A TOP call of 720gns for the third prize shearling ram, followed at 600gns for the first prize shearling ewe and supreme champion, then 520gns for the first prize ram lamb and champion male, were the highlights at the second annual show and sale of Dorset Horn and Poll Dorset sheep staged at Skipton Auction Mart on behalf of the Northern Dorset Breeders Club. (Sat, August 5)

Clinching the day’s leading price was Richard Fitton, Dynamite flock, Keasley, Bolton, with his Dynamite Elliot E2640, an October, 2021, first crop son of Sherborne Direct D6923, bred in Dorset by Rob Hole and a 3,800gns purchase at the annual May Fair National sale in Exeter in 2020.

Mr Fitton, who established his Dorset flock some five years ago – it now comprises 80 breeding ewes and was also responsible for the male and overall reserve champion at this year’s Royal Welsh Show - saw his top price Skipton performer, out of a Polgreen ewe by Lisnafillan Zorro Z6, sell locally to Ingleton’s David Cockett.

Last year’s male champion, Derbyshire’s Sam Driver, Sandy Lane flock, Chisworth, Glossop, consigned the first prize shearling ewe, then crowned champion under Suffolk show judge Tim Pratt, Deben flock, Woodbridge.

His Sandy Lane E7781 is a December, 2021, daughter of Poorton Drover D3666, proving to be a sire of top-class females and whose own grandsire, Downkillybegs W119, was one of the flock’s most influential stock tups and sired the NDBC sale champion 2017. Out of a fully home-bred dam from a solid female line, the title winner, run up to the sale with Sandy Lane Fresh Prince, sold for second top call of 600gns to A Suppan, Stockport.

Mr Driver stood third in the same show class with a second home-bred December, 2021, Poorton Drover daughter, which made 340gns, while from the same home, further first and second prize tickets were gained in the ewe lamb show class with September, 2022, youngsters, the former Sandy Lane F8096 by Wilsey Apollo A438, the latter, Sandy Lane F8091 by Ballytaggart Echo E2763, reserve male champion at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show.

Both made 420gns, going to, respectvely, repeat buyer A Suppan and Smith & Taylor, Chesterfield.

For good measure, Mr Driver, who established his own pedigree flock in 1997 - with 500 registered breeding ewes it remains one of the largest Dorset holdings in the UK – also won the aged ram show class with a proven stock ram, Bamburgh Celtic Warrior C615, which made 450gns going to Cumbria with Thornbank Farms, Seascale.

Also making his mark was Northern Dorset Breeders Club chairman, Alex Birch, High Rakes flock, Baslow, Bakewell, with his male champion ram lamb, High Rakes Ferdinand F12, a September, 2022, son of Staverton Darwin D2762, purchased two years earlier from the Wantisden Hall flock also run by show judge Mr Pratt.

Out of a dam by the home-bred High Rakes Xavi X1 and also standing first prize ram lamb at this year’s Royal Lancashire Show, as well as horned champion at Skipton, Ferdinand sold for a class-topping 520gns when joining fellow exhibitor and vendor Sam Driver.

Catching the eye with a 500gns sale of the second prize shearling ram and her sole entry was Karen Hodgson, Marren flock, Eyan, with her February, 2022, Marren Evoke E376, by Lisnafillan Capaldo C93, out of a Downkillybegs Thunder T778-sired Manor Croft W758 dam. The buyers were DJ&EA Hirst, Delph, Oldham.

The first prize pen of four females was consigned by Alec Steff, Waggoners flock, Burnley, who also sold a prize-winning shearling ewe at 260gns.

An increased entry on the year of 105 head produced the following chief prices and averages: Ewes to 260gns (av £178), Shearling Ewes to 600gns (£227), Ewe Lambs to 200gns (£154), Shearling Rams to 720gns (£470), Ram Lamb to 520gns (£430) Aged Ram to 450gns.

Another busy Saturday also featured the monthly livestock collective and seasonal Agri-Trader sales, the latter attracting another bumper entry of 395 lots of machinery, 150 stone and 347 reclaim items.

Among the machinery, driving away at a top price of £12,800 was a Landrover 90 Hardtop, followed by two JD Tractors at £7,600 and £5,800, plus plenty of four-figure sales, among them an Equitrek Box at £3,800 and Yamaha Grizzly at £3,000.

Stone items again proved popular, troughs selling to £650 and gate posts to £620, while in a varied mix of other goods a ride-on mower made £330, a cow horn £120 and a milk churn £62.

The monthly sale of 212 stirks, weaned calves and young stores saw suckler-bred cattle looking the best sold, with 6/8-month-old dairy-bred continental bullocks doing notably well, David Mitchell, Queensbury, making his regular appearance and selling British Blues to £830 and Simmental-x to £760.