A National Ace Pigeon is never built on one exceptional result. A youngster has to perform again when the distance increases, the national competition becomes stronger and every second starts to matter.
In 2026, Esther Vereecke from Beerzel, Putte had exactly that kind of hen in her loft. BE.26-6102525 crowned a very strong season by becoming 8th National Ace Pigeon KBDB Great Middle Distance Youngsters 2026.
Her three national performances from Bourges, Châteauroux and Argenton produced a combined coefficient of only 3.51 percent. That places her firmly among the national elite of her generation.
This was no accident.
When you look deeper into her performances and especially into her pedigree, the story becomes even more impressive.
Three National Classics, Three Times on Target
At Bourges, BE.26-6102525 immediately showed her class with 10th against 600 pigeons in the club, 44th against 3,850 Provincial, 37th against 2,320 in Zone B3 and ultimately 126th National against 16,705 youngsters.
Then came Châteauroux. Again there was no weak performance. She finished 15th against 319 in the club, 63rd against 2,419 Provincial, 45th against 1,319 in Zone B3 and, most importantly, 98th National against 12,504 pigeons.
Argenton completed the three race campaign with 23rd against 447 in the club, 127th against 3,212 Provincial, 90th against 1,745 in Zone B3 and 311th National against 15,769 youngsters.
Those National figures tell the real story.
At Bourges she finished among the best 0.754 percent of the field. At Châteauroux she was even better, inside the top 0.784 percent. Argenton delivered the third result for the National Ace Pigeon classification with 1.972 percent.
Together, those three performances produced the 3.51 percent coefficient that took her to 8th National Ace Pigeon KBDB.
That is championship level consistency.
And her season was about more than those three National races.
From Quievrain she recorded 213th against 8,459 and 48th against 1,527 pigeons. From Soissons she took 99th against 2,113. From Noyon she added 166th against 7,441 and 97th against 2,207 pigeons.
From speed racing through to the Great Middle Distance, she continued to win prizes.
That versatility is exactly what makes a National Ace Pigeon so valuable.
Fighter Rex x Miss Hastings: Championship Blood Behind the Performance
The pedigree of BE.26-6102525 deserves serious attention.
Her father is BE.23-6202772 Fighter Rex, originating from Embregts Theunis.
Fighter Rex was no ordinary racer himself. His performances include 8th National Argenton against 11,777 pigeons, 11th Zone B3 Bourges against 3,205 and 14th Interprovincial Vierzon against 3,109 pigeons.
Behind Fighter Rex we again find proven performance pigeons.
His father, NL.22-2210364 Torres Diamond, won among other results 1st Roye against 1,200 pigeons, 1st Issoudun against 440 and 1st Melun against 521.
His mother, NL.20-2002216 Little Fighter, won 1st Issoudun against 336 pigeons and also recorded several strong NPO performances.
But then we arrive at the mother.
And there stands a name every follower of Esther Vereecke should already know.
BE.21-6042594 Miss Hastings.
Miss Hastings Is Now Proving Her Class in the Breeding Loft
Miss Hastings gave Esther her major National breakthrough in 2023.
At Argenton she won 1st National against 11,259 old pigeons, after approximately 545 kilometres at an average speed of 1280.41 metres per minute.
She first won the club and then beat the entire National field.
Vierzon proved that Argenton was not an isolated explosion.
According to her pedigree, Miss Hastings won 1st against 127 in the club, 9th against 2,468 Provincial, 8th against 2,290 in Zone B3 and 97th National against 21,075 old pigeons.
Now another dimension has been added to her story.
A direct daughter of Miss Hastings becomes 8th National Ace Pigeon KBDB.
That matters.
Winning a National race is fantastic. But when that National winner later breeds a daughter capable of performing strongly enough in three different National classics to rank among Belgium’s best Ace Pigeons, her value as a breeding hen reaches another level.
On the maternal side, the family continues through BE.13-6251717 Dubbel 17, the father of Miss Hastings, and BE.18-6125563 Barbarella, obtained as an egg from Gaston Van de Wouwer.
Dubbel 17 also proved himself in competition with, among other results, 4th Provincial Bourges against 2,629 pigeons, 4th Zone B2 against 4,016 and 41st National against 18,478 pigeons.
Different proven performance lines come together here.
And then the next generation does exactly what every fancier hopes to see from a top pedigree.
It performs.
Esther Vereecke Lives the Sport With Full Commitment
Anyone who knows Esther only through the results is missing an important part of the story.
She combines the pigeon sport with her professional life and has been seriously involved in racing pigeons since around 2008. Together with her husband Patrick, she organises the loft around a busy daily schedule.
The hens are trained in the evening and the widowers in the morning. Time has to be used efficiently.
That practical mentality fits perfectly with the way Esther approaches the sport.
There is no need to impress with enormous numbers. The pigeons have to be healthy, feel good and ultimately prove their quality on race day.
That is elite sport in its purest form.
You can talk about systems, pedigrees and theories all day, but at Bourges, Châteauroux and Argenton the pigeon still has to deliver.
Three Performances That Paved the Road to 2026
The National victory of Miss Hastings remains the major landmark.
1st National Argenton against 11,259 old pigeons in 2023 was the moment Esther Vereecke firmly placed her name among Belgium’s National winners.
But only around a month earlier, Esther had already given the competition a warning.
At Vierzon she won 1st Interprovincial against 3,301 yearlings with Hermia, who was also the fastest pigeon against 9,730 pigeons.
That was serious racing.
Then in 2025 came another powerful confirmation from Vierzon. Esther won 1st Provincial against 2,175 yearlings in Antwerp and also had the fastest pigeon against 4,663 pigeons.
Again the same message.
The loft in Beerzel keeps producing winners.
That makes the 2026 performance even more important. We are not looking at one golden season from the past. We are looking at a loft that keeps developing pigeons capable of performing at National championship level.
With the Auction Season Ahead, Miss Hastings Becomes Even More Interesting
For fanciers who will be studying the Esther Vereecke bloodlines during the coming auction season, one detail deserves special attention.
BE.26-6102525 is a direct daughter of Miss Hastings.
- This is not a beautiful pedigree waiting for proof.
- The proof is already there.
- The mother won National Argenton.
- The daughter becomes 8th National Ace Pigeon KBDB.
- Performance and breeding power.
- That is exactly what ambitious fanciers and breeders are searching for.
- But for now, the spotlight belongs first and foremost to Esther and what she achieved in 2026.
From Beerzel in the Province of Antwerp, she once again places herself among the major names of Belgian pigeon racing with a young hen that proved her class in three demanding National races.
BE.26-6102525 earned her place. Esther Vereecke did too.
The title of 8th National Ace Pigeon KBDB Great Middle Distance Youngsters 2026 is a fantastic reward for a strong youngster season, but perhaps even more importantly, it confirms once again that the family around Miss Hastings keeps delivering when the level rises.
That is exactly what makes pigeon racing so fascinating.
Generation after generation, you breed, select, wait, race and finally discover at National level whether your decisions were right.
In Beerzel, they received another very clear answer in 2026.
Absolute class.
Jan de Wijs
The Pigeon Boss
