As the heat hung over the showground in Llanelwedd, Porton House 1 Lilac Wine 1st from Paul and Vicky Moyle of Porton House Herefords, Newport was tapped out by judge Matthew Goulding as the supreme champion of the Royal Welsh Show after winning female and exhibitor-bred champion and the spring 2021 heifer class.

Porton House 1 Lilac Wine 1st

Only having been members since 2016, this new herd has been gaining momentum on the show scene in recent times, with this heifer already winning reserve champion at the Royal Three Counties this year as well as reserve champion at North Somerset. Born in March 2021 out of foundation cow Dendor 1 Lilac Wine 28th, the champion is a daughter of Panmure 1 Nugget which also has had success at Builth, standing senior and reserve male champion at Royal Welsh Show in 2019. From here, this heifer will head to Burwarton and the National Poll Show.

On the Thursday of the show, the heifer also teamed up with Harveybros 1 Va-Va-Voom and Sky High 1 Miss Allure to stand reserve in the group of three interbreed.

Moralee 1 Pippa KS S11

Standing in reserve in both the supreme and female championship was Moralee 1 Pippa KS S11 from Tom and Di Harrison, Mickley, Northumberland having won the senior cow class with five month old bull calf Moralee 1 Wynne SO270 at-foot, sired by Auckvale 1 Standout 1891S. April 2019-born, Pippa is another by the prolific SMH King Size 87K which was the 2019 sire of the year and out of Coley 1 Pippa 356 which stood breed champion at the Royal Highland in 2017, a daughter of Australian sire Days Calibre G74. Not a stranger to the show ring, it was reserve champion at Devon County last year and reserve champion at the Royal Highland Showcase. It went on to stand senior female champion at the 2021 National Poll Show, mirroring the position of its dam Coley 1 Pippa 356 in 2018.

Buckenhill 1 Trans Am

Male champion was found in the form of Buckenhill 1 Trans Am from Matthew Gray and Louise Crowther who had crossed the border from Bromyard, Herefordshire and started the day by winning the senior male class. January 2020-born and a Cornriggs 1 Knight Rider son, it is out of the Anxiety line at Buckenhill and has already received senior male champion at the Royal Three Counties Show and reserve male champion at the Royal Bath and West.

Harveybros 1 Va-Va-Voom

Junior male and reserve male champion was selected as Harveybros 1 Va-Va-Voom from George and Sophie Harvey who had not yet returned to their Balfron home following the Great Yorkshire. Winning the spring 2021 bull class, this March-born bull is by Normanton 1 Laertes which stood interbreed champion on the same ground six years earlier. Out of Harveybros 1 Crocus E2, the only female line at the Harvey’s stable, it goes back to Panmure’s Crocus family and stood reserve supreme while at Harrogate.

Cynin Diezel

The junior bull class was headed up by OEM Jones and EM Roberts, Llangynin, Carmarthenshire with the home-bred Cynin Diezel which also went on to be named reserve junior bull. Although well used to showing sheep at Builth, this was the relatively new breeders first time out in the Hereford ring. Born in June 2021, Diezel is a son of Dyfed herd competition reserve junior bull champion Llangynin Scooby which was bred and purchased from the late Meirion Jones, the family’s next door neighbour and good friend. Meirion always wanted to show Herefords at the Royal Welsh and so the Cynin herd carried out his wish. Its dam is one of the breeders’ best cows, Llangynin Lindy Loo, and carries blood from horned herds such as Free Town, Spinney and Church Preen.

Glenvale 1 Polly 764

As Matthew moved into the females, the classes got bigger. The January to August 2020 heifer class was led by the May-born Glenvale 1 Polly 764 from TG, EI and EN Thorne. Placed second in its class at the 2021 National Poll Show, it is by stock bull Vexour 1 Palmer and out of Glenvale 1 Poly 617 which won the senior female class at last year’s Poll Show and Pembrokeshire County.

Spartan 1 Polly T122

Spartan 1 Polly T122 from LD and LL Powell, Penpedaorheol, Mid Glamorgan took the red ticket in the September to December 2020 heifer class. After heading up the 2021 Christmas calf show for breeders SC and GL Hartwright, this heifer went through the ring to a top call of 4,000gns to LD and LL Powell. Sired by the 8,000gns Solpoll 1 Perfection, it is out of Ruckmans 1 Polly 1306 and stood reserve breed champion at Devon County and at the Royal Cornwall earlier this summer.

Porton House 1 Jane 2nd

The junior heifer class was another won by Paul and Vicky Moyle with Porton House 1 Jane 2nd. May 2021-born, it is by Dendor 1 Sherlock and goes back to Ashley Moor’s Amethyst female line. It also took the junior heifer class at the Royal Three Counties this year.

The group of three was also won by OEM Jones and EM Roberts with Cynin Governess 4th, Cynin Victory and Cynin Diezel. These breeders will be out at Haverfordwest Show and the National Hereford Show.

Winning group of three

Great success was had in the young handlers section for young members of the Hereford breed. In the interbreed young handlers pair, Classic Herefords’ Ollie Garnett-Smith and Cara Doggett who is from New Zealand took the reserve champion title out of 11 teams.
Shraden Herefords’ Melissa Roberts judged the individual handler competition, where in the junior class of 16 years of age or under, Freddie Cloke of Lord Harvey’s Herefords placed sixth in a strong class.

The 17 years and above class saw international visitor Cara Doggett and Elan Thomas take to the ring. Elan placed third while Cara took first place before being entered into the championship where Melissa challenged the competitors by removing their show sticks, concluding in Cara winning overall champion young handler, having also recently taken the same accolade at the Royal Norfolk.