IF YOU listened carefully, you could hear him coming; marching across the showground to stake his claim.
Titan - the ram with "so many things right about him", according to his owner Dennis Dalla, Orrie Cowie, Warooka - made his presence felt at the Sydney Royal Easter Show earlier this year, where he snagged the champion August-shorn Poll Merino ram.
The sheer mass of the 160-kilogram ram caught the eye of many an astute Merino breeder, and on Saturday, impressed the judges at the recent Crystal Brook Show so much that they unanimously named him the grand champion Merino ram and thus, the SA supreme Merino ram.
Titan will go on to represent the state at the Rabobank National Merino Sheep Show - held in Dubbo, NSW, later this month - in the judging of the Australian supreme Merino ram of the year.
And the next day, he will be offered at the national ram sale.
The 21.4-micron ram - with a standard deviation of 3.4M, 15.9 per cent coefficient of variation and 99.6pc comfort factor - has a pedigree packed with performance.
Titan is by Orrie Cowie Regal 56, which was bred from a Collinsville-bred ram, Regent 259, whose father was Regent 17.
"Regent 17 was probably one of the most renowned rams of the past 30 years," Mr Dalla said.
On his dam's side, Mr Dalla said, were sires Monarch 23 and Star Affair - "all Collinsville genetics, and all magnificent woolled sheep".
The judges - Ian Rowett, Mernowie, Marrabel; Ian Koch, Bunyara, Moculta; and Barry Smith, Glenville, Cowell - could not go past the sheer scale of Titan when judging their champion.
"He has extremely bright, well-nourished and well-defined crimpy wool," Mr Smith said.
"Also, he's very long stapled and has heavy cutting fleece on a broad, robust body.
"He has true stud wool for breeding."
* Full report in Stock Journal, August 14, 2014 issue.
Carla Wiese-Smith
Editor of SmartFarmer magazine.
Editor of SmartFarmer magazine.
