A large crowd gathered from across Ireland, the UK and Europe in Balmoral Park for the much-anticipated 'Big Bang' export sale. The lineup for the day included 116 Suffolk lots and 43 Dutch Spotted lots from a selection of the island's top flocks.
A large crowd gathered from across Ireland, the UK and Europe in Balmoral Park for the much-anticipated 'Big Bang' export sale.
The lineup for the day included 116 Suffolk lots and 43 Dutch Spotted lots from a selection of the island's top flocks.
These flocks brought forward with them some of the leading and most sought-after genetics within these breeds.
Suffolks
Taking the top-priced spot for the second consecutive year was the Shannagh flock of the Raphoe brothers Andrew and Richard Wilson, selling their impressive shearling ewe for 10,000gns (€12,569).
Sale-topping in-lamb shearling ewe from the Shannagh flock that sold for 10,000gns. \ Alfie Shaw
This impressive ewe was sired by 9,000gns Limestone Another Level and her maternal sister sold to 6,500gns at the 2021 'Big Bang' sale.
She was scanned in-lamb carrying a single to the 200,000gns breed record holder Salopian Solid Gold.
After a frenzy of online and ringside bids, she was eventually knocked down to Cliodhna McCafferty and Dominic Crystal.
The Wilson brothers sold their second in-lamb shearling ewe for 2,500gns (€3,142) to give them an impressive pen average of 6,250gns (€7,855).
The next-top price went to Antrim man Alister Gault of the well-known Forkins flock.
Selling his leading in-lamb shearling for 8,000gns (€10,052) that was a daughter of the €44,000 Ballinatone Show Stopper.
Gault went on to sell a total of 14 in-lamb shearling gimmers to give him a pen average of 2,625gns (€3,299).
The Ballnacannon flock of Denis Taylor sold his leading in-lamb shearling for 4,500gns (€5,654).
In pre-sale comments, Taylor described her as "an exceptional gimmer and a very exciting prospect".
She sold to Andrew and Richard Wilson. Taylor sold a total of 17 shearling ewes to average a strong 1,700gns (€2,136).
Suffolk ewe lambs
The Suffolk ewe lamb trade was topped by Lesley Ligget's Carony flock, with the first ewe lamb in the ring.
Top-priced ewe lamb from the Carony flock that sold for 5,500gns. \ Alfie Shaw
This Birness Thunder-sired ewe lamb sold for 5,500gns (€6,915) to the renowned UK-based Sportsmans and Mellor Vale pedigree flock. Ligget sold a total of 12 ewe lambs to average 1,810gns (€2,275).
The next-top price in the Suffolk ewe lamb section went to Alister Gault, selling his Forkins ewe lamb for 4,000gns to Mark McMenamin. Gault's pen of five ewe lambs averaged 2,060 (€2,590).
Dutch Spotted
The first breed into the ring was the Dutch Spotted, that topped at 5,000gns (€6,280).
This section-topping ewe came from the Derg flock of Allen Shortt and Samantha Allen.
The Diamond Felix-sired ewe was scanned carrying twins to Diamond GotTheMoves. She was snapped up in a flurry of ringside bids by Antrim breeder Liam Lynn of the Doonans flock.
It was the Derg flock that also secured the next-top price of the Dutch Spotted section at 2,500gns (€3,142), with another in-lamb shearling ewe.
She was again scanned in-lamb with a single to Diamond GotTheMoves. She was purchased by leading UK Dutch Spotted breeder Ali Dodd of the Hazelberry flock.
The top-priced Dutch Spotted embryo pregnancy also came from the Derg flock. This single embryo pregnancy was much sought after being out of the much-admired 2024 Balmoral champion Craigdoo Firefly and upcoming stock ram Knockmult Hector.
She was purchased by Natsha Doherty and Mark Priestly of the Limestone flock for 2,200gns (€2,765).
The Derg flock achieved an impressive pen average of just under 2,200gns (€2,765) for their pen of six.
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