ROSEVILLE Park stud, Dubbo, NSW, continued its tradition of strong performances at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show this year, winning the supreme Merino exhibit.
The stud’s grand champion 17.7 micron fine-medium wool ewe won over the North Ashrose grand champion strong wool ram, SA.
Roseville Park also won best group of three and five Merino sheep classes, as well as grand champion fine wool ewe and grand champion super fine ram.
The supreme ewe particularly impressed judge Robert Harding, Nhill.
“This ewe was almost faultless, she had a tremendous amount of quality,” she said.
In the group classes, it was the second time the Roseville Park had achieved the double (group of three and five), having done so in 2006.
They have won the prestigious Lionel Weatherly trophy for best exhibit of five Merino sheep three times.
The winning group of five previously won the Bruce Merriman trophy at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which the stud has won for nine of the past 13 years.
In the group of three class, the ewes weighed 115kg and 120 kg, while the ram weighed 137kg. These wins saw the stud claim most successful Merino exhibitor.
This is a prize Roseville Park Stud has won at a number of competitions in the past, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, the NSW and Queensland State Sheep Shows, and the Dubbo National Merino Sheep Show.
Stud principal Matthew Coddington said uniformity was key to success in the group classes.
“Our sheep are peas in a pod, and that’s what a group should be,” he said.
Roseville Park stud was established in 1938 by Mr Coddington’s grandfather and Mr Coddington purchased the property from his parents in 2005.
He said he had implemented a number of changes since taking over the property.
“We’ve tried to breed a line of sheep that is more uniform,” he said.
“I’ve tried to push the advanced breeding, using artificial insemination and embryo transfer.”
Mr Coddington said his 18.5 micron (average) rams were versatile animals that very suited to climates “from Launceston to Longreach”.
He said the stud sold semen in addition to 700 rams annually to about 650 clients across Australia and the world.
“We export semen and live to Uruguay and about 70 per cent of genetics in Uruguay are Roseville now,” he said.
He said he was particularly proud of his group of five win.
“I think the group of five is the hardest class to win in Australia,” he said.
“The hardest thing is getting there but once you’re there it’s hard to stay there.”
Judge Andrew Calvert, Tasmania, was one of the group class judges and he concurred with Mr Coddington.
“I know from my experience that it’s a very difficult thing to win a group of five,” he said.
“Roseville Park sheep are absolutely outstanding in evenness, and correct wool and structure.
“It was a unanimous decision in both group classes and that doesn’t happen very often.”
