# Private Ludo Claessen Collection Becomes Available



## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

It is not every day that you hear of a Ludo Claessen aficionado and collector has put his entire private collection up for sale. It is actually a very rare event, typically one has to die or retire from the pigeon racing sport. As such, it did not seem appropriate that such an event be strictly regulated to the "For Sale" section of Pigeon Talk. After all, Ludo Claessen himself has seen and read some of the threads on this site, and to have some of the offspring down from his birds to be simply listed in these for sale sections does not seem to do either the man or his birds justice. And then of course, Dan Detweiler aka. "learning" has contributed much to these pages, and I think under these circumstances, the racing section is a fitting place to recognize these pigeons. 

Dan's announcement can be found at : . See: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f8/getting-out-of-pigeons-everything-must-go-43246.html

I'm not trying to act as Dan's agent, only attempting to share with you, that if you seriously want to own some bloodlines which have done very well for me, then I suggest that you contact Dan and I would not beat around the bush. Let me suggest, I seriously doubt, that Dan will have the time to PM or email every interested party on this site, with all the particulars regarding 30 pairs of breeders. I alone received something like 19 emails from people on Face Book wanting me to email them various particulars. I did of course supply Dan with many of these pigeons. Some are 1st generation from originals, in other words the parents were bred by the Master, Ludo Claessen himself. These are the most rare, and the most expensive, a couple of GFL 1st generation may still be available. Dan also has a number of 2nd generation Ludo Claessen based pigeons in his inventory.

In addition, there are any number of SFL USA banded birds which are descended from what I call my "Duke of Earl" line. Duke of Earl for those who would like to know, is my ultimate foundation sire, grand sire, great grand sire, etc. for my Smith family line. Duke is the sire which produced my various Flamingo cash winners, my American Ace, and numerous club and combine winners. Ken Munson on this site as well as some others, have experienced some of the offspring from this line. "Duke of Earl" was produced from the lines of Theo Ijskout from Belguim combined with Piet Verbree and Geb De Wit lines. It was the Verbree sire which produced some very notable Gold Metal Winners. Duke's uncle is "Orlando" which was purchased by Mike Ganus and renamed "Super Champion". see : http://ganusfamilyloft.com/superchampion2.htm

It was this line, for which I acquired birds direct from the most famous middle distance Champion of all of Holland...the Master's Master... Ludo Claessen, in which to cross and then build one of America's premiere racing families. Dan shared this dream of building something very different and special. He spared no expense in trying to put together a loft and family of pigeons to make this happen. 

I am putting this out there, because under the circumstances, I don't see Dan sitting down and sending out emails to every Tom, Dick and Harry who says send me an email and tell me what all you have. I am hoping he does not mind, but I will share his email address, but I am asking for his sake, that you contact Dan if you have some means and are serious in acquiring some of this stock. He's not real happy with having to give up this dream because of circumstances beyond his control, so don't add insult to injury by asking for freebies. Dan's email : [email protected]

I thought I would share this also. I don't want to embarass Dan, but just so you know, Dan did make me a very generous offer, which I will be forever greatful. Some members of the 9 Point Colony will be returning home to the Mother Loft in York, Pa. 

Unfortunately, I lack the space and resources to acquire the remaining members of this breeding colony. My hope and desire, is that these pigeons will go to strong hands, and to those who can appreciate the heritage and legacy of these family lines. For those fanciers who acquire some of these SFL USA banded birds, and who wish additional backgrounds or information not available on the original SFL pedigrees, I will do my best to assist the new owner. Any individual fancier who invests more then $5000 into some of Dan's stock, I will be happy to provide, free of charge, a direct offspring from one of my Ludo Originals. Or, at investors option, some other pigeon which might best compliment the particular birds acquired from Dan.

I will be sharing this page with my friends on Face Book and the fans of Smith Family Loft.com on Face Book as well.


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

That is very eloquent and generous of you Warren! You are not only an ace at pigeon racing, but also a compassionate caring person.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

bbcdon said:


> That is very eloquent and generous of you Warren! You are not only an ace at pigeon racing, but *also a compassionate caring person*.



