GERRITT SPANJAARDS JANSSEN OF SILVIO MATTACCHIONE    with  Andrew Skrobot Linage

Dam:"CANADIAN GIRL"   Sire available for pairing:  FLOR ENGELS, PURE VERBRUGGEN, PAUL UNG, PHA, BOB KINNEY, SCHLOMER.          

********RESERVATION IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED!....UNTIL FURTHER 

NOTICE******** THANKS!

CONTACT PERSON:     MIKE GUANZON / CAAP-DOTC / AIRMIKE LOFT

                                     PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES

                                     CELL #  0919-956-5022

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                                     WEBSITE:    http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/bpa_speedbird

All material Copyright © 1996-2011 by Silvio Mattacchione & Co.unless otherwise noted.

"LIMITED EDITION" Ours is a Quiet Mission

by Silvio Mattacchione

Adverts are placed by professional pigeon breeders in issue after issue of most pigeon journals worldwide proclaiming in dramatic headlines: “Super Champion,” “Fantastic Pigeons,” “Super Crack,” “ The World’s Greatest,” “Champion of Champions,” “The Best Bloodlines Worldwide.” The superlatives are unending and increase in intensity every issue and every month. This is in direct contrast to what my policy has always been. We leave it up to the individual fanciers to do their own research and then come to their own decisions. As a consumer all I have ever expected is an honest and reliable product.

As a breeder of thoughbred racing pigeons, the only claim I have ever made is a very modest one, and that simple claim is that “we seek to breed and provide an honest, hard working racing pigeon”! That is it, no flashy headlines, and no incredible promises. An honest, reliable, hard working racing pigeon is my ideal of perfection, the rest, as they say, is up to you! Ours is not a flashy crusade but rather a quiet unending mission.

Our mission began years ago with the recognition of, and devotion to a small unique group of imported pigeons. They were not the latest nor in most people minds the greatest, they had no real sizzle to sell them, and remember how much hype is used to make something, anything desirable. However to me they were unique “no sizzle, but a whole lot of steak!” Back in 1989 not a whole lot of fanciers would have agreed with my intuitive assessment. Well, these fanciers were very wrong. I accumulated very quietly as many of these honest hard working pigeons as I could. I bought, I traded and I bred them. I followed my own plan and my own vision. I also kept my eyes open to others who had purchased one, or two, or a few of these pigeons. Most did not fully know their background or their history. Most never really followed a plan, never had a goal or a vision and under these circumstances even diamonds are lost! Ignorance is not bliss, but rather your lifelong enemy.

I studied these birds, this family and all of the pedigrees that came in when these birds were originally imported. I knew these birds more intimately than anyone, other than their originator Mr. Gerritt Spanjaards. Whatever you may hear, whatever opinions are expressed the only thing that really matters in life is FAMILY. This is true of your personal life first and foremost! It is also true of the birds that you willingly choose to care for. In your personal life, your family is the rock upon which you must build. All that you are, all that you will be, all that you can ever hope to be is, and has been, influenced by your family.

In a very real sense all of these same considerations apply to your racing pigeons. All that they are, all that they will be, all that you can hope for, is in fact tied directly to family. That is why it is essential to thoroughly research the background of the pigeons that one would hope to acquire. Are they part of a recognized family of birds? If they are, was the family successful and did it have longevity? Were there highly motivated and dedicated fanciers and enthusiasts out there dedicated to, not only continuing, but more important, improving a family over its many generations?

In the past great fanciers like Sion, Bricoux, Fabry, Janssen, Stassart, Gurnay, etc., co-operated to improve each other's families! Look to improve your own family through similar co-operation. Friendship and family is the key to your continued success. “Honest, hard working pigeons should be your goal”!

GRANDSIRE TO LIMITED EDITION
NL 74 813969 The ‘969’

The history of this family can be traced back to the beginnings of the very finest family of pigeons that has ever come to prominence. Mr. Spanjaards' had a super old line Janssen pair. This pair consisted of the old cock, NL-74-813969, and his hen, NL-73-1404648. By 1985 this pair was already responsible for over forty winners, including the 1977 “National Orleans” winner. They would eventually be responsible for another forty good birds. I have in my possession a list of some ten pages written by Mr. Joop Ekstijn listing the winners from this pair. At the time that Mr. Spanjaards agreed to sell this pair, he and his good friend, Mr. Van Brandenburg, had together 31 youngsters in their lofts from this pair. The foundation cock, "969" (NL-74-813969), was a grandson of the "Oude Merckx" via his sire, "Beig" (NL-69-6758673), who was a direct son of the Janssen Brothers of Arendonk's "Oude Merckx."

