A new sale for the Charollais breed at Borderway Mart, Carlisle with auctioneers Harrison & Hetherington started with cracking top prices and strong demand for the quality stock on offer. To accommodate vendors from Northern Ireland the sale was a mixture of animals in the market and some sold via video recordings. And it was one of the Northern Ireland vendors whose ram lambs took many of the top prices.
Graham Foster’s Springhill flock topped the sale at 10,000gns for Springhill Casino Royale. Sired by last year’s top priced ram, Boyo Bravemansgame purchased at the Worcester Premier Sale for 24,000gns, this one is out of an Oakchurch ewe by Cavick What a Boy. A trio of breeders from Southern Ireland put in the last bid; John McCafferty, Sinead Brophy and Gavin Fahey with the breeder retaining a 25% share.
Another Bravemansgame son, Springhill Crackerjack, then sold for 8000gns. Buyers this time were Ben and Amelia Watts from Newton Abbot, Devon, for their Willow flock, purchasing online having previously visited Graham Foster’s flock to view the offering.
Local breeder Ben Radley from Dumfriesshire matched the 8000gns price tag for Loaningfoot Cotton Eyed Joe which sold to Russell Gray, Lanarkshire. A son of Boyo Vancouver, the home-bred dam of this lamb was breed champion at Ayr in 2022.
The Springhill flock dominated the next few prices with Springhill Class Act going for 5500gns to Messrs Douglas, Co Managham and Springhill Craftsman selling for 5000gns to Alan Thomas, Lutterworth, Leicestershire for his Tilton flock.
The Ingram family from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, had a strong entry forward and were rewarded with the championship ticket in the pre-sale show classes. Their champion was a shearling ram, which sold for 2800gns to G B Howsam, Boston, Lincolnshire.
Topping their trade at 5000gns was a Loanhead tup lamb from brothers Gregor and Bruce Ingram and was sired by the multi-prize winning Foxhill Va Va Voom. Determined bidding by Richard Bamforth from Yorkshire ensured the purchase for his Lower Denby flock. The pick for Messrs Sloan and Jackson’s Rigghead flock in Dumfriesshire at 3500gns was a ram lamb from Logie Durno sired by their new stock sire, Cavick Blood Diamond.
Carlisle-based vendor Jonathan Wales and his sons sold a shearling son of Foxhill Va Va Voom for 2600gns to Geoff Probert, Herefordshire, while their highest priced ram lamb was the reserve champion, Thackwood Coyote which went for 2300 gns to C J Roots, Dumfries.
The flock invested 4500gns of their earnings into Springhill Corker from Graham Foster; another son of Boyo Bravemansgame, this time out of a Gwyndy Whizz Kid daughter.
The pre-sale judge was Robert Gregory from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who achieved a top price of 3000gns in his pen, for the highest Signet performance indexed lamb this year. Edstaston Catch Me If You Can was the choice of Society chairman, Charles Sercombe from Leicestershire, for his Dalby flock.
Leading the entry of females was a shearling ewe from the Aghavilly flock of Glenn Baird, sold via the video link. A daughter of Loanhead Virgil Van Dijk, this one sold for 1400gns to Messrs Tener, Dungannon, Northern Ireland.
Messrs Mason from Lancashire took the first prize shearling ewe from the Ingrams at 1200gns. Securing the first prize ewe lamb from the Manor House flock of George Hoggard at 1200gns were Mr and Mrs Trafford from Cockermouth.
Averages: 9 shearling ewes £1055.83; 2 ewe lambs £1128.75; 1 aged ram £2625.00; 10 shearling rams £1370.25; 40 ram lambs £2346.75 (Harrison & Hetherington).