Please....don't go and ruin a very carefully crafted image ! 

Any help I am offering in this regard, can all be explained. It is very simply, in my own selfish self interest to try and promote this event. The mission statement of Smith Family Lofts USA is pretty simple and straightforward : see http://smithfamilyloft.com/

I figured out quite some time ago, that if I got a bunch of intelligent people together, and we were all working towards the same aim, then the odds of actually producing a truly American Premiere Racing strain, was all the more likely !!! Dan built a great beautiful loft, and was willing to stock it with what turned out to be 98.5% of our foundation lines. It was a perfect affiliate loft type situation. It is a team enterprise, and a team effort. And Dan was not only an important strategic part of the team, he housed major limbs of the Family Tree. 

My hope, is that they don't all get shipped to the four corners of the earth. But that a serious fancier or two, steps up to the plate and secures a significant portion of this colony in order to secure these lines for future prosperity. It has taken over a decade and a healthy six figures to acquire the core of the SFL foundations. Here a shrewd investor fancier, for a fraction of that, can own a very unique foundation package. Should that occur, it would be one of those rare...Win, Win, Win situations. A Win for Dan, a Win for the investor, and a Win for all significant owners of SFL stock.

Some very significant money has been won in recent years with various Ludo Claessen hybrids. I don't remember the exact figure, was it $160,000 ? which was one in 2008 with a 1/2 Ludo at the World Ace Challenge. Times are hard right now, but an investment now, in the right stock, could pay off big in the years ahead. So, who feels just a bit lucky ? Who wants to earn a little fame and fortune ?


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

This a crazy notion, but what if the PT group could get together on purchasing his birds, which would help him and to help the PT group. We could designate to which members the birds would be designated to. I know, a crazy idea, but I have never been known for using common sense! Just an idea!


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> It is not every day that you hear of a Ludo Claessen aficionado and collector has put his entire private collection up for sale. It is actually a very rare event, typically one has to die or retire from the pigeon racing sport. As such, it did not seem appropriate that such an event be strictly regulated to the "For Sale" section of Pigeon Talk. After all, Ludo Claessen himself has seen and read some of the threads on this site, and to have some of the offspring down from his birds to be simply listed in these for sale sections does not seem to do either the man or his birds justice. And then of course, Dan Detweiler aka. "learning" has contributed much to these pages, and I think under these circumstances, the racing section is a fitting place to recognize these pigeons.
> 
> Dan's announcement can be found at : . See: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f8/getting-out-of-pigeons-everything-must-go-43246.html
> 
> ...


Warren, I don't know what to say. I don't care how much money or fame my family of pigeons might or might not earn in the future for someone else, I will always feel that I have come out on the winning end just for having stumbled upon you and your pigeons four years ago. What you have given me over the last few years goes far beyond anything to do with pigeons. Thank you my friend.

Dan


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## Xueoo (Nov 20, 2009)

If you can list some general prices it may help people to not flood your e-mail/PM too much. I may be interested in a Keizer cock.


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## [MN]eXist^_^ (Feb 13, 2009)

Nice.!!! Ludo remember the name!!!!!!!!!


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## [MN]eXist^_^ (Feb 13, 2009)

Did he win anything race wise with the collection? Combine wise and one loft wise? That'll be nice to know "because nobody likes a winner" lol


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

[/QUOTE]Unfortunately, I lack the space and resources to acquire the remaining members of this breeding colony. My hope and desire, is that these pigeons will go to strong hands, and to those who can appreciate the heritage and legacy of these family lines. For those fanciers who acquire some of these SFL USA banded birds, and who wish additional backgrounds or information not available on the original SFL pedigrees, I will do my best to assist the new owner. Any individual fancier who invests more then $5000 into some of Dan's stock, I will be happy to provide, free of charge, a direct offspring from one of my Ludo Originals. Or, at investors option, some other pigeon which might best compliment the particular birds acquired from Dan.
I will be sharing this page with my friends on Face Book and the fans of Smith Family Loft.com on Face Book as well.[/QUOTE]

First of all, I am floored and humbled by this incredibly generous offer that Warren is making. Although, I am not surprised, that's just what Warren does from time to time!

