bourges 11,348 Yearlings, this time with "SANEX III" who had previously has won 1 st regional and 7 th Prov Bourges 3,575 p. and on top of that is a grandson of "NAPAN" via his daughter "SANAP" 067/96 whose sire was the "YOUNG EXCELLENT" 670/91. "NAPAN" himself coming from the "ZOON NATIONAL I" 961/93 Karel Schellens x "BEAUTY PANTERKEN" 637/91 is without any doubt one of the leaders in the Philips lofts. He not only won 1 st Nat Bourges 15,131p in July 96 but prior to that also won 2 nd Prov 2,288birds and 23 rd Nat Bourges 10,049B on 26/5/96. Besides being the grandfather of "SANEX III" he is also the grandfather of "SHANBO" 074/01 the 4 th Provincial Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB East-Flanders and at the same time was also ranked the first yearling with the following prizes: 01/6 Dourdan 1 st 22/6 La Souterraine 5 th . FCD 523b 11 th Prov 2,677b 19 th Semi Nat 5.229bb. 174, 29/6 Argenton 9 th FCD, 21 st Prov 5,547b. 83 rd Semi Nat 8.142b. 157, 14/7 Blois 3 rd FCD, 5th Prov 1,684b. 20 th . 27/7 Bourges 1 st FCD, 3 rd Prov 2,205b, 13 th Zone 5,043b, 13 th Nat 13,060b. 34. This is a pigeon that has kept on going for the big prizes with great enthusiasm but more importantly the great "NAPAN" is the grandfather of the "OLYMPIC SAZIL" 183/02 was recently awarded the title 1 st Olympic pigeon All-Round KBDB Porto 2005 (see later notes). Other recent top breeders are "LEZI" and "LEZIL". The "LEZI" 057/97 is a son of "ZINA" 030/95 x "LESINNE II" 751/94. "ZINA" also comes from the "ZOON NATIONAL I" and is therefore a half brother of "Napan", Chateauroux 1 st , FCD, 1 st Prov 1,204b, 1 st Semi Nat 7,243b. 1 st Bourges, 1 st Prov, 1 st 295 p. 1 st Nat 9,091b. 20 th Bourges 2 nd FCD, 8 th Prov 2,668b, 22 nd Nat 15,171b. 89 Blois 3 rd FCD, 8 th Prov 2,086b, 84 etc. These pigeons make their presence felt mainly from the middle/long distance races upwards or on races with 2 nights in he basket. On the very same day that "LEZI" won 1 st Semi-Nat Chateauroux Geert & Clara Philips made it a clear double because they also won 2 nd Semi-National with "LEZIL" 095/97 who in turn is a son of "ZILPAN" 469/94 x "LESINNE I" 750/94 or an own sister of "LESINNE II" who is the mother of "LEZI". "LEZIL" is another fine example of this line and a winner of, Chateauroux 2 nd Prov 1,204b, 2 nd Semi-Nat 7,243b. "LEZI" was first in the clock on this occasion, Argenton 1 st FCD 1,211b. 1 st Prov 5,177b, 1 st Semi-Nat 7,243b. 5 th Blois, 1 st FCD, 2 nd Argenton, 2 nd FCD, 3 rd Semi-Nat 4,470b. 28 th Dourdan, 1 st Dourdan, 1 st Dourdan, with other first as well. His excellent performances won the title of 5 th National Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB 1999 plus winning 1 st Old pigeon. "LEZIL" 095/97 is paired to "SANAP III" 646/00 daughter of "NAPAN" who are the parents of the super pigeon "OLYMPIC SAZIL" 4414483/02, he has only recently won the title of 1 st Olympic pigeon All-Round KBDB Porto 2005 for such performances as, Noyon 1 st , Noyon 1 st , Noyon 3 rd , Dourdan1st, Dourdan 1 st , Dourdan 1 st , Dourdan 1 st , Dourdan 1 st , Dourdan 2 nd behind a loft mate. Dourdan 2 nd , Dourdan 8 th , Chateauroux 1 st , FCD 1 st , Prov 3,542b 15 th . Bourges 2 nd behind a loft-mate, FCD 4 th , Prov 1,785b 33 rd . Blois 6th, FCD 15 th , Prov 1,295b 63 rd . These results are the reason that "OLYMPIC SAZIL" was always the first nominated pigeon that led to winning the title of 1st National Champion Middle Distance KBDB 2004. There is always a second nominated pigeon to achieve a title like that and on this occasion it was "SANJA" who was always basketed as second choice nomination. "SANJA" 429/02 is a son of the "BROER SANEX III" 309/01 x "DOCHTER JACKY" 561/98, direct Herbots from the 1 st Prov Ace Pigeon KBDB. "JACKY" 365/87 x "DOCHTER NATIONAL I" 645/92 is from Karel Schellens and won the following prizes, Noyon 1 st , Dourdan 1 st , Dourdan 2 nd , Dourdan 2 nd , Dourdan 2 nd , Dourdan 4 th , Dourdan 5 th , Dourdan 6 th , Dourdan 6 th , Dourdan 7 th , Chateauroux 2 nd , FCD 5 th , Prov 3,542b 67 th . Bourges 7 th , FCD 14 th . Bourges 6 th , FCD 17 th , Prov 1,785b 167 th . Blois 10 th , FCD 21 st , Prov 1,295b 93 rd . Bourges 4 th , FCD 10 th , Prov 1,555b 28 th , Zone 3,844b 115 th , Nat 10,182b 286 th . Also the famous "ZINA" 030/95 won 1 st , Noyon, 1 st , Bourges, 7 th Prov 1,567b, 28 th Nat 10,605. A son of "ZOON NATIONAL I" 961/93 Schellens x De '518'-DUIVIN 518/92 is equal to his half brother "NAPAN". He is not only the brother of the super champion "LEZI" (see above) but also of the excellent yearling in 2004, "ZIFO" 127/03 out of "ZINA" x "DOCHTER FIGO" 033/02 who is a daughter of the 3rd National Ace Pigeon Middle Distance from Antoon & Hilde Reynaert whose prizes include, Dourdan 1 st , Dourdan 2 nd , Dourdan 3 rd , Dourdan 3 rd , Dourdan 5 th , Dourdan 7 th , Dourdan 7 th , Chateauroux 2 nd , FCD 2 nd , Prov 3,983b 60 th . Chateauroux 3 rd , FCD 6 th , Prov 3,542b 72 nd . Blois 1 st , Prov 1,545b 29 th . Blois 2 nd , Blois 3 rd , Prov 1,295b 40 th . Bourges 5 th , FCD 120 th . Bourges 6 th , FCD 15 th , Prov 1,947b 92 nd . Bourges 5 th , FCD 13 th , Prov 2,306b 39 th , Zone 5,708b 168 th , Nat 14,207b 398 th . This pigeon was always basketed as the first or second nominated and therefore made a big contribution for the title of the 4th KBDB National Champion Yearlings 2004. The good pigeons keep coming but take a careful look at the breeding as well as the results. We also have another great yearling that achieved top results that combined to win the title. "SHAFI" 080/03 off-spring of "ZOON FIGO" 067/02 Reynaert x "SHAPINNE" 091/00 and also a granddaughter of "NAPAN". "ZOON FIGO" comes from the 3rd Nat Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB from Antoon & Hilde Reynaert). "SHAFI" won many prizes including. Dourdan 1 st , Dourdan 6 th , Dourdan 9 th , Dourdan 11 th , Dourdan 13 th , Dourdan 16 th . Chateauroux 4 th , FCD 8 th , Prov 3,983b 71 st . Chateauroux 3 rd , FCD 3 rd , Prov 3,542b 85 th . Bourges 1 st , FCD 3 rd . Bourges 3 rd , FCD 5 th , Prov 1,947b 25 th . Thanks go to Thomas Gyselbrecht for permission to extract the Phillips results from www.pipa.be

