South Island Shears Make Ready For Show-week Feature

Two hopes for this week’s New Zealand Corriedales Open shearing championship both warmed up for the Christchurch show-week event with wins at separate competitions on Saturday.

Marlborough shearer and contractor Angus Moore won at the Marlborough A and P Show and Southland gun Nathan Stratford won at the Get To The Pont Pleasant Point Gymkhana Shears in South Canterbury.

Both are former winners of the title at the Canterbury Shears and of the PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit, of which the Corriedales championships heats are the third round.

Moore retained the Marlborough title and claimed it for a third time, with victory by more than eight points over runner-up Lionel Taumata, of Gore, with third place going to veteran Marlborough shearer Chris Jones.

But it was a particularly close call for Stratford who was last to finish the four-man Pleasant Point final just over half a minute after Rangiora shearer Hugh De Lacy, who shore the 11 sheep in 9min 54.12sec.

Stratford, claiming the Pleasant Point title for a fifth time dating back to 2001, did just enough with the quality to claim victory by just 0.15pts from Pleasant Point shearer Ants Frew, and just 0.75pts more from De Lacy, who had to settle for third place.

Timo Hicks, of Tapawera, showed further progression through the grades in taking the Marlborough Senior title by 2.5pts from Seddon-based shearer Josh Quinn, Rikki Power, from Gore, won the Intermediate event, and Gus Crombie, of Blenheim, the Junior title.

At Pleasant Point, English shearer Alex Claphamhd his second victory in a week by winning the Senior final by 2.49pts from runner-up Blake Crooks, of Timaru, Jack Pringle, from Balclutha, won the Intermediate final, and Emma Martin, of Gore, headed a female trifecta in winning the Junior final.

Pleasant Point competition organiser John Walsh, had to juggle the sheep numbers after a significant increase in entries, with the 49 competitors comparing with numbers in the lower 30s in recent years. Consequences were reducing the numbers of sheep in the Open and Senior finals, and dispensing with the Open Plate.

But there were just 18 entries across the four grades at Blenheim.

The Canterbury Shears in the Canterbury Livestock Auction Centre at the New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch stage woolhandling event in three grades on Thursday and shearing five grades on Friday, including the premier blades event the Golden Blades, the fourth round of the Wools of New Zealand New Zealand World Championships bladeshearing team selection series.

On Saturday, the Central Hawke’s Bay A and P Show shearing and woolhandling championships include the fourth round of the woolhandling team selection series.

Results from the Marlborough A and P Show Shears at Blenheim on Saturday, November 5, 2022:

Open final (12 sheep): Angus Moore (Seddon) 11min 17.93sec, 43.38pts, 1; Lionel Taumata (Gore) 13min 44.15sec, 51.71pts, 2; Chris Jones (Blenheim) 15min 32.97sec, 56.07pts, 3; Lyall Windleburn (Rangiora) 13min 47.06dec, 63.19pts, 4.

Senior final (7 sheep): Timo Hicks (Tapawera) 10min 43.34sec, 45.31pts, 1; Josh Quinn (Seddon) 10min 36.1sec, 45.81pts, 2; Jock Fitzpatrick (Blenheim) 11min 37.09sec, 52.43pts, 3; Damian Bogle (Winton) 10min 9.91sec, 53.35pts, 4.

Intermediate final (4 sheep): Rikki Power (Gore) 7min 37.53sec, 36.13pts, 1; Kimberley Maclean (Motueka) 9min 4.69sec, 41.73pts, 2; Tom O’Sullivan (-) 8min 3.06sec, 44.65pts, 3; Logan Styles (Blenheim) 6min 50.97sec, 61.8pts, 4.

Junior final (3 sheep): Gus Crombie (Blenheim) 6min 20.19sec, 44.68pts, 1; Logan Kamura (Marton) 8min 46.66sec, 49.67pts, 2; Jimmy Peters (-) 9min 34.47sec, 69.39pts, 3.

Results from the Get to the Point Pleasant Point Gymkhana Shears on Saturday, November 5, 2022:

Open final (11 sheep): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 10min 27.09sec, 35.17pts, 1; Ants Frew (Pleasant Point) 10min 10sec, 35.32pts, 2; Hugh De Lacy (Rangiora) 9min 54.12sec, 36.07pts, 3; Stacey Te Huia (Alexandra) 10min 6.66sec, 45.79pts, 4.

Senior final (5 sheep): Alex Clapham (England) 5min 46.28sec, 21.91pts, 1; Blake Crooks (Timaru) 6min 3.97sec, 24.4pts, 2; Liam Norrie (Cheviot) 6min 10.28sec, 26.71pts, 3; Scott Cameron (Alexandra) 6min 23.62sec, 27.18pts, 4.

Intermediate final (4 sheep): Jack Pringle (Balclutha) 6min 28sec, 28.4pts, 1; Dre Roberts (Gore) 6min 7.69sec, 30.88pts, 2; William Sinclair (Balclutha) 6min 33.6sec, 32.43pts, 3; Jesse Sullivan (Harihari) 6min 23.72sec, 32.44pts, 4.

Junior final (3 sheep): Emma Martin (Gore) 6min 54.16sec, 24.04pts, 1; Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 8min 3.5sec, 29.18pts, 2; Robyn Krause (Germany) 7min 37.5sec, 31.21pts, 3; Caleb Brooking (Gore) 6min 43.6sec, 38.18pts, 4.

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