Kelso Ram Sales: Awesome day for Garngour as Texel leads at £29,000

Despite two more shearlings breaking the five-figure barrier, shearling averages dropped on the year and for fewer sold while rams sold more favourably on the year. It was clear that rams with good skins, shape and power were in demand and easy to sell while plainer sorts were harder to shift. By the end of the day, 22 rams sold at or above the £3000 mark compared to 24 at last year’s sale. 

Achieving that top price and nearly tripling the Clark brothers, Alan, Andrew and David’s previous Kelso best of £11,000 was their first prize ram from the performance recorded show held the previous evening, a shearling later named Garngour Awesome. His sire is the £15,000 Knock Yardsman – a tup shared with the Annan, Brackenridge and Mossknowe flocks that has already bred ram lambs to 40,000gns for Garngour – while his Castlecairn Vavavoom-sired mother stood champion at Biggar Show last year and also produced the 17,000gns Garngour Bullet sold at Lanark last month. The ET-bred Awesome also secured a red ticket at Biggar Show earlier this year and after some fierce bidding was knocked down to Paul Slater for his 1200-ewe Whiteley Hey flock in Cheshire, which produces up to 550 Texel, Beltex and cross-bred shearlings to sell each year. 

“I came looking for something special and I found that today,” said Mr Slater of his purchase. “With the number of shearlings I sell, I need to keep at the top of the game and this tup will hopefully prove a big addition to my flock – he has length, style and width, as well as overall presence.”

The same flush also produced rams to £3800 and £3600 for the 70 ewes run between the Clarks’ Garngour, Teiglum and Clarks flocks at North Garngour, Lesmahagow. The dearer sold to Welshman Esmor Evans for his Maerdy flock, while the £3600 ram, which stood reserve champion at Stirling Show, heads to work in the Burnhead flock near Nisbet, Coulter, for Dougie Fleming. In all, the Clarks set the top average when 10 shearlings cashed in to average £4225.

     Blackadder, £16,000

Sticking with the Lawrie and Symington-run Ring 9, and with Brian Ross at the gavel Neil Harvey achieved his best ever Kelso price when his run of 15 shearlings peaked at £16,000 and more than doubled his best average when 15 levelled at £2703.33. His leader, which sold in a three-way split to Jim Gibb, Toftcombs, Biggar, Iain Minto, Townhead, West Linton, and James Orr, Wester Walston, Carnwath, was a son of the £1200 Wolfclyde Wawrinka which had bred sons to £8000, out of a daughter of Douganhill Taggart. 

Another bred the same way from the Blackadder flock of 120 ewes near Whitsome, Duns, made £6500 when sold to Messrs Roots, Kilnford Croft, Castle Douglas.

     Brijon Alabama, £10,000

It was much later in the day that the £10,000 ram was sold when Jonathan Watson’s entry in Ring 5 hit that mark for his pre-sale champion, Brijon Alabama. Selling to a regular buyer of Brijon tups, Ben Marsden, who runs 25 pedigree Texels as well as a flushing programme, Aberdeen-Angus and British Blue females, all under the Liley name near Penistone, Sheffield, the ET-bred Alabama is a son of Pant Wolf, the 18,000gns record holder at Builth Wells. The mother, by Grey Peel Rambo, also bred last year’s £5800 tup for Jonathan’s 180-ewe flock managed alongside Beltex, Suffolk, Limousin and Charolais females at Bowsden Moor, Berwick upon Tweed. 

That flush proved popular as Brijon Apache sold in a two-way split to brothers, Paul, Mark and Andrew Quick, for their Devon-based Loosebeare flock, and Jim and Nicola Hartwright for their Whitehart in Worcestershire, for £6500, while Brijon Ali Baa Baa sold to John and Thomas Whiteford for their Tercrosset unit near Brampton, Cumbria, for £6000. These three sales helped Jonathan, who was securing his third pre-sale championship, his best average of £1420.69 for 29. 

