Supreme exhibit: Black Diamond, Cowra, NSW
Champion female: Black Diamond
Reserve: L & M Llewellyn & Co, Congupna
Champion bull: Bolton Girls, Shepparton
A cow that’s come from a successful family has kept tradition, taking out supreme Red Angus exhibit at the Royal Melbourne Show.
Exhibited by Black Diamond Angus and Red Angus stud, Cowra, NSW, and with a calf-at-foot, the three year-old cow won the title against the champion bull by Bolton Girls Red Angus, Shepparton.
And judge Sean Kallady, World Wide Sires, compared the cow’s win to an Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Final win.
“It all comes down to the day, you can train and train and train, but you’ve got to perform on the day, and the cow here, you can tell she wants to win,” Mr Kallady said.
But he said both exhibits would do a lot to take the breed into the future.
“It’s all about carcase, performance, and making your clients that extra bit of money, and both will be able to do that,” he said.
Black Diamond stud principal Christine Kennedy said the cow’s size and structure made her an outstanding animal.
And it’s been a tough season at home, so the win was even more surreal.
“We’ve tried our best to look after our main breeding herd,” she said.
Ms Kennedy said the cow is dual-registered to breed with Angus and Red Angus bulls, and they were still making the decision of what she would be joined to.
Aimee Bolton, Bolton Girls, said the overall presence of her champion bull, a 17 month-old, stood out to her.
The bull was a grandson of one of Ms Bolton’s foundation females, and had a successful year, winning junior champion win at the Royal Adelaide Show recently.
“He’s got a lot of muscle and thickness,” she said.