Fintona Spectacular '08

• Monday, 15 September 2008 09:53

An impressive turnout of both pedigree and commercial Charolais at the NI National Charolais Show at Fintona gave the judges an arduous task and ensured a wonderful spectacle for the large crowd of visitors who attended.

Both the supreme female champion and reserve were taken by Gilbert Crawford’s Coolnaslee herd

at Maghera which boasted a strong entry of cattle at the event.

And it was another strong team which provided the supreme male champion – Stuart and David Bothwell’s Killadeas herd at Ballinamallard. In fact this quality line-up claimed the reserve intermediate male champion; the Intermediate female champion; the reserve junior female champion and of course, the senior male champion which went on to take the supreme male championship of the show.

A super entry of commercial cattle was led by John Killen, Crossgar with his junior homebred steer. John, ably assisted by his daughters Shauna (10) and Katrina (8) has enjoyed a wonderful show season with this exhibit securing supreme champion at Castlewellan and Male Champion at Balmoral earlier this season.

Louise Breen also shared in the success collecting the reserve commercial championship with her stylish junior heifer.

John McGrath, chairman of the NI Charolais Club congratulated the Coolnaslee herd, the Killadeas herd and John Killen on the quality of their teams and thanked all of the exhibitors for bringing out cattle that portrayed the value of the Charolais breed. He thanked Kevin Thomas from Carmarthenshire for his expertise in judging the pedigree classes and Ewan McPhearson from Argyll for his professionalism in judging the commercial section.

A strong line up of sponsors funded each class, ensuring that prize winners had a worthwhile day out.

Commentator, well known auctioneer, William Wilson from R A Noble and Co. kept everyone in touch with the judging decisions and pointed out that Gilbert Crawford’s senior female and supreme female champion, Coolnaslee Bopeep , is by his very successful stock sire, Allanfauld Superscot and is out of a Roundshill Oho dam. This dam is out of the same cow, Coolnaslee Regina, which bred the female champion at last year’s event. A bull from the same dam was senior male champion at a club sale in Dungannon and sold for 5,500gns. Speaking at the end of the event, judge, Kevin Thomas described this heifer as a “future herd builder”.