It does put a thought in my head that would make my life a whole lot easier and someone a very easy investment...assuming one has the capital. My motivation in this decision to leave the sport was never monitary so the thought of my entire collection going to one place is appealing to me. If anyone is interested in taking Warren up on this offer, I would be willing to include the entire inventory of remaining stock in my breeding loft. At this time that would be about 50+ pigeons. The pedigrees on many of these include names like "Late Rode 430", "Vos 77", "Vale Olympia", "Silver Boy", "De Juf", "Zus Red Quinty", "Bont 509", "Duke of Earl", "Kaizer", "Sheila", the list goes on and on. Many of these birds have the above names appear three or four times within the preceeding four generations. On top of that you would be receiving one of Warren's gems as well.

Yes, shipping 50+ pigeons anywhere is going to be an expensive proposition for the buyer, but at this price and value...is it worth it? If you feel that for you the answer to this is yes then please e-mail me. 

Thank you all for your kind words and support on this forum. I will truly miss that.

Dan


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

I am confused (as usual). Are you stating that the entire 50 birds would cost #5,000?

That is the way I take it, but am unsure.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

conditionfreak said:


> I am confused (as usual). Are you stating that the entire 50 birds would cost #5,000?
> 
> That is the way I take it, but am unsure.


 I know he has at least two 1st generation Ludo's from Mike Ganus....retail on those alone were very close to $5000. I'm thinking he is saying *make an offer*, I am thinking something north of $10,000 would be a steal. My goodness even @ $250 each, you are only talking $12,500 !! Lordy Lordy...I have paid much more then that for a single orginal. I sure would rather see one person walk up to the plate and secure the entire colony for himself....and I am thinking Dan would rather do one transaction rather then 50, and of course it would be over $5000...and so one would get an additional offspring from an orginal. Closest thing available on the public market, is from Mike Ganus, and it is 1/2 Ludo, and the cost is $3000. So for the price of just a few Mike Ganus bird's, you could have a whole colony !!

Gee, am I sounding too much like a cheer leader ?!


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Okay, thanks.

Originally he offered kits of ten birds ready to be settled at the new owners loft. I was interested in that.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

[MN]eXist^_^ said:


> Did he win anything race wise with the collection? Combine wise and one loft wise? That'll be nice to know "because nobody likes a winner" lol


2009 was Dan's first year up to the bat. He struggled with the process, as he attempted a new fangled "Lighting System". Had he been able to race this year, he was going to fly natural, and start with the basics, before attempting some new unproven system. So to answer your question, no he has no race records from his YB's from last year, however many that might be. Some of his breeding stock do have race records of course.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Warren. Forgive me if I have missed something, but I PM'd him immediately when he offered the kits. Guess he did not get it.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Okay. Apparently some miscommunications and unreceived PM's and emails. No big deal.


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

conditionfreak said:


> Warren. Forgive me if I have missed something, but I PM'd him immediately when he offered the kits. I asked only one question. How much for a ten bird kit of squeakers.
> 
> I wish "learning" luck in his new career and wellness in his life crisis.


If I missed your PM I am sorry. The 10 bird kits were and still are going for $500 each.

Dan

Sorry I missed the crazyness, I have been out of town all day today


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

Again let me appologize for dropping the bomb this morning and then not being around to clean up the mess. Just got in from 7 hours of driving and 4 hours of judging...long day.

OK, now let me set the record straight. I meant every word I said. I am not on a timeline that will allow me to wait for six months and send two birds here and three birds there. We may have to relocate soon and I don't want to have to worry about the birds. Money is not the driving force in all of this to me. I feel that Warren made tremendous sacrifices financially to take a risk on me four years ago. This is my way of paying back some of that jesture by giving someone else an extrordinary opportunity.