It was a good day for Peter and Lynn Gray’s Scrogtonhead flock from Cowgrove, Galston, when their first in sold to Malcolm Coubrough for his Hartside flock near Lamington, Biggar, for £7000. Used as a lamb with some promising young rams on the ground, he is by the Clinterty Yuga Khan tup bought between eight Scottish flocks for £60,000, and out of a Teiglum Thunder daughter. 

It was a long wait for the breeders of last year’s trade leader at £23,000, Allan and Karen Wight together with son Ben, from Midlock, Biggar, as they were the last to sell in Ring 9 but the large crowd that gathered ensured their entry of 10 shearlings sold to £6200, £4800, £4500 and £4200, which were all sired by the aforementioned Clinterty Yuga Khan. Dearest of these when chapped down to Jim Pate and Hazel Brown’s Toxside flock near Gorebridge, Midlothian, was the fourth in which was bred from a Teiglum Thunder daughter, making him an ET bother to the 22,000gns Midlock Avicii sold last year. 

At £4800 when sold to Alastair and David Macarthur for their Nunnerie flock near Elvanfoot, was a tup bred from a Dechmont Triple Chance daughter, while at £4500 was one bred from a Baltier Olympic daughter which also sold to Dougie Fleming, Nisbet. Midlock’s £4000 ram was out of an ET sister to the 24,000gns Midlock Yorkie, a Deveronvale Warrior daughter, and heads to work at Orchard House, Clitheroe, for Mark Ireland. In all, Midlock sold 10 tups to cash in at £2945. 

On the other side of the balance sheet, the Wights forked out £3800 for a son of Mitchellhill Ya Dancer from Angus Kennedy, Mitchelhill, Broughton. He is out of a ewe by Kingledores Turbo. 

Nestled in between these prices at £5500 was Steven Renwick’s best from his Craig Douglas flock at Kirkton Manor, Peebles. Selling to Norman and David Douglas for their Catslackburn flock near Yarrow, was a son of Haddo Whiskey Galore. The dam here is by Tamnamoney Tuborg Gold, the same tup that sired the record-priced Knap Vicious Sid. 

Allan Campbell once again secured the top ram lamb price of all breeds when his first in, Strawfrank Balvenie, sold for £5000 to Willie Knox and sons, Graham and Andrew, for their Fyvie, Turriff-based Haddo flock. Bred from a Strathbogie Usher daughter in the Strawfrank flock at Carstairs, he is by Cambwell Aristocrat. 

Sticking with the tup lambs and Robbie Wilson, from North Dorlaithers, Turriff, saw a son of the 9000gns Holylee Acrobat – whose first sons sold to 5500gns – knocked down for £4600 to Welsh breeder and first time Kelso attendee, Andrew Thomas, for his Brynmeini flock of 50 ewes. Later named Milnbank Bright Spark, he is out of a Sportsmans Unimog-sired ewe bred by Archie Hamilton. 

Father and son duo, Archie and John MacGregor, welcomed bids of £3800 and £3600 for massive shearlings from their Allanfauld flock near Kilsyth. Selling to John More, Townhead, Arnprior, for £3800 was one by Garngour Yeltsin bred from a Cambwell Uist daughter. 

The same ewe produced Allanfauld’s £3600 tup which sold to Newtonfield Farm, Allonby, Maryport, with this one sired by Knap Your the Man.

Another shearling by Clinterty Yuga Khan was in the money for local breeder, Jack Arnott and his Haymount flock when a shearling sold to fellow local breeder, John Elliot, Roxburgh Mains, for £3000. The dam here is the Border Union Show champion from a couple years ago, a ewe by Knock Topaz. 

That price was matched by the dearest of the unregistered Texels from James and Jill Dun, Catcune, Gorebridge. Setting a best price for the husband and wife duo when snapped up by CD Scott, Falla, Jedburgh, their leader is by a Roxburgh Mains tup bought for £1600 back in 2016.