"969" (NL 74 813969) Grandson of the Famous "Oude Merckx." Bred by Gerrit Spanjaards. Provincial Ace Pigeon Twice. Sire to The National Orleans winner in 1977. Breeder of Over 80 Exceptional Pigeons. "969" was sire of our "058" (NL 84 1092058). "058" is the sire to our “Limited Edition.”

"058" (NL 84 1092058) - SIRE OF "LIMITED EDITION"

Mr. Jim McLean and I purchased the last of the original Spanjaards foundation cocks in May of 1995 in partnership. This bird, called "Spanjaards" (NL-84-1092058), also known as "058," was a direct son of "969" (NL-74-813969). "Spanjaards" (NL-84-1092058) bred three ace pigeons and was the brother to Mr. Spanjaards' 1977 National Orleans winner. One of the three ace pigeons that "Spanjaards" (NL-84-1092058) sired was "St. Peter" (NL-85-567887). He was 1st Ace Pigeon Combine Middle Distance including 41 prizes and a 1st Combine. He was nicknamed "The Pumper" by Bob Kinney the editor of the Thoroughbred magazine in the USA.

I sent IF-93-FVF115, a hen out of "St. Peter" (NL-85-567887) and NL-85-567883, a daughter of "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269), to a father and son loft in New York. She was 1st Section, 2nd Combine 400 miles flying 1,775.31 yards per min. against 1,330 birds and 106 lofts in the Long Island Combine in May of 1994.

Mr. Ray Crawford of Toronto purchased a son of "Spanjaards" (NL-84-1092058), "Limited Edition" (CU-92-1689), a blue checker. In 1995, this "1689" bred five 1st place winners in two different clubs that year.

“Limited Edition” CU-92-1689

Limited Edition is one of the most pre-potent sires in North America today.
A direct son of Gerrit Spanjaards “058” who bred 3 Ace pigeons in Holland.

So just how good is “1689”? In his first four years of breeding he produced 20 direct children each of which has won 1st place. Twenty separate sons or daughters to win 1st! More important he also has the proven genetic heritage, descending in a direct male line from the “Oude Merckx” of Janssen Bros. fame, to the “969,” bred and raced by Gerrit Spanjaards, producer of the 1977 National Orleans winner, to his sire “058,” the sire of three ace pigeons. This exceptional “1689” continues this phenomenal lineage and no doubt will, before his breeding days are over, surpass them all!

I have documented the claim made above. How many times have I heard, “Yes, he has bred a ton of winners,” yet the ton is never quantified or qualified? Here is the proof!

The following 20 first place winners are all direct children of “1689”:

The above referenced 20 children of CU-92-1689 are all documented first place winners. As of November 2000 he has officially bred 23 children to win 1st place!!
As of April 2003 the unofficial count is 33 children to win and there is no way of knowing how many wins for his grand-children and great grand-children. We no longer race any of "Limited Edition’s" children. Many of his children are exported and are available for export!

I started this brief biography on Limited Edition by stating that we are dedicated to breeding honest, hard working, consistent thoroughbred racing pigeons. Our goal is not the individual star, but rather the overall excellence of the family as a whole.

Our inbred family of Spanjaard Janssen’s will be of interest to anyone seeking to introduce an exceptional cross into an established family or to produce hybrid vigor.

Anyone seeking to establish his own family of hard working thoroughbreds is invited tocall or email Silvio Mattacchione.

The "Silvio's Pigeon Times" Newsletter by Silvio Mattacchione

Progress Through Genetics!

Newsletter Archives

“Spanjaards” So What Are They Really?

From 1989 to the present time I have spent an incredible period of time researching the origins of what are now commonly referred to world wide as “Spanjaard Janssens.” Mr. Spanjaards was Dutch,a small team flyer  that came to National prominence in 1977 when one of his hens won First National Orleans in Section 4. He  died of terminal cancer on December 6th, 1990. In 1990, the entire Spanjaards loft-old birds, race team youngsters totaling 64 birds, plus ten Klaks, were imported to Canada by a friend of mine. The Klaks and some of the Spanjaards were sold in two separate sales in New Jersey and in California along with quite a number of Smeulder's pigeons. However, over  time, the bulk of the Spanjaards pigeons were eventually retained by me.

Most people have come to believe that a Spanjaards is a Spanjaards. That they were somehow a homogenous family of pigeons. This however in not accurate. Essentially what came to be (mostly through my efforts) recognized as Spanjaards Janssens were not really a family of pigeons as such. The birds, as cultivated by Gerrit Spanjaards, were certainly of a uniform and consistent type, but they were not an inbred family cultivated over decades.

Figure 1 Gerrit Spanjaards with his Grandson Danny.