So...this is it. According to my current records (which I need to confirm tomorrow) I currently have 54 pigeons in the stock loft that are not claimed by others. I want to be straight with everyone, not all of these birds have complete peds. One even is unbanded as it was one of mine that I missed banding last year so it went straight to the stock loft as I know the parents. The birds that do not have complete pedigrees were however hand selected by Warren for me. In my book that's as good as any pedigree, but that's just me. Having said that, there are also a whole lot of peds that read like a who's who of Ludo's racing and breeding history. Among these are the 8th place Flamingo cash winner at 200 miles from 2006, my 21st place Winner's Cup Champion Bird from this year, several highly inbred birds that are grandchildren of some of the Ludo greats and, I just realized this on the way home, a direct son of Warren's "Bont 509". So with Warren's offer, you would be getting not one, but two direct children off of his Ludo imports. The first commitment of $5000 gets them all. Since, as Warren has so eloquently pointed out , $5000 for all these birds would be crazy, and perhaps it is but I can not also take the hit for shipping them, that will be the responsibility of the buyer. Better yet, come on down to tornado beaten, snow storm covered Georgia and pick them up. I would love to meet you! 

Who knows, this may be nothing but a tempest in a teapot. $5000 is still $5000 regardless of the value and in these times that is going to be hard to justify.

My e-mail is [email protected]
My cell number is (404)406-8055


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

conditionfreak said:


> Warren. Forgive me if I have missed something, but I PM'd him immediately when he offered the kits. I asked only one question. How much for a ten bird kit of squeakers.
> 
> I wish "learning" luck in his new career and wellness in his life crisis.


Hi,

I just checked my PMs again and didn't see anything from you. Like I said I may have missed it. If you e-mailed me at home I have tried to get back with everyone that has inquired but it has been difficult. Again, if I missed you it certainly wasn't intentional. If I can help, please e-mail me again.

[email protected]

Dan


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2010)

Wish times were better but even though they are what they are I wouldnt mind having a few pair of these birds in my flock  good luck in what ever life has in store for you and hope your birds go to some great places and keep on proving their worth where they can keep on exceeding the limits


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

For those who have not heard the Ludo Claessen story, perhaps the best place to start is in Europe the premiere world auction site PiPa.


http://www.pipa.be/artikelsnew/martinm/claessens/claessenseng6.htm

They are able to tell the story better then I can.


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## whitesnmore (Sep 9, 2004)

If I wasn't so heavy on breeders (and YB's now) I would jump at the opportunity to aquire some more decendants of Warren's stock. They have bred me many multiple diploma winners. I know I passed some on to Mark Raymond (Ace in the Hole) and he has had good success with the same birds. This appears to me to be a huge offer for anyone wanting to get a quick start in this sport. I know 5000.00 is alot of money right now but maybe Dan would be willing to do a partial payment and a reasonable monthly payment to a newbie to solve both their problems. Dont be afraid to ask if you are interested, all he can say is no. I have had 2 of Warren's cock birds in my loft valued at 2500.00 apiece and I can tell you they were worth every penny. They went back home when their children started producing winners, and i hear they have gone on to get another newbie started.
Any new person buying all of these that wants more of the same Ludo lines can get a direct cock of Warren's from me for the cost of shipping. He is a 2004 bird and still producing winners. I have 8 of his young in my stock loft so I can donate him to help the purchaser start with a proven family member.
Ken


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

*All Peds Now Available*

I have now managed to scan all of the pedigrees of all of the birds involved in this sale. I will be happy to e-mail them to anyone that is interested.

[email protected]

Dan


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

*Update*

Just a quick update to let everyone know that all of my birds have been placed in new homes. Thanks for your interest and support.

Dan


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

Well Dan, 

That didn't take long. Wish you well my friend, I will honor my promises as I wrote in previous post. Wish you the best.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

learning said:


> Just a quick update to let everyone know that all of my birds have been placed in new homes. Thanks for your interest and support.
> 
> Dan


That is good news, thanks for letting us know. 

Best wishes to you and yours.


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