Once again Dutch Spotted Sheep came out on top at a multi breed sale, this time the Merry Belles Pedigree In Lamb Show & Sale at Welshpool last Thursday (14th December 2023), where the Spotty top price was four times higher than the top price achieved by the other breeds there on the day.
Under the expert eye of Judge Will Workman, of Celtic Flock, Brecon, it was his first prize aged ewe, Whatmore Éclair that caught the buyers’ attention to top the sale at 4400gns selling to J & J Budgen & Sons of Cadham, Southampton. Whatmore Éclair, which is in lamb with triplets to the infamous Whatmore Forty Winx, was bred by Sara Gibbons and is sired by Glencloy Chance out of Imported Candy Floss.
Will’s Champion was the 1st prize Ewe lamb Merryboro Gold Duster, from Tom & Lousie Nash of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. Gold Duster, out of Imported Clover sired by McDermotts Fireman, sold for 3700gns to Sebastian Ghiorghita of Wellingborough, Northants.
Reserve Champion went to the 1st prize shearling ewe, Whatmore Fly, from Sara Gibbons of Brecon and sold for 2800gns to C Simpson of Cilycwm, Llandovery. Fly, which is one of a triplet, is sired by Whatmore Earshot our of an imported ewe and is also in lamb, this time with a single, to Whatmore Forty Winx.
From the same flock as the Champion also came the 2nd top price of the sale in shearling ewe, Merryboro French Fancy, which is the first ewe to be sold by the Merryboro flock in lamb to their new stock ram Dutch Magic Man. Scanned in lamb with twins, French Fancy sold to the same buyer as the Champion, Sebastian Ghiorghita for 4100gns.
Also from Tom & Louise Nash was an imported shearling ewe, Firestorm, which was bred by Joost Louter and in lamb with twins to McDermotts Fireman. Firestorm went on to sell for 2800gns to W W Bowen of Llanwern, Brecon.
Hailing also from Wales, this time from Brian Davies, was another leading price in the shealing ewe section in the form of, Ty-Gwyn Florence. Florence was 5th prize in the show and went on to sell for 2000gns to Gemma Stanford of Lutterworth. Florence, like French Fancy, is also in lamb to Dutch Magic Man and carrying twins.
Other leading prices included 2nd prize shearling ewe, Dernog Florence, from Gareth Rowlands of Llanddeusant which sold for 1700gns to the judge and 2nd prize aged ewe, Turbo Bont Darling 16, from Jan Rodenburg of Llandysul which sold for 1400gns.
Averages
6 Aged Ewes £1644.99
22 Shearling Gimmers £1061.92
11 Ewe Lambs £987.94
Show Results:
Class 1 – Aged Ewe
1st Whatmore Éclair – 287/E02196 – S Gibbons, Whatmore
2nd Turbo Bont Darling 16 – 078/D04191 – J Rodenburg, Turbo Bont
3rd Pentre Eternal – 055/E04641 – R,G & S Jones, Pentre
4th Turbo Bont Darling 23 – 078/D04184 – Rodenburg, Turbo Bont
Class 2 – Shearling Ewe
1st Whatmore Fly – 287/F02390 – S Gibbons, Whatmore
2nd Dernog Florence – 024/F02429 – G Rowlands, Dernog
3rd Imported Firestorm – IM2366 – T & L Nash, Merryboro
4th Merryboro French Fancy – 060/F02327 – IM2366 – T & L Nash, Merryboro
5th Ty-Gwyn Florence – 061/F02297 – B Davies, Ty-Gwyn
6th Turbo Bont Felicity – 078/F04491 –J Rodenburg, Turbo Bont
Class 3 – Ewe Lamb
1st Merryboro Gold Duster – 060/G02496 – T & L Nash, Merryboro
2nd Banc Genie – 413/G00096 – H & K Williams, Banc
3rd Fferm Gwladys – 227/G07353 – G Howatson, Fferm
4th Pentre Gee Gee – 055/G05023 – S Jones, Rhosymadoc
Overall Champion
First Prize Ewe Lamb – Merryboro Gold Duster – T & L Nash, Merryboro
Reserve Champion
First Prize Shearling – Whatmore Fly – S Gibbons, Whatmore