Vilnius National, the most important and most waited Marathon race of the season for all pigeon fanciers from the South and South-East of the country, was organized by Buzău County and took place on August 5, 2022, starting from Vilnius – Lithuania , of the “delayed” type, the pigeons being released at 9:30. In today’s article we will present the winning pigeons and fanciers of Galaţi, Brăila and Prahova counties, both in the pigeon category and in the fanciers category.

Adrian Pleștiu

In Galaţi, the county ranking is dominated by three pigeon fanciers who wrote history in this race, this season, taking control of the fanciers category of the entire launch. The first of them is Adrian Pleștiu, from Nicoreşti – Tecuci, who owns the fastest pigeon of his county and, in this way, assigns himself a new important trophy. This bird is cock 0851758-2020 which managed to complete the 1,009 air kilometers at an average speed of 1,399.72 m/minute, arriving home the next morning at 05:26:39. This was also the first pigeon to arrive from the nominated team, and as a method of play it was competed on natural method, on 6-8 day old eggs. He is bred from the basic pigeons of the breeders, from the male de Arjan Beens x Marc van den Berg, which was paired with the hen imported from the Hagens Brothers, a hen that over time has bred many valuable pigeons.

Săndel Stoian

On the second step of the podium, arriving just a few minutes away from the county leader, at 05:30:15, is the yearling cock series 0980028-2021, who demonstrates a special will, speed and strength of character, managing to beat 1,400 of pigeons, which represents almost all the county competition. This young pigeon belongs to the fancier Săndel Stoian, from Negrilești, being reproduced from the cock series 696331-2016, son of the famous 0750059-2012 (multiple national champion) and “Pandora” (national champion), and his mother is 887092-2020, reproduced from 555000-2016 (father of the female 6th place national Marathon ace Yearlings) and the hen with the series 0750056-2012 (granddaughter of “the Dutch” and “Champion” 171118-2000, pigeon from Daniel Cobzaru’s loft).

Andrei Ionel Ciobotaru

Another passionate marathon player, Andrei Ionel Ciobotaru from Cosmești Vale, is on the third step of the podium, thanks to the hen series 0320998-2019, who had to cross an aerial distance of 1,016 kilometers to the loft. Andrei’s lot was prepared for this natural race, 0320998-2019 starting in nest position of 7 days eggs. The origins are the daughter of 004820-2009, the grandson of “Champion” 171118-2000, Daniel Cobzaru, and the mother is a combination of Carteus x Imbrecht lines.
The ranking of the Galati county of the fanciers category is the identical copy of the general ranking of the stage in this category. Adrian Pleștiu’s team, which placed 1st in the county, also took 1st place in the competition. For this stage, Adrian basketed 29 pigeons and ranked 20 of them. The top three pigeons from the team are ock 0851758-2020, who took 3rd place in the whole run, cock 1114450-2020, who came 7th in the run, and 0851773-2020, who took 9th place in the competition, he being a good brother to 0851758-2020, the first to arrive at the team, but also to another cock who also achieved a top ranking at this stage, placing on 19th place in the competition.
Săndel Stoian takes the 2nd place in the county and the 2nd place in the entire competition in the category of fanciers. His batch of pigeons for this competition consisted of 74 widow birds, managing to place 46 of them. The first three pigeons from the team are the cock 0880079-2020, who placed 10th in the stage, 0960100-2019 – who arrives in 50th place on the launch and 0880039-2020, 73rd place in the entire race. The aerial distance that Săndel’s pigeons had to fly, from the launch point to the loft, was 1,008 aerial kilometers.

Vicenţiu Scripcaru

Olympian Vicentiu Scripcaru, from Tecuci, basketed 24 pigeons for Vilnius National, and 13 of them ranked it. On this flight, his pigeons had to travel a distance of 1,018 air kilometers to the loft. The first three pigeons to arrive in his loft were also the first three from the team, demonstrating the fancier’s ability to sense which pigeons are in shape. The first to arrive in the loft is the hen series 5016687-2018, which propagated in flight an average speed of 1,218.19 m/minute, managing to rank 25th in the entire launch. The second pigeon is the cock series 0005509-2017, which ranked 46th in the competition. He is a half-brother to the pigeon that was 1st in the Long Distance category in this year’s Olympiad in Oradea. The third bird came through the hatch the next morning at 08:10:13 and placed 63rd in the contest, being the hen series 0280021-2020.

