A new female record price for a Suffolk was achieved at the Three Nations breed sale at Carlisle, when Charlie Boden and family sold a gimmer from their Sportsmans flock, for 40,000gns.

The ET gimmer which is a daughter of the 200,000gns record-priced Salopian Solid Gold, is bred from a ewe by Strathbogie A Kind of Magic. A full sister to the 11,000gns ram lamb sold to Scrogtonhead at Lanark, last year, she sold in lamb to this year's 52,000gns Lakeview ram bought at the same market, to Jed Sharp of the Sharps flock from Worcester.

Sportsmans' pen leader, another ET gimmer by Solid Gold but bred from a Castleisle Crackerjack-sired dam made 15,000gns selling to Welsh breeder, Myfyr Evans of the Rhaeadr flock, Denbighshire. She is a full sister to the 13,000gns Sportmans lamb purchased by the Burnview flock at Lanark in 2022 that went on to breed this year's champion winner at Shrewsbury. She also sold due to the 52,000gns Lakeview ram owned in partnership with Bridgeview.

On the other side of the equation, Mr Evans sold the second top priced lot and lead priced ewe lamb at 28,000gns, to Stewart Craft, who was buying back some of his own genetics for the Lakeview flock from Glenrothes, Fife. She is a grand-daughter of Salopian Solid Gold, being an ET bred from a Lakeview ewe by Limited Edition and sired by Dunfell Dynamite. Her full ET brother made 11,000gns at Lanark in July.

Her full ET ewe lamb sister from Rhaeadr made 8000gns at the Three Nations sale, to Arnold Oare, Groes, Holywell, Flintshire.

Top price for Jim Innes' Strathbogie flock from Huntly, brought out by shepherd Michael Leggat, was 10,000gns paid for a gimmer by the 30,000gns Salopian Scuderia. An ET bred from one of the best ewes in the flock, her dam, a home-bred ewe by Castleisle Knockout, that has previously sired sons to 15,000gns and 13,000gns and daughters to £5900. The gimmer sold served to the 30,000gns Rempstone Gambler to Holly Bowdler, Park Hall Farm, Ellesmere, Shropshire.

averages: Three aged ewes, £910.00; 59 gimmers, £3214.95; 19 ewe lambs, £3586.57.

Flock averages – Sportsmans, five, £13,965.00. Rhaeadr, five, £9513.00. Strathbogie, five, £5145.00. Howgillfoot, eight, £2808.75. Frongoy, five, £2730.00; Wharfe, four, £2467.50. Pyeston, six, £2222.50.

For full report and pictures see next week's Scottish Farmer (25th November 2023)

Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington