Today was the La Souterraine National in Belgium. The birds were liberated into a north east wind which means its on the head for most fanciers especially in the Antwerp Union which are the longest fliers. It also meant the birds had to work hard every meter of the way home and this was reflected in the winners velocities of well below 1200 meters per minute.

Rik Hermans was not working so hard today as he was watching the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa however he had put the work into the preparation of the team for this race and they did not let him down winning really early prizes with old birds and young birds.

The star performer today is a small blue cock now named ‘Kleine Jan’…winning 1st Provincial Antwerp 3rd National Young Birds against 14,315 birds and 4th fastest overall against 17,433 birds. This is an outstanding result into the headwind at one of the longest distances of the day.

‘Kleine Jan’ had previously won this last few weeks as a youngster 86th National Argenton against 23,124 birds and 159th National Bourges against 18,710 birds. So he is quite simply a class act.

As for his breeding that is also top class. His Father is a Brother of NIKE 1st National Bourges 28.078 birds (Kleine Koopman x the sensational Athena) and his Mother is a daughter of FRIENDSHIP 1st National Chateauroux 25,710 birds ( Zoon Harry x Dochter Olympic Niels).

‘Kleine Jan’ has got to be a real star for the future!