One early pigeon can make a beautiful result, but a complete team arriving in wave after wave tells a much bigger story. That is exactly what happened for Huub Hermans from Born on 5 September 2026.
From Reims, over 235.374 kilometres, Huub basketed 51 pigeons and won no fewer than 29 prizes in Vlieggebied 2 Midden Limburg. That means a prize percentage of 56.9%, and for me that number says more than one isolated top prize ever could. It shows depth, quality and, above all, a family of pigeons that performs across the entire loft.
The 892 pigeons were released in Reims at 09:00. The official race information described partly cloudy conditions, around 18 degrees Celsius and a moderate westerly wind at force 3. Huub’s first pigeon arrived at 11:34:32 and immediately claimed 8th prize, recording a speed of 1,523.133 metres per minute.
What followed was even more impressive. The Hermans pigeons kept coming, with very little silence between the arrivals. The complete result was 8th, 17th, 23rd, 31st, 37th, 38th, 39th, 53rd, 61st, 62nd, 76th, 88th, 110th, 122nd, 123rd, 133rd, 134th, 165th, 215th, 223rd, 235th, 255th, 256th, 259th, 266th, 270th, 283rd, 290th and 297th prize against 892 pigeons, which brought Huub to that excellent prize percentage of 56.9%.
The deeper statistics make the result even more interesting. Huub had 7 pigeons inside the first 39 prizes, 12 inside the first 88 and 17 inside the first 134. His first seven prize winners were clocked within only 6 minutes and 12 seconds.
That is the part of the result that really catches my eye.
One fast pigeon can win a race. Seven strong arrivals in little more than six minutes show that the whole loft was ready. It shows form, rhythm and a group of pigeons that all have the ability to compete at a serious level.
The Weather Made It Fast, but Not Easy
With temperatures around 18 degrees, partly cloudy skies and a moderate westerly wind, the conditions allowed for a quick race back towards Limburg. The leading speeds confirm that.
But fast races are not automatically easy races. At these velocities, every small mistake costs positions. A pigeon that hesitates, takes the wrong line or loses contact can lose many places in very little time.
That is why a compact arrival pattern matters so much. The fact that Huub’s pigeons arrived in such a tight sequence shows that the team was not only physically ready, but also sharp in orientation and decision making.
It is exactly the sort of race where a good loft can look very good, and Huub’s team did exactly that.
Another Strong Chapter in a Big 2026 Season
This latest Reims performance also fits perfectly into the bigger picture of 2026.
Huub has already put together a series of performances that prove the strength of the colony across different distances. He won 1st Provincial Argenton against 2,759 pigeons over 585 kilometres, took 2nd Provincial Sens against 11,443 pigeons over 363 kilometres, achieved 5th Provincial and 6th NPO Issoudun over 532 kilometres against 4,893 pigeons with 16 prizes from 24 entries, and earlier from Reims he recorded 3rd Provincial against 8,572 pigeons with 20 prizes from 36 entries.
Those four performances are important because they are not all the same type of race. They cover speed, middle distance and one day long distance.
That versatility tells us a great deal about the family.
Huub is not working with pigeons that only perform when everything falls perfectly into place. His team keeps showing quality under different demands, and that is exactly what serious fanciers should be looking for.
Why This Matters for the Coming Auction Season
With the auction season getting closer, buyers will naturally start studying pedigrees, bloodlines and famous names. That is part of our sport and always will be.
But current performance is just as important.
You want to know if the family is still alive in the result sheets. You want to know if the quality is still being tested. You want to know if the loft is still producing pigeons that can race at the front today.
Huub Hermans gives buyers plenty to work with in 2026.
The current team is delivering provincial top results, strong prize percentages and, perhaps most importantly, deep performances from large groups of pigeons.
That is where breeding value starts to become really interesting.
When quality is spread across a team, the chances increase that the same qualities are anchored deeper in the family.
International References Add Even More Weight
The Hermans blood has also proven itself far beyond Born, and that gives the picture even more strength.
Ferenc Pintér in Hungary raced grandchildren of the famous Teletext Couple to 1st and 19th National Ace Young Birds. Ljubivoje Markovic in Austria produced Olympiad pigeons from the Super 006 and Blue Magic lines. Milan Blahovski in Slovakia achieved a National Ace Young Bird from the Super 015 and Super 006 family. In Poland, Piotrowski raced a granddaughter of Blue Magic to National Ace Half Distance honours in 2017 in competition involving 43,000 fanciers. Comb. Schuurman bred the World Best Pigeon Allround 2020 from a grandson of Blue Magic crossed with Kannibaal blood.
Those references matter.
A bloodline becomes truly valuable when it works in more than one loft. Different countries, different systems, different fanciers, but still the same Hermans influence coming back in the results.
That is the kind of evidence buyers should keep in mind when the coming auctions begin.
The Real Strength Is in the Width of the Family
For me, that is the biggest lesson from this Reims race.
Twenty nine prizes from fifty one entries. Seven inside the first thirty nine. Twelve inside the first eighty eight. Seventeen inside the first one hundred and thirty four.
- This was not built around one lucky arrival.
- This was a team result.
- And in breeding, that matters enormously.
The Hermans loft has been built for years through hard selection, proven Van Loon foundations and carefully chosen reinforcements from top lines such as Dirk van Dyck and Pieter Veenstra. The famous names are important, but the real value is that the descendants continue to perform.
That is what we are seeing again in 2026.
For fanciers looking towards the auction season, my advice is simple: do not only look at the winner. Look at the family behind the winner. Look at the width of the performance. Look at how often the loft gets several pigeons into the race early.
That is where the real strength sits.
Huub Hermans is showing once again that his colony has speed, endurance, consistency and international breeding value. The results from Reims fit perfectly into a season that continues to underline the same message.
The Hermans family is still moving forward.
And for ambitious fanciers who understand the value of depth, that makes the coming auction season very interesting indeed.
Jan de Wijs
The Pigeon Boss