The race team consists of 32 widowhood cocks that are paired at the same time as the stock bird in early December with the widowhood cocks not being allowed to rear a nest of youngsters anymore. What used to happen was that the w/h cocks would rear their young but as with any good loft changes are made. In years gone by the cocks would rear their young and when the young were 15/16 days old in the widowhood lofts the hens would be taken away after which the young were left with the cocks for about one week. This is a system that worked well for the partnership and they have never saw any reason to change. However three years ago they did change and that was because they did not go out to win young bird races. That change now means that the cocks sit eggs in early December for 5 days and then are separated and the same routine is done again in March. There are generally about 100 youngsters for their own racing purposes, this is based on the fact they do like to have around 50% of their old bird race team made up of yearlings to ensure that they always have strength in the race team.

Now we know what the pigeons are and how they came about what about the surroundings that they are kept in order that they are healthy for the races that the partnership strives to win. This is where the partnership excels because they have their own racing loft and can therefore spend time with a small team of their own. Geert has a loft measuring some 4.20mtrs x 2mts (see photo) with a total of 20 standard widowhood boxes and as you can see by the photos they are all traditional style lofts. Clara looks after a slightly smaller team of 12 widowhood cocks in a loft of 2.40mtrs x 2.20mtrs (See photo).

Although Geert's loft is bigger he does have it split between young and old birds that has a front to rear corridor between the old and young birds. There is a also another loft where the widow hens are housed along with a few breeding hens that are waiting to be paired, this loft unlike the main racing lofts has the back to front sloping roof. The main race lofts have the pan tiled roofs with skylights which allows the temperature in the lofts to rise with the sun. Also the inside ceiling is fully ventilated which again allows more light through the skylights that in turn allows the rays from the sun to warm the lofts. If it is raining and damp in the air then there is a safeguard of heating via the floor which keeps the lofts dry at all times and all lofts are lined with ply-wood. The floors are also well thought out because this is not a case of one layer and that is that as is the case with most traditional lofts. The floor make up is wood, insulation board, heating system all covered with ply-wood, this ensures that during the critical periods of the year the lofts are always right for the pigeons.

There is a big benefit to Geert & Clara having their own race team because the numbers are manageable. This system also makes sure that they know what is going on with each of the pigeons at all times, it is a case of more observation leads to fitter healthier pigeons. When you enter the lofts you can tell that the pigeons are happy with their owners, the pigeons show their joy when Geert and Clara approach them, happy and contentment goes a long way to making a winning team. Exercise is twice a day starting in the morning between 7 & 8am then again in the evening from 6.30 to 7.30pm. Training for the races is all done prior to the start of the season when they will be given between 6 to 10 tosses to a distance of 70km and that is it. They will not train the cocks once the racing season has started because they believe that if you do then you will need to show the hen. Showing the hen between races only makes the cocks more nervous, therefore they are left alone. The most important part about widowhood racing is having the cocks content and you cannot have them content by messing about all week. The system that Geert & Clara use is based on their experience for Middle Distance racing which is a successful system so why make changes. The one thing that the cocks do have is a bath twice each week providing that the conditions are right. What I believe is a major reason for their success is that the panic buttons do not go out if they are behind in the early races, they stick to their system no matter what. Too many fanciers start to listen to others and make changes if they start off badly and those changes do not very often resolve the problem, therefore when you have made your mind up stick to the system. Racing and winning is all about believing in yourself and having confidence in your birds, as long as they are healthy they will come good in the end.

The youngsters used to be raced on the darkness but that is no longer the case because they are not the specialists with youngsters and they want the youngsters become yearlings on a full natural. There are more an more fanciers limiting their darkness young birds because it has on occasions affected the performances as yearlings. The youngsters are exercised for two hours between 2 & 4pm and when training begins they are given as many training tosses as possible starting at 30 to 35kms. When the racing gets under way the young birds are raced for the first three races naturally but after the third race at 170km they are separated and raced on a semi-widowhood system.

