IT was certainly a day to remember for first time Balmoral exhibitor, James Lambe, when his Dairy Shorthorn cow first secured the breed tri-colour before rising to the top of the dairy inter-breed championship.

James' home-bred Ballytrain Bloom 30 is a home-bred Ex91-rated senior cow which calved her fourth in January and is currently yielding 45kg per day, with a projected yield of 10,500kg. Paraded by Georgia Kerr and one of 100 Dairy Shorthorns run by James, Bloom has done well at Tullaghmore Show, standing champion last year as well as reserve the year before. 

"She's just world class and the most outstanding Shorthorn I've ever seen, but you really need to see her on the move to appreciate her," said inter-breed judge, Lisa Window Walker, who runs the 90-cow Hunnington Ayrshire herd. "The main thing is she's stylish but she's also full of quality and dairy character, with a great openness of rib and rear udder attachment."

In reserve was the winner of the Jersey section, the Fleming family's Quintrell Kyros Indigo Ex92, a now fourth calver that was spotted in a field in Cornwall before Ashley managed to secure her last October from Michael and Jenny Colwell. Bred from the Itaska Filpail family and 11 generations of cow in the top two classifications, she was shown nearly four weeks fresh on her debut and giving 40 litres. 

The largest breed on show, the Holstein, was headed up by Drumlina Atwood Megan Ex92 from the Boyd, Greenan, O'Neill, Timlin and Moore syndicate, who own only her and her heifer calf. This third calver is another with an impressive show career as, in 2016, she stood reserve at the National at Mill Street, reserve intermediate at the Emerald Expo and was All-Ireland champion. She also calved down in January, and is giving 50 litres with a projected yield of 12,000 litres. 

Among the Ayrshires it was another win for John and Michael Hunter when their honourable mention from the 2017 show landed the breed championship. Ardmore Janet Ex92 also stood champion at the Ulster Winter Fair in December and is giving 35 litres since calving her third in October. 

See the May 26 issue of The Scottish Farmer for a full round-up of Balmoral Show, including photos and details of breed champions.