After a decade and a half of persistence, an interstate stud has taken home the top title in the Santa Gertrudis ring.
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Mark Bazeley, Riverina Wool, Moama, NSW, picked up supreme champion exhibit with Burramurra 452, which won its 14 months and under 16 months class before being sashed junior champion female.
Showing at the Royal Adelaide for more than 15 years, Mr Bazeley said he was blown away to finally take home the sash.
"It's unbelievable to get supreme exhibit," he said.
"We got junior champion a while ago, but this is pretty special.
"There's really strong competition coming out of SA, so we're just over the moon about the win."
Burramurra 452, out of Burramurra 358 and sired by Cardona Paterson, was a simple choice to bring to the show, according to Mr Bazeley.
"She's out of a cow that we've done well with," he said.
"She's an AI calf with semen from Cardona, which obviously clicked well."
Shown at the Sydney Royal, the May 2021-drop heifer picked up second in its class.
"We took her to Sydney over Easter, but she didn't show as well as we would've liked," Mr Bazeley said.
"I think the competition here at Adelaide was much stronger as well, so this win really is something special."
Judging in the Santa Gertrudis ring on the day, Jake Phillips, said the competition was strong but the champion animals were clear in their respective classes.
"One of the things I do when I'm judging, particularly a royal show, is have a bit of a picture in my mind or silhouette of what the ideal beef animal might look like," he said.
"Throughout the course of the morning, I was trying to find animals that most closely fit that.
"They had to be balanced cattle, structurally sound, clean fronted, length body, have enough carcase to them to be commercially relevant, and not extreme in any way."
Mr Phillips said Burramurra 452 was an exceptional representation of the breed.
"No matter what colour or breed, I think there was one outstanding individual out there today," he said of the supreme exhibit.
"It's a fantastic representation of this breed, and certainly serves the beef industry extremely well. I'm just so impressed with her attributes. She was ahead of her competitors in each class."
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Nangaringa Sebastian, exhibited by the Fogden family, Nangaringa, via Loxton, took home junior and grand champion bull.
The March 2021-drop bull weighed 666 kilograms, had an eye muscle area of 109 square centimetres and, 9 millimetres rib and 11mm rump fat.
Mr Phillips said Nangaringa Sebastian was a standout in its aged 16 months and under 18 months class.
"He's so well-balanced, so cleanly made and really hard to fault," he said.
"He's free-moving and has the body and width behind him which makes him the clear choice today.
"He's very well-balanced, well-made and well put together underneath."
The Fogden family, Nangaringa, took out most successful exhibitor with their team of three.
Katie Jackson
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