One of the most important things that we have to do with racing pigeons is to get the feeding method right and to any winner their feeding has to be spot on. These lofts start when the birds return from the races on the Saturday when no food is given while the hens are in the loft, however they do have access to the water. Each Saturday the water does have an additive of "Kop Oude" which is from the vet. This is for Trichomoniasis and inflammation of the upper breathing passage and is given every other weekend with the other week being taken up by a tea formula. Being a widowhood racer the hens are in the boxes when the cocks return from the races and are only fed with "Purifying mix" after the birds are separated. Then on Sunday both morning and evening they are given the same Purifying mix and again with either "Kop oude" of tea in the water. Monday morning sees a change when the Elite Purifying mix is enriched with Zell-oxygen plus optimix. A further change is made on Monday evening when they receive a mix of 50% Purifying mix and 50% the new modern Elite system that contains four different mixtures of "Recup" "Energie" "Opbouw" & "Extra". The same 50/50 mix is also used on a Tuesday for both feeds and they have clean fresh water. Wednesday morning again sees the same mix plus the addition of one desert spoon of Armino-vit then in the evening it is 100% of the four combination mix plus the Armino-vit, this same feed is also used on Thursday for both feeds and also the water is the same system. Friday morning which is generally the day of basketing they are given 100% the Four Comb mix and because they know their job they do not eat a great deal, the water is fresh with no additives. During the breeding season the stock birds are fed 50% breeding mix and 50% purifying mix but when they are feeding the youngsters they are fed 100% breeding mix. One thing that they partnership are very careful about is that they only use yellow maize from France during the breeding season. This is done because it is much fresher due to the amount of time the red maize has to travel from America and the extra time in transit will allow fungi to grow. The water for the stock birds is supplemented with a product called "Sedochol" from "Rhone-Merieux" that is made up of "Methionine" and "Choline" this is given to help maintain a healthy liver. This is a great addition during the moult of the birds and helps to maintain a soft silky feathering.

A product that I have seen about on several occasion's is "Altabactine" which Geert and Clara have successfully used for the last 15yrs and see as a 100% treatment against Paratyphoid. They see this as a very good product that makes sure their birds are healthy prior to the start of the season and is given for a period of 8 to 10 days and is also repeated after the season has finished. Other treatments are Ronidazol for five days prior to the racing season starting and the stock birds also receive this same product once per month for three days whether they are feeding youngsters or just sitting eggs. Unlike many lofts there is not a preventative treatment given against worms and Coccidiosis unless the vet has recommended that they be treated. However the Trichomoniasis and inflammation of the upper breathing passage is very important and also used on a Monday, this is a treatment that should be carried out in the proper manner.

Every fancier has a different idea of what they look for in a racing or breeding pigeon in Geerts case he does look for a pigeon that has a good well balanced body and what he calls an expressive eye and top class feathering. If he likes the pigeon that he is prepared to put everything in to get the best out and you cannot ask for any more than that. Geert is also a good worker for the sport and sees one of the main problems being the fact that there are fanciers about who give off negative attitude about pigeon racing. These people are not doing the hobby any good at all and should keep their unwanted negative thoughts to themselves. Genuine fanciers love their pigeons and it is great to be in a position to care about animals that are giving you so much enjoyment, this is the positive attitude that we should put over to others. Pigeon racing in one form or another will still be going in 100yrs time because there are a great deal of fanciers who are interested in the sport to look after it for the future.

Just to confirm that they are a modern day winning loft here are their results from 2004:

1-3       Noyon   181km   old pigeons

1       Noyon   181km   old pigeons

1-2-4-10     Dourdan   339km   old pigeons

1-3-4-5-6-10-11   Dourdan   339km   old pigeons

1       Chateauroux   501km   old pigeons

1-2-3-4-6-7     Chateauroux   501km   old pigeons

1-5-6-8-10     Chateauroux   501km   old pigeons

1       Argenton   530km   old pigeons

1-2-3-4-5-6-9-10-11   Blois     434km   old pigeons

2-4-8-9     Blois     434km   old pigeons

1-2-5-6-7-8-9     Bourges   456km   old pigeons

3-4-10       Bourges   456km   old pigeons

1-2-3-4-5-7-8-9   Bourges   456km   old pigeons

4-6-8-10     Bourges   456km   old pigeons

1-2-5-10     Dourdan   339km     yearlings

3-7-10       Dourdan   339km     yearlings

3-6       Dourdan   339km     yearlings

1-7-9       Dourdan   339km     yearlings

2-3-6-7     Chateauroux   501km yearlings

2-3-8       Chateauroux   501km   yearlings

2-7       Blois     434km   yearlings

1       Blois     434km   yearlings

2-3-6-7     Bourges   456km     yearlings

4-5       Bourges   456km     yearlings

1-3-5-8-10-11-12   Bourges   456km     yearlings

1-3       Bourges   456km     yearlings

Having been to these lofts on a few occasions' we have had a good insight into the way they are around the lofts, their friendly attitude spreads into the birds that show their affection to their owners. This is a back garden loft worth visiting on the continent and one that you are sure to see a National winning family.