A Southdown ewe with a “cracking” ram lamb at foot edged clear of her male counterparts to take out the Supreme Champion sheep award at the Royal Geelong Show.
Simon and Kate Thomas, Silk Southdowns, Cavendish, presented the top exhibit.
The ewe was champion ewe of the show and supreme Southdown ewe.
Mr Thomas said the ewe had also won Champion Southdown at Sheepvention and Horsham show this year after failing to get a ribbon at Geelong in 2017.
They run 90 stud ewes selling 30-40 rams each year by private sale.
“We mainly breed for our own purposes but we have a small client base as well,” he said.
“We aim for quality not quantity in the ram sales.
Mr Thomas said they also ran a commercial White Suffolk/Merino flock using Southdown rams as the terminal sire.
Last season they turned off all but four percent of the drop in 16-18 weeks at an average weight of 24.5 kilograms.
Southdown judge, Blair Robertson, Merrydowns, Gore, New Zealand, said when judging the classes the breed quality, udder attachments, teat placement and carcase quality of the ewe was outstanding.
He said breeders couldn’t have rams like the champion if there wasn’t the ewes like the supreme.
“It’s easy to judge good sheep and I am keep to take some of these genetics back to New Zealand at some stage.”
A young Corriedale from Bilcor Corriedales, Pakenham, earlier dominated the breed and interbreed judging.
The ram was judged supreme Corriedale, ram lamb champion, lamb of the show, long wool sheep of the show and Deppeler Memorial Trophy.
Corriedale judge Rick Hoolihan, Glen Esk, Rydal, NSW, said the interbreed awards confirmed his thoughts during the breed judging.
Earlier he said he was “shaking things up a bit” by announcing the young Bilcor ram as supreme Corriedale exhibit over the older sheep.
He said the ram would grow into a really good ram.
He said the Corriedale was a”handy” young ram with a good clean face, wide ears, stood well on its feet and had a “beautiful” even fleece over its body.
Breeder, Billy Rowe, Bilcor, said it was the ram’s first show.
It was by a ram from Stanbury Corriedales at West Cloven Hills sire that was well known for breeding quality rams.
The champion ram of the show was a tight tussle between the Southdown and Texel breeds.
In the end the points went to the Southdown shown by Andrew Hogarth and Aneika Croswell, Kirkdale, Evandale, Tasmania.
The ram had figures of 116 kilograms 49 millimetres muscle depth, 98mm muscle width and 8mm fat.
It was reserve champion at Geelong in 2017.
Mr Robertson said during class judging that the Southdown rams were a credit to the breed and the exhibitors.
The rams were all true to type, structurally sound and had “a tonne of meat on them”.
It was tough to judge the rams “and some judges may go a different way.”
The Southdown breed won the Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association’s champion group and the champion group of three was won by White Suffolks.
