Carcoar's Working Dog Challenge Trial and Sale draws $50,000 prize money

To be held at the Central Tablelands Livestock Exchange, Carcoar, from Thursday October 24 to Sunday October 27, the event features a massive $50,000 in prize money.

It is also expected to build on the success of the inaugural 2021 Working Dog Challenge, where 57 dogs sold for a top price of $24,000 and averaged $7422.

Extended from three days to four to cater for the sheer numbers of entries received in 2021, the challenge will feature both sheep and cattle yard trials, a Sire Shootout Challenge, and a live auction, with entertainment between events.

This year, there are more than 500 trial entries, plus 58 dogs in the auction which will be run by Bowyer and Livermore, Bathurst, and interfaced with Stocklive.

Bowyer and Livermore's Tom Card said there had already been a lot of interest in the sale dogs with people as far as Tasmania prepared to bid on a new working dog.

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Organiser Brock Syphers, said the challenge was established last year to respond to a gap identified in the Central Tablelands region for an event of this type.

"We really want to take trialing to a new level - we've upped the prize money and really put a lot of work into the working dog catalogue to present a professionally run event," Mr Syphers said.

"The challenge has been put together by a group who likes working with dogs and wanted to bring together like-minded people to see some great dogs in action and make a weekend of it.

"I am particularly excited about the Sire Shootout on Friday night where 16 top dogs will go head-to- head for a prize purse of $30,000, all under lights," he said.

The invitational Sire Shootout competition is set to be even fiercer this year with the industries top dogs set to go head to head in both cattle and sheep.

This year's competition features 16 dogs with Broken River Jake, The Lee's Rock, Cotway Dazzler, Lokobe Fred II, Koonama Cracka, Eveready Bob, Wikwak Rafa, Amos Zone, Stanford Mars, Karrobar Bruiser II, Collite Turbo, Wyanbah Trigger, Eveready Roy II, Getitdun Stuart, Karana Rou IV, and Whites Benny.

A charity auction will run on the Saturday night and feature two dogs. Zac Ede and Grace Halsted have donated a puppy out of Karana Emma IV and by Leeway Panda, and AAMIG and RLX has donated back Koonama Bid, a Kelpie that made $7500 as an eight-week-old pup in last year's auction, and has since been trained by it's original donors, Koonama Working Dogs.

All proceeds from these two dogs will be donated to mental health support service, This Is A Conversation Starter.

The full program is as follows:

Thursday October 24:

Friday October 25:

Saturday October 26:

Sunday October 27: