TWO embryo transfer siblings from Tattykeel Poll Dorset stud have come away with top honours in the Poll Dorset show at the NSW State Sheep Show after being described as "two peas in a pod".
"One flush, two stuck and this is the product," Graham Gilmore of Tattykeel said of the consistency of the pair of flush siblings that could not be missed by any onlooker as they shined throughout the Dubbo event.
"Rarely I go for woolly sheep, but that ewe and ram are exceptional - there is nothing to hide on them," judge James Sharpe of Amelie Poll Dorsets, Uralla said.
Off the back of his interbreed supreme sheep exhibit win at the Sydney Royal Show in April, Tattykeel Masterclass 20060 was again unstoppable as he took to the mat.
Claiming champion ram before pipping the ewe for the supreme Poll Dorset exhibit sash, Masterclass did not stop there sweeping the entire show and taking the Gilmore family of Tattykeel to an eighth consecutive win of the Wilson-Tink Memorial Trophy for the supreme sheep exhibit of show.
Sired by Tattykeel Mastermind ET 170014 and out of Tattykeel 140085, the grand ram came out of the ram under 1.5 years class and was described as "one of a kind".
"This ram and his presence is exceptional," Mr Sharpe said.
"The width that he stands with from behind, the muscle depth he carries throughout from the front to the back, right down the hock.
"For a ram to carry that length and still hold himself as well as he does through the top is really exceptional.
"He really is one of a kind."
Following his win of the sheep section, Masterclass then went on to be named the overall supreme inter-species exhibit of the Dubbo Show (p88), with the Gilmore family commenting he wiould be retained by the stud.
Tattykeel 200079 was the full flush sibling to Masterclass that was announced as the champion Poll Dorset ewe after she impressed judge Mr Sharpe with her carcase and Dorset type.
"Taking nothing away from the ewe, she is exceptional, they are two peas in a pod," he said.
The ewe had previously been shown at Sydney Royal where she was awarded reserve champion ewe.
Embryo technician Peter Lynch from Animal Breeding Services in New Zealand, who was involved in the collection and implantation of the embryos that resulted in the two top Poll Dorset exhibits, was in attendance and watched them sashed.
"I have been involved since day one with the Aussie Whites and Poll Dorsets, first meeting Graham when he first came to New Zealand for Texels," Mr Lynch said.
"Since, we have recovered thousands of embryos."
Tattykeel ET 200033 was the shorn ewe under 1.5 years that was awarded reserve champion ewe, while reserve champion ram went to Tattykeel 200043, a ET bred son of Tattykeel Jackpot that came from the shorn ram under 1.5 years class.
Tattykeel exhibited 16 Poll Dorsets animals in the show, and came away with the group of one ram and two ewes as well as most successful Poll Dorset exhibitor.
Overall 37 Poll Dorsets entries from five exhibitors featured at the 2021 Dubbo event.