Brăila rankings

The Brăila county competition was defeated by cock 0530705-2020, which belongs to Mărinică Gheorghiu, from Vânători-Galați. He was found the next morning, at 07:45:36, and traveled the 1,061 air kilometers with an average speed of 1,239.65 m/minute, a speed that was enough for him to occupy the 1st place in the county.

Ionuț Liviu Stan

Ionuț Liviu Stan, from Brăila, is the county vice-champion of this race, his experienced hen with the series 0391040-2019 ending this race of 1,089 aerial kilometers with an arrival on the second day of the competition, at 08:19:42 . In the 2021 season, following the good rankings she had, she completed norms in the Long Distance and Marathon categories. For this stage, Ionuț prepared his pigeons naturally, the hen 0391040-2019 leaving for basketing from the nest position with eggs. As for her origins, her father is brought from the Fraților Dobre kennel, her mother being a granddaughter of “307”, a basic hen in Iulian Malinche’s aviaries.

Eugen Niță

The third step of the Brăila county podium in the pigeon category is occupied by Eugen Niță, from the town of Cazașu, thanks to the hen 1014988-2019, which manages to cross the 1,088 aerial kilometers with an average speed of 1,214.57 m/minute. The pigeon was prepared by the natural method for this flight, starting from a 10-day-old chick. She is bred from the cock 6122977-2017, brought from Ionel Negoiță, based on Van Houten, Kipp and Shone pigeons and a son of a Barcelona winner. Her mother is 154975-2017, brought from Elisei Eacobuță, being descended from his top pigeons. From this couple, several pigeons have seen the light of day that proved to be good flyers in the long distance stages. From the good brother of the hen 1014988-2019, the cock 1014949-2019, in combination with a pigeon brought from Laurentiu Tutuianu, reproduced the hen 714521-2021, who after the good rankings this season is a contender for the county podium of the Ace Marathon Extreme Yearlings category.

Angelică Ionescu

In the fanciers category, the winner of the 1st place in the county is Angelică Ionescu, from Cazașu. The batch with which he participated in this stage was made up of 40 pigeons, naturally trained, leaving for basketing from 7-day eggs position, and at the end of the flight 20 of them also ranked. The aerial distance that Angelica’s pigeons had to travel home was 1,088 aerial kilometers. The first arrival to the team takes the 7th place in the county and is the hen 0530279-2020. After a long period of staying at home to recover, she is engaged in the Long Distance stage from 13.06.2022 and, to the amazement of the fancier, the hen manages to rank the stage in the first 10% of the competition, a fact that led him to engage her in the next Marathon stage, where he ranked 34th out of 1,628 pigeons. The parents of this wonderful hen are brought from Adrian Burghilă, her father being the son of 225072-2018, national vice-champion in the Extreme marathon category of Lazăr Paraschiv, and 2375014-2010, multiple UCPR national champion, of Marian Morărescu. Her mother is 0583106-2015, who achieved the norm in the category Marathon Palmares 3 years. Hen 0531067-2020 is the second bird from the team. This season he has placed two Marathon stages and one Extreme Marathon stage. Its mother is also the mother of the pigeon with the series 6039953-2017 that achieves a provincial 4th place in the National Ace category and a nice norm in the 3-year-old Palmares Marathon Ace category. The sire of 0531067-2020 is a good brother to the third hen that arrived in the team, the pigeon series 0378900-2019. The latter will be withdrawn to the womb due to its physical and athletic qualities. In her career she ranked all the long stages she was engaged in, three Long Distance and seven Marathon stages. Her mother is from Raimar Hanning, a very good fancier, and the father is a 2003 cock, still living at this age, from Adrian Burghilă.

