A five-year-old cow with her third calf at foot snared Ballyvaughan Murray Grey stud, Clare, a long awaited second supreme exhibit ribbon at the Royal Adelaide Show on Saturday.
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More than a decade on from when they last won the red and white honour, the Sanders family enjoyed success with Ballyvaughan Faith P11, who has been "delivering the goods" in the breeding game and has now delivered the goods in the showring.
Ballyvaughan principal Katrina Sanders said the Faith breeding line had been exceptional for their herd and the supreme cow was the pinnacle.
"She come down to Adelaide as a junior heifer and came second in her class then, but was part of our sire's progeny group that did well that year," she said.
"She's gone home and has done all the right things out in the paddock, delivering the goods which is what we want.
"We want our females to be really functional and having commercial relevance is really important to us."
The reserve senior champion cow - Ballyvaughan Faith Q11 - was from the same breeding line and exhibited by Sunshine Murray Greys, Cambrai.
"It's an exceptional female line and for us the powerhouse of our breeding is our females - we're just stoked," Mrs Sanders said.
The cow was out of Ballyvaughan Faith F7 and sired by Wallawong Yippee K15.
Judge Roger Evans echoed the sentiments of Mrs Sanders in his comments on the supreme exhibit, saying with the advancement of IVF, embryo transfer and artificial insemination, females were having just as much say on the direction of stud cattle herds as the bulls.
"The female is super feminine and upfront, with tremendous neck and head extension," he said.
"I really admire her natural balance. I like the silkiness of that udder and can see that in the performance of the young sappy heifer with her."
Mr Evans said the two animals vying for the title were two examples that would sit at the top end of the beef industry.
"These cattle exhibit structural integrity, market versatility in terms of their end point and their different ages and different weights where you could target their progeny," he said.
Pipped at the post was the junior and grand champion bull Bottlesford Triumph exhibited by GJR&DJ Koopman, Bottlesford stud, Tungkillo.
Mr Evans said the bull had tremendous carcase expression, subtleness of skin and a sirey outlook.
"It's got a clean front, is tremendously strong on top, has a good set of testicles and is structurally very sound," he said.
Out of Bottlesford Miss Gretel L46 and sired by Bottlesford Pewter, the 622 kilogram bull had an eye muscle area of 116 square centimetres, rib fat of 9 millimetres and P8 of 9mm.
Taking out the senior champion bull was Carrsview Turbo T9 from Carrsview Murray Greys, Mount Torrens, while the junior champion cow or heifer was awarded to Jessie Thomson, Saddleworth, with Bottlesford Cristy T22.
