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| Balthayock Mandate Reserve Senior Champion 16,000 Guineas Robert Dalrymple Kings Arms Sire: Maerdy Grenadier Dam: Balthayock Gold | Balthayock Mikado 1st Class 2 14,000 Guineas John Jeffrey Kersknowe Sire: Balthayock Imp Balthayock Heaven | Balthayock Minstrel Senior and Supreme CH 46,000 Guineas Bill Bruce & Neil Barclay Balmyle & Harestone Sire: Balthayock Ferdinand Dam: Balthayock Gem | Balthayock Manifesto 2nd to Supreme CH 19,000 Guineas Peter Donger Seawell Sire: Balthayock Imp Dam: Balthayock Finesse | Balthayock Morgan 5th in Class 5 10,000 Guineas D Taylor South Ronaldsay Sire: Ugie Echo Dam: Balthayock Ira |
We had a truly amazing day at the February Bull Sale. We have been fairly confident that our outstanding team of herd sires would breed some extra special bulls but our most optimistic forecast for the sale was exceeded by a huge margin. Our team was the best we have ever produced not just because we had one exceptional bull but more pleasing was because we had a team of bulls with quality in depth and right up to the sale we could not agree amongst ourselves which was our best. We are so pleased that it was our own home bred herd sires that sired the bulls that hit the jackpot. Balthayock Ferdinand has now bred two outstanding bulls fetching the top prices of 50,000 and 46,000 guineas in two sales and now Balthayock Imp, a RHS male champion, is making his mark with two bulls sold for 14,000 and 19,000 guineas. Our top five bulls shown in the accompanying photograph averaged an astonishing 21,000 guineas. Three of our bulls have gone to pedigree herds but we have had wonderful support as well from commercial breeders. We wish all our buyers the very best of luck with the bulls and look forward to hearing of the success of their progeny in the show and sale ring.
After 49 years in the breed we have had many ups and downs but we will enjoy the moment of this remarkable sale. Next week we will have cleaned, power washed and disinfected all the bull boxes and soon they will be full again of young bulls for the May and October sales and beyond.
The sale overall was a triumph for the Charolais breed. We have listened to the criticisms of our buyers who have experienced calving problems and addressed the faults in our breed and I think it is now fair to say that most of the bulls offered for sale have easy calving genetics combined with outstanding performance traits. Of course there is still room for improvement and we at Balthayock remain committed through careful use of Breed Plan to help lead the way and restore the reputation of our breed as the leading terminal sire with an essential part to play in every progressive suckler herd.
Without the dedication and commitment of Davie and Tracey Nicoll and the support of our home team of Hector and Alan Campbell none of our success last week would have been possible so a huge thank you to them all and not forgetting our B team who invaluable support on show and sale day shows of our bulls to best advantage. We have set the bar pretty high at this sale so back to work to try our best to do it all again.