Esther Vereecke Pigeons and Their Racing Success

Esther Vereecke does not run a giant show loft. There is no endless row of aviaries, no army of helpers. In Beerzel, a small part of Putte in Belgium, she works with a compact team of racing pigeons – and still manages to write her name into the national history of the big middle distance.

Her story is simple and sharp. She came into the sport around 2008, not as the heir of a hundred–year pigeon dynasty, but as a working woman with limited time and very clear priorities. Quality over quantity. A small, carefully selected team that has to prove itself where it really counts: on Argenton, Vierzon, Bourges and the other big middle distance classics.

Everything in her loft management is built around that idea. Calm in the loft. A clear rhythm. Solid but sober medical guidance. No endless product circus, but a strong focus on condition and recovery. And above all: hard selection. A pigeon that does not show itself on the race programme will not be rewarded with a place in the breeding loft. That combination of “feel good” and ruthless selection is what defines the modern image of Esther Vereecke pigeons.

In recent seasons, two hens have become the perfect ambassadors of that philosophy: Miss Hastings and Rosamund. Together they show exactly why a small loft from Beerzel is now taken very seriously by top fanciers at home and abroad.

Miss Hastings BE.21-6042594 – the national hammer on Argenton

Miss Hastings is the hen that pushed the name Esther Vereecke pigeons onto every radar. Her race record reads like the curriculum of a true national champion.

From Argenton, on the big middle distance, she produced one of those results that change a career:

She won 1st club against 101 pigeons, 1st provincial against 277 pigeons, 1st in the zone against 1,280 pigeons and finally 1st National Argenton against no fewer than 11,295 old birds on 545 km. One pigeon, one race, four times on top. First the club, then the province, then the zone and then the entire country. That is not a nice early pigeon, that is total control of the competition.

Anyone who thought this might be a one-off performance got an answer on Vierzon. Again on the big middle distance, Miss Hastings showed that Argenton was no accident.

On Vierzon she won 1st club against 127 pigeons, placed 9th provincial against 2,468 pigeons, 21st in zone B3 against 1,075 pigeons and 97th National Vierzon against 21,075 old birds. Once more she was early everywhere: in the club, in the province, in the zone and inside the national top hundred against a huge entry.

Her record is rounded off with shorter–distance references that show how complete she really is. She scored 13th from Noyon against 887 pigeons and 41st from Quievrain against 535 pigeons. From the shorter work up to the heavy big middle distance, she simply kept appearing at the front.

If you want one name that symbolises the breakthrough of Esther Vereecke pigeons at the highest level, it is Miss Hastings. She is the national hammer that broke open the door to the absolute top.

Rosamund BE24-6093564 – the new queen of Vierzon

Where Miss Hastings represents the Argenton explosion, Rosamund is the flagship of the more recent Vierzon dominance. She is the hen that proves the system in Beerzel did not stop working after one national victory – it kept evolving.

Her favourite stage is clearly Vierzon, and in 2024 she put down a performance that any province would feel.

On Vierzon she won 1st club against 105 pigeons and 1st provincial Antwerp against 2,175 pigeons. On top of that she was 4th interprovincial against 4,728 pigeons and officially the fastest pigeon of all 4,663 pigeons in the province of Antwerp. One race, four hard facts: she won the club, she won the province, she was at the very front interprovincial and no pigeon in Antwerp came home faster that day.

Rosamund is not limited to one magic day. Her Bourges results show that she is a genuine big middle distance racer, not just a Vierzon specialist.

From Bourges she flew 16th club against 221 pigeons, 188th provincial against 4,057 pigeons, 121st in zone B3 against 2,733 pigeons and 549th nationally against 17,189 pigeons. Again the same pattern: early in the club, well up in the province and zone, and safely within the front part of the national result.

Her card also lists useful performances from other races: 25th Quievrain against 359 pigeons, 207th Ecouen against 3,303 pigeons and 79th Pont-Sainte-Maxence against 1,432 pigeons. These results underline that she can handle different distances and release points and still hold her position in the result sheet.

In the hand and on the photograph she looks exactly like what her record suggests: an elegant hen with tight feathering, balance in the body and a sharp, fiery eye. But it is on paper that Rosamund really speaks. If Miss Hastings wrote the national Argenton chapter for Esther Vereecke pigeons, Rosamund is busy filling the Vierzon pages.

Why these two racing hens matter for “Esther Vereecke pigeons”

Taken together, Miss Hastings and Rosamund show what defines Esther Vereecke pigeons today. A small loft, a clear focus on the big middle distance and two top hens whose complete race records would be the dream of any ambitious fancier.

Miss Hastings stands for the big national breakthrough: 1st National Argenton, backed up by a top series on Vierzon and solid results from Noyon and Quievrain. Rosamund proves that the story continues: provincial and interprovincial authority on Vierzon, plus a strong Bourges record and consistent support prizes on other middle distance races.

In future parts of this series we will look deeper behind these performances. Then the names of their fathers and mothers will come to the front, the role of stamcock Dubbel 17 will be explained, and the breeding choices that created these hens will be laid out.

For now, one conclusion is already clear. When fanciers talk about modern big middle distance racing in Belgium, the name that belongs in that conversation is simple: Esther Vereecke pigeons.