Jos Thoné, National Champion KBDB young birds

Author: Guy Baerts

Edited: Pipa

The national championship for young pigeons in the national competition is settled with the first two nominated young pigeons (1+2), classification per 5, in 3 races to choose from the national races Bourges, Argenton, La Souterraine and Guéret.

This year, none other than the “wonderboy” from As, Jos Thoné, climbed on stage in Ostend. He won by a large margin with a coefficient of 10,3965.

Jos Thoné..........started on his own in 1990 in the “Kruisstraat” in Niel-By-As and has won an incredible amount of prizes in the meantime, how about: 4x world champion Versele-Laga, 3x Golden Pigeon, 10x National champion LCB, 10x National Champion BDS, 2x first international, 5x first national, more than 40 provincial victories, countless classifications within the first 100 national and international....

2006 was once more an excellent year for sympathetic Jos. He had a phenomenal start with a provincial triumph in the first National Bourges race: on a national level, his ‘Dora Mar’ obtained a second place against 11.252 competitors. In the course of the season, Jos achieved three more provincial victories: Gien, Cahors and Melun.

Crowning

Jos considers obtaining the National title young pigeons KBDB as one of the finest performances of his career. In fact, three pigeons were responsible for this title.

The “flag-bearer” of 2006 is without any doubt pigeon 5150043/06 that goes by the name of "Deep Impact".

In order to win the title, she had to win three out of six prizes, which she did. She was 46th National La Souterraine out of 13.965 pigeons, 83rd National Bourges out of 26.984 pigeons and 23rd National Zone C Gueret out of 2.735 pigeons. It is no surprise that these achievements made her Provincial ace pigeon KBDB young pigeons long distance racing. She’s an extraordinarily beautiful hen that descends from the best middle distance breeds of Thoné’s. Her father is the nest brother of Artificial Jutta who is an excellent racing hen that became a.o. ace pigeon middle distance racing and who descends from Sars (line National I Schellens via Herbots) coupled with Utta who is a grandchild of Sumo, perhaps Thoné’s best pigeon with respect to passing on his excellent qualities to his offspring. Sumo is a.o. the grandfather of the 1st and 2nd international Narbonne and the 1st and 2nd international Dax but he has magnificent offspring that flies shorter distance races as well. Deep Impact’s mother is a direct daughter of Napoleon, another progenitor of Thoné’s loft. Napoleon was coupled with Fortuna who has won the 11th Nat Bourges against 67.985 pigeons in her year of birth thus providing her boss with a new car. Fortuna is a grandchild of “Superman”; National ace pigeon middle distance in 1984. We can safely state that Deep Impact is a breeding product in which we can discover all the main pigeons of Thoné’s loft as far as middle distance racing is concerned, namely: Napoleon, Superman, Sumo and Sars.

The other two head prizes were provided by pigeon 06-5150217, also known as "Casanova". In the race of La Souterraine, he obtained a 381st place out of 13.965 pigeons on a national level. In Bourges, he achieved a 378th position out of 26.984 pigeons. Worth mentioning is the fact that this pigeon has won 12 prizes in 2006 among which a first prize in the Melun race against 3.321 pigeons. This achievement made him first ace pigeon KBDB Limburg young pigeons middle distance. Casanova descends from a grandson of Sumo but his pedigree also shows Superman’s blood. The mother is a hen of the loft of Frans Maas. Casanova was by the way bred in the loft of Frans, who is a friend of Jos Thoné.

Pigeon 06-5150002 took care of the sixth much needed head prize. He became 131st in Gueret of a total of 2.735 pigeons in Zone C. He is a product of inbreeding from Napoleon. The father is a direct son of Napoleon, there is also a brother and a sister of Napoleon on mother’s side and not just anyone: Nefertete (sister Napoleon) achieved the national victory of Bourges ’96 (hens). Furthermore, there’s also a sister of Sumo and a son of Superman showing up in the pedigree of pigeon 06-5150002.

It is clear that Jos Thoné has a more than solid basis at his disposal to fly middle distance races. Let’s list all the prizes that provided him with the title of National Champion Young pigeons. By the way, please note that Jos managed to classify his 1st and 2nd nominated pigeon in Argenton, thus obtaining 8 out of 8.

Method

As happens in most of the lofts, Thoné darkens the young pigeons to slow down the moult. As soon as the young birds have sufficiently explored the surrounding area of the loft, they are trained. This is a job that Jos’s loyal helper, Berke Clemens, does smilingly. Step by step, the young birds are getting acquainted with the large airspace. When they start participating in races, they continue to fly training races during the week.

It goes without saying that they don’t take any risks as far as medical care is concerned. They regularly treat the pigeons for tricho infections during the racing season. Jos tries to avoid such treatments before the season starts because he believes in natural resistance. The pigeons are treated for head diseases if Jos thinks it is necessary and in consideration with Dr Ferdi Vandersanden. As far as by-products are concerned, Jos gives products of Bifs (Vandersanden) to his pigeons. Basic product is “Vior” which is based on cider vinegar and vegetable extracts.

With respect to feed Jos likes to keep it simple. He asked the Beyers company to compose a mixture. The pigeons receive this feed all week through and during the last days before they are put into the baskets, Jos adds peeled sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc. to the feed.

