GRATHLYN stud, Mudgee, owned the superfine ring in 2016, its March-shorn ewe not only taking out grand superfine ewe, but continuing through to win supreme Merino ewe.
Under judge Matthew Coddington, Roseville Park, Dubbo, 13 exhibitors battled it out with 40 superfine entries.
Grathlyn’s show-stopping ewe, from the class showing no more than four teeth, carried a 16.2-micron fleece, with a standard deviation (SD) of 2.3 micron, a 14.2 per cent coefficient of variation (CV), and a 99.9pc comfort factor (CF).
The ewe’s sire was Grathlyn 12, the ultrafine August-shorn champion ram and ultrafine reserve grand champion ram at the 2014 Australian Sheep and Wool Show, Bendigo, Victoria.
Its dam was the ultrafine grand champion ewe in Sydney, 2011.
The reserve ewe was a two-tooth March-shorn Shalimar Park entry from Wollun, which carried a 15.8-micron fleece with a SD of 2.4 micron, a 15.2 percent CV and a 99.7 percent CF.
The Merriman family of Merryville, Boorowa, took home the grand champion ram broadribbon, drawn from the March-shorn six-tooth class.
The ram carried a 16.5-micron fleece, with a 2.8-micron SD, a 17pc CV and a 99.7pc CF.
The reserve grand ram was a six-tooth March-shorn exhibit with a 16.1-micron fleece, 2.9-micron SD, 18pc CV and a 99.9pc CF.
Conrayn, Berridale, began the day’s judging on high note, winning August-shorn champion and reserve ram.
The six-tooth champion ram held a 19.4-micron fleece, 3.2-micron SD, a 16.5pc CV and a 99.6pc CF.
The two-tooth reserve carried a 16.1-micron fleece, with a 2.2-micron, a 13.7pc CV and a 99.8pc CF.
The August-shorn champion ewe was awarded to a four-tooth entry, again from Grathlyn. It had a 17.1-micron fleece, 3.1-micron SD, 18.1pc CV and a 99.7pc CF.
Reserve went to Wantana, Boorowa, for a six-tooth 16.2-micron ewe.
Merryville was in the winners’ stakes again with the March-shorn champion ram and reserve went to an entry from Conrayn, Berridale.
Merryville’s six-tooth champion measured 16.5 micron, 2.8 micron SD, 17pc CV and a 99.7pc CF. The six-tooth reserve from Conrayn carried a 16.1-micron fleece.
If the weight of multiple broadribbons was not enough, the champion August-shorn Merino/Poll Merino ewe was also taken out by Grathlyn.
The four-tooth measured 17.1 micron, 3.1-micron SD, a 18.1pc CV and 99.7pc CF.
The reserve was a four-tooth from Towalba stud, Peak Hill, with a 22.6-micron fleece.
