Dorset show's dynasty

Garry Armstrong has been named as the senior judge, after being forwarded in the peer nomination system and endorsed in a ballot conducted by the Poll Dorset Breeders Association.

Mr Armstrong will scrutinise more than 340 Poll Dorsets during the weekend event - to be held at the Prince of Wales Showground - many of which will be vying for the Noel Armstrong Memorial Trophy for the supreme ram exhibit, named in honour of his father.

"Noel Armstrong was one of the instigators of this show, and sadly died not long before show started," said show secretary Rod Bowles, Bendigo, Vic.

"It's quite a nice thing this year, because his son Garry will be judging and his grandson Sam will be a steward on the mat."

This year's event also coincides with the Poll Dorset breed's 60th anniversary.

To celebrate the occasion, the Poll Dorset Association will host a dinner at the Regional Exhibition Centre in Bendigo.

Mr Bowles said the Poll Dorset's predecessor, the Dorset Horn, would also be competing for ribbons at the event, with the Dorset Horn portion first up on Saturday, September 13.

Registrations were up in the Dorset Horn classes this year, with 16 rams and 11 ewes expected to compete.

While numbers have pulled back slightly in the Poll Dorset showing, Mr Bowles said competition would be as strong as ever.

"It's a very elite show - if you're going to bring a sheep it's got to be a good one that's going to be competitive," he said.

"In these economic times, some studs have dropped down one or two animals, but they're still bringing their best sheep."

Competition will be fierce in many of the ram classes this year, including the ram born after June 1, 2013 category, which has attracted 33 exhibits.

Meanwhile, 27 animals will line up in the ram under 11/2 years, in the closely and evenly shorn class, and 22 in the ram under 11/2 years machine shorn bracket.

Performance will be highlighted and judged in the Lambplan and Stockscan classes, which are scored on a mix of data, measurement and visual aspects.

When the mat is cleared away on Monday for the sale, buyers will have 69 Poll Dorset and three Dorset Horn rams to weigh up.

Last year Tattykeel stud, Oberon, NSW topped the ledger at $10,000, with the sale averaging $3785 overall.

But the price tag need not scare away commercial inquiry, Mr Bowles said.

"Some of these studs have the best performing rams in Australia and there's a lot that go for between $2000 to $4000, which would still be good value."