First Suffolk takes top bid in Edinburgh
First Suffolk takes top bid in Edinburgh
By Jeremy Hunt
FIRST in the ring proved no handicap to Suffolk breeder Jimmy Douglas at the breeds premier fixture in Edinburgh last week.
His first lot made 30,000gns and minutes later another sold at 32,000gns.
In all £88,000 was spent on Cairness lambs and buyers kept on this form throughout the day, levelling 244 deals at £2266.
Good earnings were spread beyond the top flocks with a good commercial demand, particularly for scrapie-genotyped sires. This was the first Suffolk sale to provide catalogue details of National Scrapie Plan-genotyped lambs, and rams which blood-tested RR were preferred.
Although Northern Ireland and Eire vendors were in attendance and selling, the import restrictions made it impossible for them to buy rams.
The Cairness sale topper is an RR scrapie-genotyped lamb by Cairness Cellnet, and is out of a ewe by the 75,000gns Stockton Almighty. This is the same family that bred the £26,000 Cairness Court. The buyer was Iain Barbour, who runs the Solwaybank flock at Annan. The lamb stood reserve champion under judge Harry Sleigh.
The first big money sheep for Cairness was also an RR-genotyped lamb and is by the 20,000gns Cairness Capello and out of a ewe by one of the breeds all-time great sires Pankymoor Prelude.
The 30,000gns tup joins the Manorhouse flock of North Yorks breeder David Calvert, who lost most of his sheep in the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
More Cairness breeding scored when a son of Cairness Direct Line made 15,000gns for James Flemmings Hallhill flock at Carluke. The buyers were J Walton and Son for their Roseden flock in Northumberland, partnered by P Bell, Espley, Morpeth.
Scots breeders Harry Sleigh (Wells) and Harry Emslie (Kinmundy) shared a 14,000gns investment in the champion ram lamb from Robbie Wilsons Strathisla flock in Aberdeenshire.
The champion is by the 9000gns Muiresk Master Craftsman and was shown untrimmed. Mr Wilson boosted his average, eight lambs at £6287, with another 13,000gns deal for a son of Glenhead The Real McCoy, taken by Huw Francis, Ruthin.
J * Stewart, Co Down, accepted 11,000gns from the three-way partnership of Northumberland breeders Campbell, Thornton and Hayward, for a lamb by Glenho Giants Causeway.
The best from Sandy Lees Fordafourie pen – a Glenhead Gold son – made 10,000gns to Robbie Wilson. John Sinnetts Stockton pen led with a 10,000gns sale to Fourdafourie (United Auctions). *
David Calvert, of the Manorhouse flock, Skipton, N Yorks, with his 30,000gns purchase by Cairness Capello, from Jimmy Douglass flock in Aberdeenshire. The ram lamb was second top price to his 32000gns pen mate, the reserve champ in the show, by Cairness Cellnet.