Mr. Spanjaards had several lines from many different sources and these included a line, now generally refered to as the “058” line who was a son of  Spanjaards “969” that in turn was a grandson of the legendary "Oude Merckx." He had another line that was a Smeulders line that originated with a Smeulders bred youngster (raced by Spanjaards) eventually called Champion "13" that was 4 times 1st in the CC Mill. He had Janssens like "555" and "554" that were from the Janssen Bros, but  these are not to be confused with the  very famous "Janssen Bros" of Belgium.He had also crossed some of his birds with a  Muleman hen, I remember, as well birds (including a beautiful Mealy hen) that were of the Van De Flaas line and certainly Klaks as well as pigeon of Noel Coolen. So we can see that generally ( but not exclusively) the birds were Janssen in origin but from many different sources and lines.

Now because I have the pedigrees of every single Spanjaard pigeon imported into Canada after the death of Mr. Spanjaards I studied these pedigrees very carefully. I purchased as many of the Spanjaards as possible but eventually culled all but one line. That is it one specific line and only from one specific pair of pigeons. So when I refer to "Spanjaard Janssens" you need to understand that in my particular case I am, in my loft ,only working with the inbred descendants of "one pair of pigeons"! That’s it one pair!

Therefore for the record my foundation cock was "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269) and his original mate, "Deanna" (NL-84-400753) (blue hen), granddaughter of the 1975 lst National Orleans winner against 14,000+ birds. This pair was not part of the Spanjaards colony that came to Canada after the death of Mr. Spanjaards in 1990 but had already earlier been purchased from Mr. Spanjaards by Mr. Randall Berkey. I arranged to purchase this pair from Mr. Berkey  in 1992. Others included "St. Thomas' (NL-83-8391269)daughter, NL-85-567883 (blue hen), winner of 37 combine prizes in four years; "The Fighter" (NL-87-8717935) (blue cock), a direct son of "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269) and winner of 25 combine prizes including a lst Combine against 1200 birds; "Zeus" (NL-86-455451) (blue cock), another super son of "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269) and the winner of 41 combine prizes including 4 x 1st; "St. Mathew" (NL-89-2692463), another son of "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269) and the sire of "Victoria" (CU-90-STO-0577) who was 2 x 1st Combine, 2 x Equal 1st Combine, 3rd Total Points Combine Champion in 1990, and 1st Total Points Combine Champion in 1991; "St. Stephanie" (NL-89-2692462) (blue hen) daughter of "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269), breeder of lst Combine for me in 1994 when mated to "Star Storm" (NL-87-1588585); "Mustang" (NL-87-1587928) (blue cock), another son of "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269) and winner of 21 combine prizes who was later sold by Gus Tzotzos Taiwan; "St. John" (NL-86-455477) (blue cock), another son of "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269), bred for stock by Mr. Spanjaards and "St. Joan" (NL-89-2692470) (blue pied hen). These birds as well as many other direct children of "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269) from several inbred father x daughter matings formed the focus of my  Spanjaards line. Therefore the total focus of my entire  Spanjaard operation has been the creation of a line of pigeons based upon only one pair these being "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269) and his original mate, "Deanna" (NL-84-400753) no one else in Canada or the USA or virtually any other place can say that this is what they have done.

Okay, so now we know that I began my line or family at the very point were Mr. Spanjaards ended his work. Would he have gone in the direction that I chose to go in? Would he have placed all of his future on one pair of pigeons and would he have inbred that pair to the degree that I chose to do? Most likely not because he was focused in another direction. Mr. Spanjaards was a competitor, first and foremost  and I was not fascinated by competition rather I was motivated by the great desire to breed a family, an inbreed family, an inbred family from only one pair.

In 1992 I wrote the following:

"If individual birds were great paintings then one could consider Mr. Gerrit Spanjaards in the same spirit as that other great Dutch master, Vincent Van Gogh. Both created wonderful images, reflections of their own inner souls. So it is in this spirit that I now pick up Spanjaards' brush and continue his work. I will add my own strokes, remembering that the brush and paints were his."

I give full credit to Mr. Spanjaards as the “source” of my loft and breeding program however there is no doubt that I have created a family around one pair and that this family is unique to my vision and my understanding of what a "family of inbred pigeons" should be. There is no doubt, in my mind, that no one else in the pigeon fancy would have made the breeding decisions that I made. Without my concentrated study and efforts this line would not exist today!

Silvio’s Spanjaards are the Line of The "Kanon"

Figure 2 A rare photo of Smeulders great champion "Kanon" 23  X 1st!

Where Did the St. Thomas Line of  Silvio Spanjaards Originate?

