2015 Sydney Royal Easter Show

The theme for Sydney this year was Wool and War and remembering our connection with New Zealand in the First World War. The AWI sponsored a banner for the NSW Corriedale Association with the words ‘Lest We Forget’ and our Federal Body decided to print the story in a brochure.

The State President Tony Manchester led a delegation to meet with the RAS Sheep and Wool Committee. We put forward our proposal to provide a stand in the sheep pavilion, highlighting the connection of Wool and War. It featured two overcoats from the Second World War, a hat stand with a couple of slouch hats and knitted wool scarves, a portrait of William Prell, who died at Ypres in 1916, with brochures and simple headings on cards to catch attention – and our banner overlooking it all.

The AWI heavily sponsored the cocktail party and the scene was set.

Breeders supported the show wonderfully well with Badgally,Billigaboo, Eskbank, Merrigal, Roselea, Roseville, and Tymec exhibiting – an amazing 45% of registered studs in NSW were represented in the showring.

RAS had 83 entries in the Corriedale Section and they had brought Tom Burrows from New Zealand to judge the sheep and add weight to our Anzac connections. The classes were hotly contested, with Tymec winning both woolly lamb classes and Roselea dominating the shorn classes, which went on to win the Peter Taylor class and proved to be a popular choice in the interbreeds.  In the aged classes, Badgally proved to be very strong and won both the champion and reserve champion ewes and also took most successful exhibitor. Billigaboo took out the champion ram and the reserve champion ram, and went on to win the special ribbon presented by our New Zealand judge.  Billigaboo also picked up the best head and the prize for the best sire’s fleece. In a very interesting new class introduced by Tom Burrows, each stud was asked to nominate their best sheep before judging commenced.  In the class, the stewards ensured the line-up consisted of those sheep. Tom politely judged the sheep and then presented everyone with a pennant at the cocktail party.

A special thank-you must go to the executive for the stand’s success and also the very successful cocktail party once again organised by the Social Director, Henry Thompson. The display was coordinated with the wonderful help of the Spinners and Weavers who gave us space to put it all together – all the while busily spinning Corriedale wool. Everything was overlooked by the beautiful banner produced by Tony Manchester and the AWI. This allowed us to make the point that the Corriedale was the face of XB wool 100 years ago.

After the merinos and dual purpose meat breeds had gone home, Tymec brought back two sheep to represent Corriedales for a few days and then Billigaboo replaced them with the champion and reserve champion rams for the remaining days of the show. We appreciated the wonderful help from the RAS, the Spinners and Weavers and the AWI. Over 800,000 people attended the show. A huge percentage walked through the sheep pavilion and over 500 brochures were handed out. As a result a Tymec sheep became the Facebook sheep of the show – with the most hits – and Billigaboo’s “Frisco” claimed to be the most photographed sheep.

The RAS have made us the feature breed next year, as 2016 is 100 years since Corriedales were first shown in Sydney under the RAS banner. It will be an exciting year, largely thanks to the ongoing efforts of our executive – especially our President Tony Manchester.

Courtesy – Rick Hoolihan

Detailed results:

CLASS 550 - Ram, under 1 year old, showing milk teeth only
1^st TYMEC
2^nd BILLIGABOO
3^rd TYMEC
4^th BILLIGABOO

CLASS 551 - Ram, under 1 year old, showing milk teeth only; closely and evenly shorn after 1st February
1^st TYMEC
2^nd ROSE-LEA
3^rd ROSE-LEA
4^th ROSEVILLE
5^th BADGALLY

CLASS 552 - Ram, 1 year old and under 2 years
1^st BILLIGABOO
2^nd TYMEC
3^rd ESKBANK
4^th TYMEC
5^th ROSEVILLE

CLASS 553 - Ram, 1 year old and under 2 years; closely and evenly shorn after 1st February
1^st ROSEVILLE
2^nd ROSE-LEA
3^rd TYMEC

CLASS 554 - Ram, 2 years old and over
1^st BILLIGABOO
2^nd ROSEVILLE
3^rd ESKBANK
4^th MERRIGAL

CLASS 555 - Pair of Rams, under 2 years
1^st ROSE-LEA
2^nd ESKBANK

CLASS 556 - Objective Measurement Class
1^st BADGALLY
2^nd ROSE-LEA
3^rd BADGALLY

CLASS 557 - GRAND CHAMPION CORRIEDALE RAM
BILLIGABOO

CLASS 558 - RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION CORRIEDALE RAM
BILLIGABOO

CLASS 559 - BEST HEADED CORRIEDALE RAM
BILLIGABOO

CLASS 560 - Ram with Best Sire’s Fleece
1^st BILLIGABOO
2^nd ROSEVILLE
3^rd BADGALLY

CLASS 561 - Ewe, under 1 year old, showing milk teeth only
1^st TYMEC
2^nd TYMEC
3^rd BILLIGABOO
4^th BILLIGABOO
5^th BILLIGABOO

CLASS 562 - Ewe, under 1 year old, showing milk teeth only; closely and evenly shorn after 1st February
1^st ROSE-LEA
2^nd ROSEVILLE
3^rd ROSE-LEA

CLASS 563 - Ewe, 1 year old and under 2 years
1^st BADGALLY
2^nd ROSEVILLE
3^rd BADGALLY
4^th BILLIGABOO

CLASS 564 - Ewe, 1 year old and under 2 years, closely and evenly shorn after 1st February
1^st ROSE-LEA
2^nd ROSE-LEA
3^rd ROSEVILLE

CLASS 565 - Ewe, 2 years old and over
1^st BADGALLY
2^nd BADGALLY
3^rd ESKBANK
4^th MERRIGAL

CLASS 566 - Pair of Ewes, under 2 years
1^st BADGALLY
2^nd MERRIGAL
3^rd ROSE-LEA
4^th ESKBANK

CLASS 567 - GRAND CHAMPION CORRIEDALE EWE
BADGALLY

CLASS 568 - RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION CORRIEDALE EWE
BADGALLY

CLASS 569 - Peter Taylor Group. Consisting of one ram and two ewes, showing milk teeth only, exhibited and bred by one Owner and selected from Exhibits in the General Classes.
1^st ROSE-LEA
2^nd BILLIGABOO
3^rd ROSEVILLE

CLASS 570 - MOST SUCCESSFUL CORRIEDALE EXHIBITOR
BADGALLY