Our Van Reet Story

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 McLaughlin Lofts Van Reet History 

The year was 1990 and a good friend Tim Atkin from Rugby, England was telling me about a young fancier winning 140 first in the last three years. His name was Dean Pallatt. 

What made Dean so interesting is that he was a good flyer maybe fourth best in the Leicestershire federation before he introduced the Staf Van Reet pigeons. Dean Pallatt had a top-notch family of Grondalaers and Boers pigeons when he bought the very first young from Staf Van Reet. 

Breeding from the young Van Reets Dean realized he had something very special. The young Van Reets had an abundance of character and a very unique look of intelligence. Dean wondered that maybe the Van Reets pigeons were as good as many of the fanciers throughout Belgium, Holland, Germany and the United Kingdom had claimed. 

Dean had heard the rumors about the “Fastest pigeons in the world” but had not yet raced the Van Reets. Could this group of 1988 young birds bred a few generations from the champions beat an already existing family of Grondalaers and Boers? 

Dean started the training and the Van Reets he bred and even on short training tosses the Van Reets would break the flock and arrive home as a group ahead of the Grondalaers and Boers. Dean was looking at the young bird season with so much anticipation. 

The young bird season of 1988 had begun. The young Van Reets not only flew to the top but they won 18 first prizes and 1st. Champion with a record point total in the Leicestershire Federation. Dean had only changed his pigeons not his methods. Needless to say the old families of Boers and Grondalaers were eliminated. 

The following year was 1989, and the Van Reets would be tested during the old bird season racing on widowhood. Not only did the yearling Van Reets dominate but also on many occasions he would get his entire entry on a drop ahead of the federation against thousands of pigeons. 

Anyone who has ever raced in a large federation or combine realizes that topping the federation with more than one pigeon is nearly impossible. Imagine having your entire entry on the drop to top the federation. The same pigeons that cleaned up all the awards as young birds continued the winning ways as old birds. 

At this point Dean had to make a decision. He wanted to own the entire family of Van Reets. Dean knew they would make him famous. Dean negotiated and bought every pigeon from Staf Van Reet except the Van Reet’s1989 young bird team. Dean Pallatt now owned the top sprint family of pigeons in the world.

Many other studs offer Van Reet pigeons many generations from the originals. In the 1990’s Van Reet himself began crossing in other families of pigeons with the young Dean left behind. Dean proceeded to race the 1989 young birds again breaking his own record point total for the federation and won 33 first prizes, topping the federation many times. 

In 1990 the world famous Staf Van Reet breeders and winners would be housed and bred from at Dean Pallatt’s. Dean was thrilled about the up coming old bird season, until tragedy struck. The complete team of two-year-old widowers were stolen. Dean vowed the yearlings would hold up the winning ways and they sure did. 

The yearlings won 1st. Champion of the Federation again breaking the record for points. The yearlings topped the federation many times taking up to 9 of the first 10 positions. The totals for 1990 were 39 first prizes, 6 first federations and 2nd Midland Championships along with winning a car on a tough rainy day. 

The following year, 1991, Dean had his greatest racing season again breaking all the records, winning 56 first prizes and many first federations. Unfortunately this would be the beginning of the end for his personal racing. He was voted out of all clubs and wished he had only clocked a few pigeons instead of topping the federation with his entire team. 

The results were so devastating that clubs folded and boundaries were changes to keep Dean from competing. Dean moved to a new location and set up his breeding and racing dream lofts. Plenty of space including many individual pens for the champions. No crosses are made. Dean bred a daughter from one champion to the champion. 

In 1996 after partitioning the federation for several years Dean again was allowed to race young birds. The rule was he could only take federation honors and could only clock one pigeon. The first week was a federation win by 12 minutes. The second race back Dean won by 20 minutes. The federation wanted to claim unattainable speed and throw out Dean’s pigeon. The third week Dean clocked all his pigeons on the first drop and had 18 pigeons fourteen minutes ahead of the next bird in the federation. The o ne bird counted but everyone knew he was getting the team out front of the federation. This was Dean’s last season racing the Van Reets. 

The Van Reets have remarkable qualities that make the family somewhat unique. They are close bred predominantly down from two brothers, 57 X 1st, “Daniel” and his full brother 26 X 1st, “Dikke Prins”. The two cocks were mated to a couple spectacular sprint hens and then back to their nieces. The Van Reets are inbred but win bred straight as well as being so pre-potent that they win for generations. 

McLaughlin Lofts bought children from all the Van Reet super champions and many of the champions themselves. We bought some direct Van Reet breeders before any out crosses by Van Reet were made. We also bought some of the biggest multiple race winners the sport has ever known. 

The results through McLaughlin Van Reets have not been matched by any others. No loft comes close to McLaughlin Lofts in quality or performance.    

Editors note: Van Reet sold all the breeders to Dean Pallatt in 1989. Van Reet sold out completely many years ago. McLaughlin Lofts bought the very best Van Reets ever to enter the US from 1991 to 1999. We have maintained this family and house the top Van Reets today.  The wins were amazing from the beginning and continue to dominate today.

McLaughlin Lofts biggest surprise was the toughness of the Van Reet pigeons.  They fly to the top into headwinds and through rain.  We have had a 1/2 Van Reet win 1st Boston Concourse 608 miles and many top long distance performances. The Freak is slightly more than 50% Van Reet.  If you want the perfect cross to add racing explosion to your pigeons, try McLaughlin's Van Reet pigeons.