Victorian stud Malakai and its female Malakai Firework has claimed-back-to-back Best Huacaya Alpaca In Show honours in this year's Sydney Royal Show Alpaca Competition.
Formed in 1993 with the purchase of two wethers, Malakai now has more than 400 alpacas.
Shane Carey has around 30 years of experience in alpacas, running the stud with partner Daniel Hard on 89 hectares at Ballarat, Victoria.
Malakai specialises in breeding stud animals to show and export.
Going off Malakai Firework's success last year, Shane was hopeful of another strong showing this year.
"I thought she could do it again this year," Shane said.
"But, you never know what animals others may bring or what the different judges may like.
"I am just wrapped.
"We place great importance on the Sydney Royal Show and to get this result two years in a row is great."
While many breeders in NSW have had to deal with extremely wet conditions, Shane said that has not been the case in Ballarat.
"We have had a pretty good run over the last two years," he said.
"We've been lucky."
The team at Malakai are working hard to stay on top and believe embryotic transfer (ET) is the way to do it.
"We already have three ET babies of Firework's ready to drop," Shane said.
"ET helps us produce better quality over a shorter period of time.
"The three of Firework's we have to be born are from three different sires.
"In one year we will be able to see which works best with Firework's genetics.
"To do this naturally could take five to six years."
The top prize in the Suri class was one by a stud making it's first visit to the show.
Elimbari, run by Michael and Ros Davis, Burra, claimed Best Suri Alpaca In Show with Elimbari Sappho.
Anecdotally, Elimbari Sappho's grandmother was a Peruvian import named Surilana Prima de Allianza.
Surilana sponsor the Best Suri Alpaca In Show award.
Michael and Ros began Elimbari with some Huacaya alpacas but when they saw a Suri, they fell in love.
They now run 70 alpacas on 20 hectares 15 kilometres south of Queanbeyan.
"We began trying to get a Suri out of breeding males with Huacayas, but in 2015 we bit the bullet and bought in some quality Suri females," Michael said.
"One of the females we bought in was Prima de Allianza - one of three very nice Suri females we bought.
"Her grandson Sappho is one of four very nice young Suris we have."
Michael and Ros share an affinity with their herd.
"If it was up to me, I would let them graze pastures to feed," Ros said.
"But Michael began hand-feeding them during the drought and can't give it up!"