Canberra Royal 2025: Big Border Leicester ram takes supreme title

A ram that was "probably the best sheep" its breeders had bred has backed up its success at the Dubbo NSW Sheep Show and the Australian Sheep & Wool Show with a supreme victory in the Border Leicesters at the Canberra Royal.

Talkook Border Leicesters, Crookwell took the big win with its 1.5-year-old entrant, claiming first the champion ram then the supreme title.

Judge Ben Simmons, Talbragar, Dunedoo, said the ram was "pretty well the standout winner in the ring".

"He's very true-to-type', with good dark points," he said.

"For carrying that weight, he's good on his feet. Good carcase, good topline and good hindquarters."

The ram has previously won at Dubbo as well the being the interbreed longwool winner at ASWS at Bendigo in 2024.

Talkook's Kylie Anderson said they had hoped he would do well.

"We love him," she said. "He's probably the best sheep we've ever bred."

The ram has already been out with a mob of ewes, with high hopes for its offspring.

"We hope to continue to breed with him for a few more years," Ms Anderson said.

The Andersons have decided to keep the ram in the stud, in part to keep the genetics but also because they lost its sire, a Talkook ram, last year.

"We can't breed another one," she said.

The ram's breeding goes back to a Mt Beckom line.

"We introduced that because we wanted to get more size, which we did achieve," Ms Anderson said.

Reserve champion ram, which was also judged junior champion ram, went to a milk-tooth exhibit from Normanhurst Border Leicesters, Boorowa.

"The ram had a bit of extra length to the body," Mr Simmons said.

"He was structurally correct, with heavy fleece cover and will develop into a good ram."

In the ewes, Avoca stud, Gulgong, took one Border Leicester ram to the show but it was enough to win the champion ewe title.

The ewe had also claimed the junior champion title, and was from the wooly, milk-tooth class.

Mr Simmons said the young ewe had been a "standout ewe all along".

"She's only a junior but she's got a great carcase," he said.

"She has a nice feminine head, can't fault her structure, and has good depth in the hindquarters.

"She is what we need in the Border Leicester breed."

Avoca stud's Ben Campbell said the ewe had previously won champion ewe at the Gulgong Show.

"I knew she was good but I wanted to bring her down to Canberra and see how she stood with the big studs," he said.

The Avoca stud runs about 120 Border Leicester ewes, following on a family tradition since 1979.

The ewe will next be shown at Mudgee Show in March and the Dubbo NSW Sheep Show.

Reserve champion went to a Talkook ewe.

"There was plenty of length of body and she's still got a very good fleece on her," Mr Simmons said.