Talent won dairy interbreed

Until two years ago the Flanagan family's Mooramba Talent Randell had been simply a strong performing herd cow who had never been out of the paddock or worn a parading halter until she was bought at a dispersal sale by brothers Nicholas and Marcus Flanagan.

Now she's got all Sydney Royal's dairy showgoers talking.

Although a reluctant parader with a bossy personality, Talent Randell wooed the interbreed judging panel with her powerful milking conformation and capacity (currently delivering 55 litres a day), narrowly snatching the supreme champion title from Jersey champion Shirlinnn Ilb Zara 3.

The tight finale on Tuesday afternoon had two of the six judges placing Ilb Zara, owned by Susan Morrison from the Manning Valley, ahead of the Holstein, but Talent Randell picked up first placings from three other judges.

The Flanagans, whose Woodlawn Pastoral Company milks 700 cows, had not shown at Sydney for 15 years, but collected broad ribbons for the three Holsteins they took on the 10-hour drive north to Olympic Park.

"Showing cows tends to be a very expensive hobby and a lot of work, so it's a great reward after coming all this way," Nick Flanagan said.

It was an afternoon of close judging calls in the dairy ring, with another Jersey champion, Shirlinn Tequila Silk, eventually sashed junior supreme champion after a tied vote with Holstein junior champion Murribrook Destry Velvet.

Over-judge Lindsay Moxey made a deciding call in favour of the Jersey highlighting the 16-month-old's more correct rump setting and pitch to her loin, complemented by "a beautiful set of legs and walking style".

The Wilson family's Shirlinn stud from Tamworth, supreme interbreed champion exhibitors for the past three years, also returned to parade the supreme pen of three cows this week.

Holstein intermediate champion Murribrook Windhammer Cybele racked up a perfect first place score to win the intermediate supreme title for Murray Sowter's 11-cow show team from Moss Vale ahead of Ken and Margaret Atkins Kendale Jersey champion from Johns River.