Family Tree: "Kannon" (H-67-766379) Line

This chart shows the pigeons of the "Kannon" (H-67-766379) line leading up to our foundation Spanjaards/Janssen cock, "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269). The "Kannon" was 23 x 1st, and bred by  Wout Smeulders. Kannon was Smeulders  greatest racing and breeding pigeon. "St. Thomas" (NL-83-8391269) is, a throwback to the "Kannon" (H-67-766379)-same color, soft powder blue whiteflight, same apple body, same head, etc., even though his sire, "13", was a rangy deep checker. It is curious to note that the three top lines in Europe were, in fact, descendants of the "Kannon" (H-67-766379), his full-brother, H-67-630132, and a half-brother, "Olympiade 08" (H-68-2070608). This chart reads from top to bottom.

  

So as you can clearly now see, from the chart above, that the one Spanjaards  pair that I choose to intensely inbreed was in fact a descendent of Wout Smeulders incredible “Kanon”. So my line of inbred Spanjaards are a continuation of the line of  the “Kanon” which means that they are part of an incredible group of pigeons that historically have their genetic origin in an incredible pair of Klak pigeons known as the “Vechter X Witpenneke.”

This is possibly the greatest pair of Janssens ever. Only thorough research of the progeny of this pair will lead you to understand just how great!

The Perfect Janssen Cross

I have often written that the ideal cross is that pigeon that is the product of the crossing of two inbred lines or alternately using an extremely inbred individual as an outcross. Most people in Canada and worldwide laugh at the concept but in so doing they only expose their own ignorance of the role that genetics  can and should play in their own overall plans for success. Ahh - that is it, is it not, after all what can you really expect to learn from fanciers who have a breeding philosophy that  they themselves sum up as “I breed best to best and hope for the best.” What does this really mean? Well it means that these fanciers have “NO PLAN” and depend totally on “CHANCE.”

Having stated the above in 2007 I was asked by one Gardi Gamboa of Pickering to breed entries in partnership for Canada’s largest one loft race, "The Empire Classic" for 2008.I had not personally tested my inbreds for almost 10 years and many contestants used the opportunity to scorn both my pigeons (even though few have ever seen them), my inbreeding philosophy and the notion that after a decade they could still compete with the alleged best in Canada. I followed my own advice and took one of my inbred hens and mated that bird to another Janssen that was the product of another related and to some extent inbred line. This pigeon was of the line of the “Verbart 46” which makes him descendant from the famous Klak pair referred to above and therefore also related, certainly at a distance, to my inbred "Kanon line." Come race day in September of 2008 at the Empire Classic 350 mile race what was the result?

Well see for yourself!

But this could have been a fluke, right? After all she was equal first against, what are alleged to be, the best pigeons in Canada at 350 miles. Well, that might just be the case, but three weeks later another one of my actual inbreds also scored 3rd at the "Empire Classic" 420 mile race again against the alleged best of the best.

THE PERFECT PIGEON is that pigeon that is the product of an intensive inbreeding program instituted by a fancier with stock sense that has taken the time to thoroughly study the ancestry of his subjects then breed them according to a plan that sought to produce a classic pigeon according to a standard, then severely culled according to his standard of perfection. I have done so and exported my birds around the world helping others to enhance their own families of pigeons.St. Thomas and Deanna were truly a perfect pair and years after their deaths their descendants continue to win. Additionally they are beautiful as well.

Figure 3 Gardi Gamboa pictured here with Silvio, did his research and chose to compete with an inbred line of Spanjaards pigeons and did so successfully!

Family Is Really All That Matters!

Whatever you may hear, whatever opinions are expressed the only thing that really matters in life is FAMILY. This is true of your personal life first and foremost! It is also true of the birds that you willingly choose to care for. In your personal life your family is the rock upon which you must build. All that you are, all that you will be, all that you can ever hope to be is, and has been influenced by your family.

In a very real sense all of these same considerations apply to your racing pigeons. All that they are, all that they will be, all that you can hope for, is in fact tied directly to family. That is why it is essential to thoroughly research the background of the pigeons that one would hope to acquire, Are they part of a recognized family of birds? If they are, was the family successful and did it have longevity? Were there highly motivated and dedicated fanciers and enthusiasts out there dedicated to, not only continuing but more important, improving a family over its many generations?

In the past great fanciers like Sion, and Bricoux. Fabry, Janssen, Stassart, Gurnay etc, cooperated to improve each others families! Look to improve your own family through similar cooperation. Friendship and family is the key to your continued success.

Visit Silvio-Co.com for valuable pigeon information!

Ashdon Farms
1251 Scugog Line 8
Port Perry, Ont. L9L 1B2
Canada

Phone: 905 985 3555
Fax: 905 985 4005
Email: silvio@silvio-co.com