The Scott family were over the moon when their Valley Vista stud from Coolac picked up the coveted grand champion ram rosette at the NSW Dorset Championships at Cowra.
The April 2017 drop Poll Dorset ram, Valley Vista 58, caught the eye of the Tasmanian judge, Julian Iles, Killara Poll Dorsets, Sorell, in the hotly contested under 1.5 years woolly class where 14 rams were paraded.
He admitted it was a tough class to judge but eventually gave Valley Vista 58 the nod over a ram shown by Doug and Scott Mitchell, Rene Poll Dorsets, Culcairn.
Valley Vista 58, who had been a champion ram lamb at the Australasian Dorset Championships in Bendigo and the Melbourne Royal Show, then nudged out a ram shown by Garry and Catherine Armstrong, Armdale Park stud, Marrar, for the senior champion broad ribbon.
Then he toppled the junior and intermediate champions for grand champion honours.
Andrew and Donna Scott and their children, James (who paraded the champion), Sally, Joe, Luke and Zac hadn’t shown at Cowra for about the past five years because of a clash with the boys’ football commitments.
And the grand champion award was the first broad ribbon they had ever won at the NSW Dorset Championships.
The Scotts run about 1100 stud ewes and sell 300 to 400 rams a year.
Donna Scott couldn’t stay for the dinner on Friday night but received a phone call on her way home from her husband telling her she had been named the NSW Poll Dorset Association’s 2018 member of the year.
In an email read out during the ewe judging on Saturday morning Mrs Scott said the news had “left her speechless for the first time in my life”.
The Intermediate Champion ram award went to the Douglas family’s Abelene Park stud near Tamworth with the Frost family’s Hillden stud at Bannnister taking the reserve broad ribbon.
And the junior champion ram broad ribbon went to Rene Poll Dorsets with Chris Marr’s Gererdan stud, Gooloogong, taking the reserve champion.