With just 25 Shorthorn bulls entered for next week’s sale at Stirling it would seem that if you want one you’re going to have to get among the bids or be disappointed, they’re simply won’t be a lot to chose from.
So, with that in mind here’s our quick run -of what’s taken our fancy from the catalogue.
Taking the eye first is Democrat of Upsall (lot 93). This Bilsdale Anson son is out of Secret Roxanne of Upsall, a Magnate of Upsall daughter and is a paternal brother to last October’s champion and 6000gns bull Cougar of Upsall. This one was junior champion at the Great Yorkshire and has some impressive figures with a TSI of +26 and an SRI of +25.
Next to get a mark by his name is Coldrochie Drover (lot 97). This LS Zeus son is out of Colnvalley Joyful Gipsy B19, a Colnvalley Zealot daughter and unfortunately has poor figures. But with that breeding and having been placed champion senior bull calf at the Stars of the Future Show last year and first at Perth Show this year he should have some scale and scope about him.
Following him is Dunsyre Demetri (lot 99), a Dunsyre Asterix son out of Sunsyre Violet 7, a Dunsyre Sutherland daughter. He has strong figures, with a TSI of +28 and an SRI of +25 and good for both calving ease direct and all three growth measures.
After him I’ve marked Lowther Equity (lot 103), a son of thick fleshy bull Blelack Rupert out of LsGaia 148, a K-Kim Freedom 100P daughter. His figures aren’t so exciting, but I’d expect him to be a well put together sort of bull with plenty of flesh on him.
James Porter heads across from Northern Ireland with a decent string as always and his bull Uppermill Rambo 2532 is worthy of note, being a son of Trunley Zorba and out of Uppermill Rothes Jingle, a Chapelton Touchstone daughter. He picked up a red ticket at Glenarm Show last year as a calf, with his dam overall champion at Amagh in the same year.
No Stirling Shorthorn preview would be complete without a Chapelton bull and the Biggar team have two close together in the form of Chapelton Esquire (lot 107) and Chapelton Edition (lot 108). Both of these are by Cavans Yankee and have good female lines, both being from the Duchess family. Esquire is a maternal brother to former Stirling champions Chapelton Braveheart and Duke and comes with a TSI of +31 and an SRI of +20, while Edition is full brother to Chapelton Clansman, reserve champion in February 2011 and has a TSI of +24 and an SRI of +15.
Unfortunately, both these bulls are let down by their calving ease figures, with Esquire at -8.1 and Edition at -9. It’s unfortunate to see these poor calving ease’s slipping in to the native breeds and will need to be watched for the future of the breed.
The final bull to be marked in the preview is Knockenjig Emblem (lot 111), a Cavans Northern Light son out f Gregors Zola, a Knowehead Maladdo son. He carries decent figures of +25 and +27 and bucks the trend of the previous two bulls with a calving ease score of +5.8.
That’s our take on things, feel free to add your own thoughts below and we look forward to seeing you all in Stirling next week…
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