Top gun Tom Cruise sons power Banquet Angus sale as syndicate buys top bull

A powerhouse draft of 13 sons sired by a record-breaking bull has underpinned a stellar spring sale for Banquet Angus.

The Mortlake stud recorded a total clearance of 40 Angus bulls to a top price of $60,000 to average $23,050 at its on-property sale.

Banquet Angus stud co-principal Hamish Branson, who runs the stud with his parents Stephen and Noeleen, said loyal, long-term clients underpinned the sale.

"In addition to that, we had 10 bulls go to seven first-time clients," Mr Branson said.

He said Tom Cruise T220 sired 13 bulls in the catalogue, including the four top-priced bulls of the sale.

"He was our record bull in our February 2024 sale when we sold him for $230,000," he said.

"We had one of his sons in our February sale which made $32,000 and then we had 13 of his sons in this sale which averaged $30,000."

The top-priced bull was purchased by a syndicate of two interstate families, Alastair and Jenny Murray, Tullibardine Angus stud, Albany, WA, and Damian and Mandy Gommers, Mandayen Angus stud, Keith, SA.

"We will be using the bull as a natural-joining sire and use him for a bit of artificial insemination and embryo transfer work," Mr Gommers said.

"He will join my operation in the spring and go over to Alastair's operation in autumn."

Tullibardine comprises 1011 hectares and 200 stud cows, plus a feedlot which supplies about 1600 cattle to Woolworths each year.

Mandayen is spread across 3230ha with properties at Keith, Murray Bridge, SA, and Tilley Swamp, SA, running a stud herd of 400 cows and commercial operation of 300 Angus breeders.

The operation also features about 100 Limousin cows, and a feedlot supplying 1600 cattle to Coles each year, plus a dryland cropping enterprise used for livestock feed in the feedlot.

The sale result was significantly higher than Banquet's 2025 spring auction where a total clearance of 32 bulls sold to a top price of $32,000 and an average of $18,343.

The top-priced bull, Lot 22, Banquet Wick W028, was a February 2025-born bull sired by Banquet Tom Cruise T220 and out of Premier Dream G13.

The 18-month-old bull's TransTasman Angus Cattle Evaluation figures included +4.4 kilograms birth weight (BWT), +60kg 200-day weight, +109kg 400-day weight, +145kg 600-day weight, +25 milk and +72kg carcase weight.

It had a +6.8 square centimetre eye muscle area (EMA), +2.3 intramuscular fat (IMF) and +29 docility.

Elders stud stock manager for Victoria and the Riverina Ross Milne said the Branson family sold bulls to a very broad geographical area.

"We sold bulls into Queensland and NSW, one went to Tasmania, as well as South Australia and right across Victoria from the north-east down to Gippsland," Mr Milne said.

"There were a lot of bulls that sold between $20,000-$30,000."

The second top-priced bull, Lot 5, Banquet Wickham W010, was bought by Palgrove Pastoral Company, Bukkulla, NSW, for $48,000.

The January 2025-drop bull was sired by Banquet Tom Cruise T220 and out of Premier Dream G13.

The bull was a full brother, born by embryo transfer, of the top-priced lot of the sale.

It had estimated breeding figures including +7.1kg BWT, +59kg 200-day weight, +105kg 400-day weight, +148kg 600-day weight and +21 for milk.

The bull recorded -7.2sqcm EMA, +3.0 IMF and +46 docility.

Palgrove Pastoral Company seedstock manager George Stacey said the bull would be used to breed replacement Angus females.

Palgrove runs a herd of 1600 Ultrablack, Brangus and Angus females about 40 kilometres north of Inverell, NSW, with a bull depot at Chinchilla, Qld.

"We have been breeding Ultrablacks since 2009 and we breed around 600-700 Ultrablack and Brangus bulls each year," Mr Stacey said.

"A majority of our bulls are Brahman infused and head into northern Australia, from the northern parts of NSW, into Queensland as well as the Northern Territory.

"We really liked the extra bone and carcase on Lot 5 and that is what we really try to keep in our Angus cows as replacements, and Banquet has been a good place to get that in the past."

Nutrien stud stock manager for south-east region Peter Godbolt said the sale result was a reflection of Australia's strong cattle market and the quality of cattle offered by Banquet.

"Commercial producers were prepared to pay $25,000-$30,000 all day for the bulls on offer," Mr Godbolt said.

"That shows that at some of these bigger profile studs, buyers are prepared to chase those higher-end bulls and we saw that by both return and first-time buyers at this sale."

Among the volume buyers was Ryans Pastoral, Hawkesdale, which bought three bulls to a top price of $30,000 for Lot 2, Banquet Warner W013, another son of Banquet Tom Cruise T220, and an average price of $28,000.