MOORUNDIE Park, Gulnare showed the Royal Adelaide Show grand champion March-shorn Poll Merino ram, a growthy medium wool praised by WA based judge Luke Ledwith as "faultless''.
The 19.5-micron sire - B306 - with wool measuring a standard deviation of 3.2, coefficient of variation of 16.4 and comfort factor of 99.6 per cent won the under 1.5-year-old class from 38 entries for his wool-cutting potential and balance.
Mr Ledwith, Kolindale stud, Dudinin, WA continued to heap praise on the 127-kilogram winner, bred and shown by Tom and Laura Davidson, and commended SA breeders on their breeding programs of dual-purpose animals with good, meaty sheep with plenty of good wool.
"The champion ram is basically faultless. He is big, has a big spring of rib with a real good wool on him, good bone, and is good on his feet," he said.
It gave Moorundie Park their second grand champion ram win in a row.
"He is a real picture of a ram with real presence and stands big and square," Tom said.
The following day the ram won the Fibre Meat Plus class with scans showing a 43 millimetres eye muscle depth and 7mm fat depth.
He sold in the Adelaide ram sale on Friday for $53,000 to Kerin Poll stud, Yeoval, NSW.
Reserve grand champion - also from the medium wool section - was bred and shown by Steve and Brett Koehler, Radnor stud, Brinkley.
"He is a big, upstanding ram with a real strong masculine head and is going to cut a lot of good nourished wool," Mr Ledwith said.
P604 - known as Prince Harrison - is one of Radnor's stud sires and has 160 lambs on the ground which they are rapt with.
The 18.8M four-tooth built on his Adelaide Show broad ribbon success after medium wool champion win in 2013.
The fine wool ram champion from Geoff and Bernadette Davidson's Moorundie stud, Keith, was also well in contention.
The massive ram was sold before the show to WA studs Manunda, Tammin, and Rangeview Poll Merino stud, Darkan, for $25,000 in a private sale.
They had seen the ram at the SE Merino Field Days on their way home from the Australian Sheep & Wool Show at Bendigo, Vic.
Reserve strong wool champion was a 19.1M ram sold by Collandra North stud, Tumby Bay, at Bendigo for $20,000.
"The reserve has cracking wool and beautiful nourishment but I couldn't go past the champion for his sirey outlook," the judge said.
Strong wool judge John Humbert, Kedleston Park Poll stud, Calivil, Vic, praised his champion from the Meyer family's Mulloorie stud, Brinkworth, for its overall balance and wool. The 20.6M ram had great wool tests with a 3.0SD,14.6CV and 99.9pc CF.
"It was a superb class of strong wool rams but I have gone for the champion for his overall balance and woolgrowing capabilities with a really free, productive skin."
Terrick West stud, Prairie, Vic, showed the grand champion ewe, a 17.7M fine wool which still had its lamb teeth and wool tests of 2.9SD, 16.4CV and 99.9CF.
WA judge Clinton Blight, Seymour Park stud, Narrogin, WA, described the Terrick West ewe as "terrific ambassador for Poll Merinos" with softness of muzzle.
The ewe - a daughter of Wallaloo Park Real Deal - was the champion March-shorn ewe at Hay Sheep & Wool Show in NSW.
* Full report in Stock Journal, September 18, 2014 issue.