* 81 of 82 bulls sold to $18,000 (twice), av $8129.
Winchelsea Angus stud Murdeduke has come of age, with the two top-selling bulls at its autumn sale each fetching $18,000.
Nutrien Ag Solution's Andrew Sloan said Murdeduke "fitted into the mould" of all the western district Angus sales.
"They have all been very strong, as cattle prices get dearer," Mr Sloan said.
"And it's good to see a stud that's been knocking on the door, for the last few years, actually achieve this result."
Read more: Return buyers push Murdeduke to $10,500 top
Andrew Stoney, Ellingerrin Pastoral Company, Inverleigh, bought lot three, Murdeduke Hector P177.
Hector was sired by Coonamble Hector H249, out of Murdeduke Jedda J67.
Hector had a birthweight of 5.6 kilograms, a 200-day weight of 54kg, 400-day weight of 101kg, and 600-day weight of 132kg.
The August-2018 drop bull had an eye muscle area (EMA) of +3.9square centimetres, a rib fat of -0.6 millimetres, rump fat of +0.1mm and an intramuscular fat measurement of +1.6per cent.
Hector was in the top 1 pc for growth and gestation weight.
"I liked his shape and structure, I thought, for an Angus bull, he was one of the better shaped animals I have seen for a while," Mr Stoney said.
The bull would be used over 45-50 cows, for his first joining.
"We've bought, on and off, at Murdeduke for four or five years," he said.
"Predominantly we buy Dunoon Angus, we top up with the odd Murdeduke bull, and join them over Hereford cows, so we have black baldys."
Ellingerrin's turnoff was sold into the Swift's Farm Assurance program at 17 months of age and between 300-310kilogram body weight.
"The Murdeduke bull should do that easily, he's that shape."
He said Ellingerrin expected to join 750 females, this season.
Nick Lillie, Bostocks Creek, Camperdown, also paid $18,000 for a bull.
Murdeduke Jamboree P013 was sired by Murdeduke Jamboree J26 out of Murdeduke Panda M152.
The July 2018-drop bull had a birthweight of 4.5kg, a 200-day weight of 52kg, 400-day weight of 81kg and 600-day weight of 117kg.
He had an EMA of +7.7square centimetres, a rib fat of -0.3mm, a rump fat of -0.8mm and intramuscular fat of +1.8pc.
Mr Lillie said he was branching out, from breeding Herefords.
"We still love the Herefords, we will just play with both sides," Mr Lillie said.
"We love our black baldies and that's the first Angus bull I have seen, with the meat and muscle of the Hereford world.
"We had to have him, and we paid a bit more than we expected - he just happened to be the one someone else wanted as well."
He said the three things that stood out about Jamboree.
'Bone, meat, muscle, and he is still fine enough in the shoulders.
"I just like a bull, when he stands there, he can't get his two back legs together, its just muscle and meat in there."
Mr Lillie said he had about 1000 cows and was keeping as many heifers as he could, to build numbers up to 1300.
Murdeduke's Lachie Wilson said it was an exceptional sale.
"We knew the market was going up, but there was rain in the Riverina, so the fundamentals are positive and it's flowing through to bull sales," Mr Wilson said.
"We've sold more bulls than we ever had, at a higher average.
"Behind the scenes, we've been working really hard at producing a quality product and hopefully that's been noticed in the commercial market place."
Mr Wilson said Murdeduke was focused on responsible breeding, offering all-round options, to different markets.
"That's combined with foundational traits, structural soundness, temperament, getting the basics right, not chasing fads, just producing sound, functional animal," he said.
Mr Sloan said buyers came from the local area, Gippsland, south-west Victoria and SA.
"The bulls have a very good breadth of figures, you have the phenotype, as well," Mr Sloan said.
"They are well constructed bulls and have a bit of butt-end on them.
"If you are buying on figures, their figures are well above the average."