The youngsters are raced with “open door” and if the opportunity presents itself, some extra attention is spent on motivation but only when the fancier thinks it could work. It is hard to force things but sometimes, particular situations can be used to sharpen a pigeon’s motivation.

Allround

Only few fanciers succeed in excelling in all branches. Thoné however, manages to excel wonderfully well. In order to prove this, I would like to introduce you to four pigeons, namely: Avril (speed), Dora Mar (middle distance) Sedna I (long distance) and Bunder (extreme long distance).

" Avril"

Let’s start with Avril, crown princess of speed racing. She managed to achieve no less than 10 pure first prizes during her career. She has also already obtained 56 prizes without doublings of which 35 in 2005 en 2006.

In 2005, she became 1st National ace pigeon short distance LCB, 2nd provincial ace pigeon KBDB speed and 2nd West-European ace pigeon Country Cup speed. As a young pigeon, she did wonderfully in all nationals with a.o. a 179th national La Souterraine against 13.988 p. and a 52nd National Vichy against 11.510 p.

Avril descends from the breeds of Napoleon, Sumo, Superman with a touch of Milton-blood. In the early nineties, Milton was “the star” of the loft of Jos’s friend Dirk Leekens.

"Dora Mar"

As we mentioned before, Jos obtained his first provincial victory of this season in May: the National Bourges. “Dora Mar”, named after Picasso’s most expensive painting, carried off the palm. Dora Mar obtained 19 prizes (without doublings) this year alone and she achieved her second Provincial victory in the Melun race on 26 August. Dora Mar’s father is “Bonk” who won a 39th Nat. in the Argenton race against 23.493 pigeons. Bonk is once again a grandson of Sumo, but he has also some blood of the breeds of other main pigeons such as Napoleon and Superman running through his veins. Bonk’s mother is by the way a sister of “Emperor”, the father of the 1st and 2nd International Dax.

Dora Mar’s mother is none other than Jutta. Jutta is a daughter of Sars who is in his turn a son of the National I of Schellens (through the Herbots’). Jutta’s mother is ‘Utta’, a granddaughter of Sumo. By the way, Jutta also knew the ropes during her short career. She has achieved a.o. 1st prov. , 2nd Nat. Vichy against 11.510 p., a 1st Prov. La Souterraine of 448 p. , 2nd Prov. Chateauroux 630 p., etc… In 2004 alone, she has obtained no less than 20 prizes without doublings. These excellent performances provided her for instance with the title of National ace pigeon AVR yearlings most prizes. After these clever achievements, Jos immediately moved her to the breeding loft. Up until now, he’s had no regrets regarding that decision.

"Sedna I"

Jos obtained the International victory in the Narbonne race in 2005 thanks to “Sedna I”. After she’d already achieved the 7th semi-nat Jarnac against 5005 p. and a 206th Nat. St-Vincent against 10.020 p., she managed to beat all her peers in the Narbonne yearlings race. Besides, she was the fastest of the whole of Belgium in this race (+ 10.000 old and yearlings all together). Thanks to these results, she made it as 1st West-European Country Cup extreme long distance, 1st ace pigeon yearlings LCB, 1st Prov. Ace Pigeon KBDB yearlings long distance and 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon AVR yearlings long distance. Sedna I was moved to the golden breeding loft of Jos for obvious reasons. Sedna I’s father is a product of the Gerda breed – 1st Int. Barcelona ’96) and the Poco breed (1st yearling Barcelona ’93 and 1st Nat. Barcelona ’95 hens). Sedna I’s mother is a direct daughter of Sumo.

"Bunder"

Another long distance crack is Bunder. This purebred marathon racer has raced, up until now, 5x Barcelona , 2x Marseille, Montelimar, Brive,…. He obtained a 66th International Marseille against 19.627 p., 139th National Barcelona against 11.802 p., 502nd National Barcelona against 13.021 p., etc…

In 2006, Bunder became 3rd “Primus Inter Pares” of the Barcelona club of Bruges.

Bunder’s father is a brother of Gerda (1st int. Barcelona ’96). His mother is a product of the golden Poco strain (1st yearling Barcelona ’93 and 1st Nat. Barcelona ’95 hens).

It is clear that the lofts of Jos Thoné are not populated by a foreign legion. He owns a breeding loft that houses a number of “main pigeons” certainly worthy of that name.

Some results

I will spare you lengthy lists of achievements but the following results of the past season cannot be withheld:

Bourges National 19.061 old pigeons: 23,28,32,34,53,70,164,… (17/26)

Vierzon Provincial 2.605 old pigeons: 17,25,31,200,366,597 (6/7)

Limoges Provincial 1024 old pigeons: 2,5,12,26,85,87,… (8/12)

Montlucon 176 old pigeons: 1,2,3,5,7,… (8/8)

Gien 471 yearlings: 1,2,3,4,6,8,…. (11/20)

Barcelona National 11.802 pigeons: 63,99,109,139,.. (6/13)

La Souterraine National 13.965 pigeons: 44,46,140,150,225,…(33/51)

We could carry on like that for a while... more than 45 first prizes were achieved in 2006…….

Conclusion

It is clear that a national title is most certainly appropriate. Besides, Jos also became 9th in the Yearling Championship and 11th in the championship of long middle distance. Who does better?

This title will obviously not weaken Jos Thoné’s ambition. Perhaps Jos’s English friend, Mr Ronny Bigwood, was right when he wrote “You ain’t seen nothing yet”.