Aurora Park Border Leicester stud wins at Melbourne Royal Show

Aurora Park Border Leicester stud principal Matthew Hill, St Helens Plains, brought four sheep to the event, and being the only exhibitor, he took home all class ribbons, as well as the champion and supreme prizes.

"We've come to the show so we still feel deserving of the win," he said.

"Usually there are a few breeders here with Borders and it's stiff competition, so it's surprising to be the only one.

"When they see I've won it, they'll say, 'oh, now I want to win', so hopefully there'll be more here next year.

"You need that competition so you can compare what you're breeding to what others are breeding."

Mr Hill said both his champion ram and ewe were by the same sire, one who was no stranger to show success himself.

"Interestingly enough, their sire was the supreme Border Leicester exhibit at Melbourne in 2010, so they come from a champion family line," he said.

"That ram's done tremendously for me, so I'll keep using that blood for a while to come."

It was Aurora Park's champion ram that took out supreme of the breed and Mr Hill said he knew quite early on he was "pretty good".

"I've already used him and have some pretty-good lambs on the ground," he said.

He said the champion ewe was very similar to the ram.

Mr Hill also shows Hampshire Downs, and has for about 15 years, while the Border Leicesters are more of a "recent addition" to the operation.

"I've been showing them for about four years now," he said.

Border Leicester judge Australian Sheep Breeders Association president Peter Baker, Baringhup, said the supreme exhibit was a "ram that carried himself very well".

"He had the thickness we were looking for," he said.

Mr Baker said the champion ewe had "a lot of potential".

"She was a ewe that had plenty of loin about her," he said.

"She had plenty of stretch and a very, very good Border Leicester head."

He said it was disappointing to only have one exhibitor for the breed, but that didn't detract from Aurora Park's showing.

"The four sheep he had were all true to type," he said.

"They were true Borders and it would have been tough to beat them."