A TRIFECTA of world sheep shearing records set in Western Australia in 18 days was completed when Boyup Brook shearer and Shear Pride shearing contractor Floyde Neil became the latest record breaker.
Mr Neil, 29, claimed a new world eight-hour crossbred lamb shearing record with a total of 527 shorn during four two-hour runs.
- Subscribers have access to download our free app today from the App Store or Google Play
His tallies were 132, 126, 140 and 129 lambs.
He broke the previous record of 524 lambs set on July 17, 2019, near Wagga Wagga, in New South Wales, by fellow New Zealand-born, Australian-based shearer Aidan Copp.
With the record attempt in Kim and Anna Anderson's shearing shed at Slab Hut Grazing, near Kojonup, delayed by a day for better weather conditions, Mr Neil seemed unfazed when he finished his first run two lambs short of the previous record holder's tally.
He maintained his rhythm and concentrated on smooth, consistent long blows despite falling a further four first-cross lambs behind in his second run.
But a mighty effort after lunch in the third run, under the watchful eyes of record attempt convenor Neil Fagan from New Zealand and Australian referees Mark Baldwin, NSW, Grant Borchardt, Queensland, and Mike Henderson, Dongara, saw the deficit erased and Mr Neil leap ahead.
The third run is considered by some to be the most important in determining whether a record target will be achieved because of the risk of the shearer and his team losing focus momentarily after the long break and taking time to get back up to pace.
But it proved a winner for Mr Neil.
From six lambs behind record pace at the lunch break, his 140 third-run tally promoted him to nine lambs ahead going into the final two hours and brought the record within reach.
As the son of a shearing gun, Mr Neil comes from world record-breaking bloodlines.
His father Roger Neil is a New Zealand shearing contractor and champion shearer, who was part of a three-stand team that held the world eight-hour strong wool lamb shearing record set in 1999 and the four-stand team that still holds the world nine-hour strong wool lambs shearing record set in 2007 at 2897 lambs.
Mr Neil shore his first sheep at age 12 and went to work shearing full-time at 17.
He settled in WA in 2016, founded Shear Pride as a contractor and has experienced considerable success on the competition shearing circuits in New Zealand and Australia.
OTHER GREAT READS:
Incredibly, his record on Sunday was the second world record in 18 days set by a member of the Shear Pride shearing team.
On October 27 Koen 'Kojak' Black, 26, also from Boyup Brook, who shears for Mr Neil's Shear Pride team, had kicked off the local assault on world shearing records by smashing his older brother Dwayne's 20-year world eight-hour Merino lamb shearing record by 34 lambs.
In the Tandara Trading shearing shed at Kulikup, near Boyup Brook, Koen Black lifted the new eight-hour Merino lamb shearing world benchmark to 604.
On November 5 brothers Louis and Jim Brown, Bunbury, and their South Australian cousin Imran Sullivan combined to demolish the world three-stand eight-hour Merino lamb shearing record by a massive 395 lambs.
Louis, 34, - who also holds the world eight-hour Merino ewe shearing record at 497 - and Imran, 32, each amassed individual eight-hour totals of 555 lambs and Jim, 38, shore a total of 493, for a combined new world three-stand record of 1603 Merino lambs, set in the Pech family's shearing shed at Wansborough near Tambellup.
