National Ace is one of the most complex categories of the National Championship. The norm of the category requires ten races to be ranked, being necessary at least one stage from each distance category. This means that pigeons competing for the National Ace category must be able to rank equally well starting with the short distance stages and ending with the marathon stages. Being so complex, the National Ace category also has a high degree of difficulty, which results from the small number of pigeons that meet this norm.

In the 2020 season, 333 old birds achieved the National Ace category. Of these, the best score was achieved by a hen, competed by the team Nica Gabriel & Haiducu Robert, from Olt County. In fact, the next two places of the national podium, which belong to Liviu Vieru (Olt) and the team Costea & Tobeșec (Arad), are also occupied by hens.

Nica Gabriel & Haiducu Robert (Olt), champions at the National Ace

For the team formed by the pigeon fanciers Gabriel Nica and Haiducu Robert, the entire 2020 season was reduced to a single pigeon. This is the hen 0543334/2018, triple national champion, in the categories Allround old birds, Long distance old birds and National Ace old birds. The norm in the National Ace category was achieved with 97.48 penalty points, which is one of the lowest scores with which this norm was achieved, at least in the last four seasons. Among the ten rankings, this hen has two first places on the launch, from 3,564 pigeons, at a competition of 672 km, respectively from 1,843 pigeons, at a competition of 369 km. “Our champion is reproduced from a cock by A.P. Overwater, and her mother is a hen Houben and Philippe Frederick. She competed in widowhood all season and I can’t say that she had a special training, only that, after the third stage, we kept her cock home for every race. For their diet I used several contest mixtures from Beyers, and supplements I used from Schroeder & Tollisan. I did a lot of training with my personal car during the season, the pigeons being taken almost daily to over 30 km. The cocks were launched first, and the hens after them, the day before basketing being the last time they were allowed to see each other “, mentioned Gabriel Nica.

 Liviu Vieru, also from Olt,  is the vice-champion of the category

The National Ace category is a goal every season for Liviu Vieru, from the Olt Association, and after the 2020 season, his record in the National Ace category has increased considerably. Champion and national vice-champion in the National Ace category Palmares in 2015, Liviu Vieru won two more national trophies in this category last season: 2nd place National Ace old birds and 3rd place National Ace National Yearlings. The trophy of national vice-champion at National Ace old birds was brought by the hen 9007754/2017, who obtained a coefficient of 181.91 penalty points and which, at the same time, occupies the 4th place National Ace National Palmares. “The hen’s father is a cock from Gabriel Catrinescu, being an original pigeon Arie Dijkstra. The mother is a hen De Raw-Sablon and Gaby Vandenabeele. The pigeons compete in widowhood all season, and as it was last year, when I was late with the start of the competition, they also reproduced before the season, but it is not a rule. For feeding I use the mixtures Gerry, Superstar and Energy from Versele Laga. I focus on feeding pigeons, because food is the main source of recovery. I can say that I use very few supplements, including an electrolyte produced by Pantex. Pigeons have a fixed schedule all season. At 05:30 they are released for the morning training, and at 19:00, they are released for the evening training. Once a week they were taken to a 70 km training session. They compete week by week, at all stages. For example, this hen was engaged in two weeks for two long distance and one marathon race and ranked all three of them. Yearlings also compete in the same way “, explained Liviu Vieru.

Team Costea & Tobeșec (AR) wins the 3rd National place

The third national trophy of the category was also won by a team, Costea & Tobeșec, from the Arad Pigeon Association. The team was set up in the fall of 2019, and the 2020 season was the first in which the two pigeon fanciers from Arad competed together in the stages with the old birds. The 3rd National Place in the National Ace old birds was won with the hen 9001127/2017, with a total coefficient of 223.75 penalty points. One of the best stages of the hen last season was the Grimma marathon competition (875 km), where she took 15th place out of 3,789 pigeons. “Starting with the youngters season in 2019, I formed a team with Beniamin Tobeșec. The flight group is a common one, and we each have the breeding pigeons separately and, together, we try to have very good results in the categories with one-day stages and even in the marathon. Last season, the pigeons competed as widows, being separated after breeding a series of chicks. I used food from Beyers, Vanrobaeys and Versele Laga, from which I made a mixture and gave it to the pigeons. For recovery we administer a mixture of electrolyte, glucose and honey. We also use Probac1000 and Gervit. The hen who won this trophy is a cross between the Koopman, Janssen and Houben lines. In 2018, he won a national Gold award, and last season, in addition to the 3rd National place at National Ace old birds, she also occupies the 12th place at National Speed ace​​old birds ”, detailed Sergiu Costea.