GRAND champion ribbons flowed for Jeff Sutton and family when their Wattle Farm stud, Junee, took out both ram and ewe awards for the second consecutive year at Sydney Royal Show.
Success in the Border Leicester judging began with their junior champion ram which had won the youngest under one year milk teeth woolley class with a half-brother to the 2018 Sydney champion and sired by a Glenlee ram.
This was the ram's first major showing after Gundagai where he was grand champion, and was described by the judge as having a very good, clean sirey head with good neck extension and good length of body, stood very well and had a very good fleece.
A large contingent of 98 Border Leicesters were judged by Ian Tonacia, Mt Beckom stud, Ardlethan, who returned to the Sydney judging mats for the second time having officiated at the Moore Park showground in 1990.
Junior sheep were dominant in numbers with 37 rams and 35 ewes. Seniors tallied 14 rams and 12 ewes.
Wattle Farm's senior and grand ewe, Wattle Farm Bluebelle, is a daughter of Coolawang Victory and won the under two years woolley class and also victorious at Gundagai show.
The stud also exhibited reserve senior ram the best headed ram and the winning group of four and group of six head.
Reserve grand champion ewe was the junior champion shown by North South stud of the Makeham family based at Young and Walcha.
This ewe had won the youngest ewe class, woolley under one milk teeth, and was grand champion at Canberra Royal and Yass show.
Mr Tonacia said the grand champion ewe was very well balanced.
"She has a beautiful head with long, velvety ears, very good spring of ribs and an extremely even fleece of wool," he said.
"I chose the senior ewe for grand as she was more mature then the junior, but the young ewe has as good a fleece on her as your would see on a Border Leicester and very well balanced too."
Crookwell based Talkook stud of the Anderson family exhibited the senior champion ram with a son of a Mt Beckom sire in their fourth year of showing at Sydney.
Normanhurst stud conducted by the Corkhill family, Boorowa, gained two reserve broad ribbons, the first was reserve junior champion ram which stood second in the youngest class to Wattle Farm's winner and junior champion.
This ram is by a Glencorrie sire and stood third in his class at Canberra Royal and reserve junior champion at Boorowa show. However he stood out at Sydney winning the production class while another Normanhurst stud ram was placed third.
Normanhurst's reserve junior ewe stood second in his class to the North South champion and the stud also won the Peter Taylor group of three head, ram and two ewes.
Jamie and Tracey Buerckner, Bauer stud, Ariah Park, exhibited the reserve senior champion ewe, a member of the stud's winning pair of ewes at the 2018 Bendigo Australian Sheep and Wool show and later at Melbourne Royal.
This ewe had stood second to the senior champion in their class.
Bauer stud also won the shorn pair of milk teeth rams under one year and was runner-up in the production class and second pair of milk-teeth ewes.
Breed: Border Leicester
Judge: Ian Tonacia, Mt Beckom stud, Ardlethan
No. of exhibits: 98
Junior champion ram: Wattle Farm, Temora
Reserve junior champion ram: Normanhurst, Boorowa
Junior champion ewe: North South, Young
Reserve junior champion ewe: Normanhurst
Senior champion ram:Talkook, Crookwell
Reserve senior champion ram: Wattle Farm
Senior champion ewe: Wattle Farm
Reserve senior champion ewe: Bauer, Ariah Park
Grand champion ram: Wattle Farm
Reserve grand champion ram: Talkook
Grand champion ewe: Wattle Farm
Reserve grand champion ewe: North South