Ribbons to Schute Bell charity steers as countdown begins to Sydney Royal Show

They were purchased at weaning in November for the headline act of this year's Schute Bell charity steer auction, to be held on April 6 between rounds of the Young Auctioneers' Competition.

The calves were bred by Tim Willemse and Naomi Hobson at Panorama Farms Speckle Park stud, Narrabri, and trucked to Armidale where the largest-ever show team from the Presbyterian Ladies College are preparing them for the judges' glare, thanks to guidance from experienced handlers Briony Looker and Tim Light, LL Livestock at Armidale.

Efforts have obviously paid off with ribbons added to their collection including grand champion beef exhibit for the show at Glen Innes and again over the weekend at Guyra.

Breeder Ms Hobson said the stud was born out of the hardship of drought, when the couple were forced to downsize and sell their commercial herd but committed themselves to the breed.

"We looked at our Speckle Park cows and we saw something in the paddock," said Ms Hobson. "We knew it was worth putting our own money into them. Their do-ability and commercial performance under pressure sold us."

The show steers were from a purebred Speckle Park cow from Minnamurra bloodlines owned by Panorama Farms by homozygous polled Canadian Speckle Park bull Caja Zeppelin.

Embryos were produced on farm and implanted by veterinarian Ced Wise.

Proceeds from the best of the pair will go to heart research with Professor Jason Kovacic, executive director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, saying the funds raised from the Schute Bell charity steer have played an instrumental role in delivering life-changing heart disease research to Australians.

"It's incredible to think that more than half a million dollars has been raised since 1998," he said.

"This is a truly significant amount that has allowed to pioneer new treatments to tackle Australia's biggest killer - heart disease."

Scientists at the institute are currently preparing for clinical trials a new drug derived from spider venom that is hoped might prevent damage caused from a heart attack.

They are also in the midst of clinical studies for a potential new treatment to prevent birth defects in children and recurrent miscarriages and are looking into the genetic causes of a trial fibrillation - which will affect one in three Australians during their lifetimes - by studying zebra fish which share 70 per cent of the same genes as humans and can repair their own hearts.

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