Mihai Adrian și Gabriel

The team of Mihai Adrian and Gabriel from Brăila, made up of father and son, occupies the 2nd place in the county in the category of fanciers and the 16th place in the same category in the ranking of the competition. For the Vilnius National stage, the two passionate pigeon fans prepared a batch of 67 pigeons, and at the end of the competition 34 of them also registered rankings. The distance from the launch point to the aviary of the Brailenians was 1,087 air kilometers. The first pigeon to reach the loft in this race is the hen with the series 5028325-2018. In the 2021 season, the pigeon did not miss a single stage over 500 kilometers, ranking 5 out of 5 stages in which she was engaged (two Long Distance and three Marathon stages). She is the daughter of 450074-2014, who in 2018 has the 5th place in the national Palmares Marathon 2018. The second pigeon arrived from the team is the cock series 0533025-2020, which this season has placed 3 out of 5 stages in which he was employed and he is the son of “Lady Dortmund 2009”. The team’s number three pigeon, with the series 5040064-2018, is a combination of Alois Stichelbaut and Jan Aarden pigeons. In the 2021 season, he meets the norm in the As Marathon category, and this season he ranks two other stages in the Marathon category.

Adrian Burghila, Les Amis team

The Les Amis team includes the well-known pigeon fans Adrian Burghilă and Lucian Mermezan. At the stage of the Vilnius National competition, they climbed to the third step of the county ranking in the category of fanciers and to the 17th place in the same category in the whole competition. Their first pigeon arrived at the team was the hen with registration number 0530212-2020, at 09:04:51, which obtained the 8th place in the county. The hen comes from the cock with the series 583121-2015, who ranked in his career in many Long Distance and Marathon competitions, and the hen with the series 008156-2015, coming from the friend Tiberius Hulubă, who obtained the 3rd provincial place in the Ace Maraton Palmares category . The second bird to arrive in the aviary, series 390408-2019, is also the second from the team. This comes from the cock 0970014-2014, from friend Cobzaru Daniel, and from 054416-2014, who among others got 2nd place in the Bielsk Podalski competition out of 4,160 birds, from a distance of 916 kilometers, in extremely difficult competition. 390408-2019 is the granddaughter of the Olympic pigeon 345170-2004 and maternal sister to the hen 0695353-2016, vice-champion in the Ace Marathon yearlings category in 2017 in the province of Oltenia, which Adrian Burghilă gave as a gift to Gheorghe Preda. As a curiosity, the fathers of the two hens are good brothers. The third bird on the team and the fifth on the loft is hen 390405-2019, which arrived home the next day at 10:48:25. With this time she obtained the 68th place in the county. The hen is a paternal sister to the first hen to arrive at the national competition Vilnius National and has as her mother 0577167-2014, which has placed many Long Distance and Marathon competitions in her career. As origin, the pigeon was brought from the breeding of Lucian Mermezan, being a cross between the Van Der Wegen and Jan Aarden lines. For this competition, Les Amis prepared the flight group using the natural method, basketing 19 pigeons and managing to rank 11 of them. The distance their pigeons had to travel home was 1,083 air kilometers.

Prahova rankings

George Sandu

From Prahova county, for the Vilnius National race, 93 pigeon fanciers basketed a number of 418 pigeons. The winner of the 1st county place in the pigeon category is George Sandu, from Gherghița, whose hen series 0037875-2020 manages to arrive the next day at 08:58:02 and cover the 1,120 aerial kilometers with an average speed of 1,206.08 m/minute. This hen flew in this natural trained stage, the nest position being 8-day-old chicks. The hen always showed signs of being a valuable bird because, on arrival from the Marathon races, she did not come exhausted, being very happy to have reached her nest, and the next day she was always perfectly recovered. At the age of two, she competed in a Long Distance stage over 500 aerial kilometers, a very difficult stage, and was then engaged in three other Marathon stages. As for origins, her father was borrowed from her friend Adrian Dragomir, and her mother was brought from Cosmin Dobre. From this couple saw the light of day pigeons very ambitious and very attached to their nest.

Dan Răducanu

The 2nd county place in the pigeon category is claimed by the hen 0261611-2017, of the pigeon fancier Dan Răducanu, from Ploiești, who competes with the pigeons only using the natural method. His bird flew the distance of this contest, 1,110 aerial kilometers, with an average speed of 1,132.06 m/minute, leaving for basketing from a five-day-old chick. In her career, this wonderful pigeon has placed 3 Long Distance stages and nine Marathon stages, until 2020 she competed at the UCPR. As an origin, it was reproduced in consanguinity, from the grandfather-granddaughter combination, based on lines such as Van Bruaene, Rossens, Jos Thone, Stichelbaut, Janssen, Bricoux, Aarden, Fabry, Sion. She is the granddaughter of hen 1444556-2014, who was 1st Primus Interpares Derby, UCPR, Donetsk 2016, out of 8,700 pigeons.

Constantin Sandu

Constantin Sandu, from the town of Pietroșani, took the 3rd place in the county with the hen series 0317739-2020, she being also the first bird that arrived at the team in the loft. It was registered the next day at 10:33:00, arriving after the 1,122 air kilometer run at an average speed of 1,096.33 m/minute. After a year as a yearling, she managed to rank 4th nationally in the UCPR in the Marathon Ace Yearlings category and 5th nationally in the Extreme Marathon Yearlings, showing her true value as a good runner since then. Her father is brought to the loft from Cosmin Olteanu, being a grandson of Constantin Purcaru’s champions, and her mother is brought from the loft of Ion Cristian, from the pigeon lines of the late Marian Dumitrache. This season, at the first stage of Sokolka, the hen makes a beautiful figure and takes the 2nd place on the launch, after the end of this season she is one of the contenders for the county podium of the Extreme Marathon Old birds category.
Constantin Sandu is also the county leader of the fanciers category after the excellent arrival of hen 0317739-2020, which ranked 3rd in the county. The other two birds from the team are both hens and have the series 0317719-2020 and 0410896-2020. 0317719-2020 ranked 7th in the county and is a daughter of pigeon 4062964-2017, who was national champion in several categories of Marathon and Marathon Extrem Palmares within the UCPR, in 2021. Her father is descended from two pigeons purchased by at Nicu Siclovan. After this season, 0317719-2020 ends the norm in the Extreme Marathon category with a good score. The third one to join the team, the hen with series 0410896-2020, ranked 11th in the county and is bred from a cock from Bogdan Apetroae, also from Marian Dumitrache’s lines, while her mother is from Ion’s pigeons Dogaru. This season, this hen completes the norm in the Extreme Marathon category. Constantin Sandu’s pigeons are flown all season according to the widow method, the fancier saying that he pairs them around March 20, they are left to raise one chick each, then they are switched to the widow method, which they follow all season. At this competition, he basketed 9 racers, ranking 4 of them.

Cristi Nicolescu

In his debut season within this Federation, Cristi Nicolescu, from Slănic-Prahova, takes the 2nd place in the county in the fanciers category. At the Vilnius National stage he engaged a batch of 14 pigeons, and 6 of them managed to bring him a ranking. The first bird to arrive at the team is the hen 0380316-2019, which took the 5th place in the county. Her parents are brought from Iulian Mitrescu (father) and Alin Preda (mother). The hen competed in the Marathon from the first year as a yearling, at the Severodonetsk stage, achieving then the norm in the Yarlingi Marathon category – UCPR, in the 6th place in the county, and this season she ranked all three stages of the Marathon in which she was engaged. The second pigeon from the team that arrived in the loft is the cock 0064287-2019, which ranked 10th in the county. During the period when he was competing in the UCPR, at the age of two, the cock took the 1st place in the county in the Super Extreme Ace Marathon category, with two stages in Donetsk and one in Severodonetsk, and this season he meets the norm in the Extreme Marathon category. As origins, he is 100% from Marian Dumitrache’s pigeons. The number three pigeon is the cock 0818582-2020, which occupied the 30th place in the county, his parents being from the Silviu Stănescu. As a yearling, he took 1st place in the UCPR county exhibition, in the Marathon Ace category. In the current season, he managed to place one stage of the Long Distance and two of the Marathon. The method by which Cristi trained his runners is natural.
The Stroescu Claudiu + Mihailescu Mihai team climbs to the third step of the county podium in the fanciers category. The three pigeons ranked in the team are the cock series 0936878-2020, which came in 6th place in the county, the cock 4037516-2017, 14th place in the county, and the hen with the series 4037670-2017. Their birds had an aerial distance of 1,108 air kilometers to cover at this stage.