REIGNING National Pairs winners Hollow Mount from Bigga shortened their odds on defending their title after taking out the NSW August shorn Pairs on the opening day of Merino judging.
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The four year old stud has remarkably won the prestigious class three years in a row and will again head south to the Australian Sheep & Wool Show in Bendigo in July where they beat the nation's best in 2022.
"It is pretty good to represent your state. We would love to win again but it is highly unlikely," stud manager David Zouch said.
Stud owner Ken Wolf said he was "over the moon" with the win for their fine-medium six tooths and said all the credit belonged to Mr Zouch and his assistant Avalon McGrath who put in a lot of work.
WA judge Jeremy King, Darkan, WA, who spoke on behalf of the seven judges said there was not much splitting the top four placings.
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After much deliberation they chose the Hollow Mount four tooths.
"We thought the potential of the young sheep to go on and represent the state at Bendigo," he said.
"They had great surface, great length of wool and very even type as far as their bodies and wools go."
The 17.2 micron ram which was carrying a fleece with a standard deviation of 3, coefficient of variation of 17.2pc and comfort factor of 98.9pc and the 16.4 M ewe were both by one of the stud's high impact sires, Yarrawonga Don 193.
In second was the team from Bocoble, Cooks Gap, which Mr King said had the most productive ram and ewe and matched well.
"There were just a few finer points they missed out on but they can consider themselves unlucky," he said.
CONRAYN WINS FULL WOOL PAIR FOR FIRST TIME
In the RAS Pair of the Year- which will also represent the state in Bendigo- the Lette family, Conrayn stud, Berridale, took out the two top spots.
Judge Drew Chapman, Hinesville stud, Delegate, said there were some sensational entries among the seven March shorn Merino pairs but the panel of judges could not go past the size, structure and "great bulk of wool" on the Conrayn ram and ewe
"They have a huge staple, wonderful nourishment (in the wool), cover from head to toe, beautiful underlines and great purity," he said.
Conrayn stud's Jayne Lette said they were looking forward to representing NSW for the first time with their superfine six tooth ram and ewe.
The 17 micron ewe, which was sired by Merryville Giant Test, had won several supremes on their local show circuit and was also a broad ribbon winner at the Great Southern Supreme Merino Show in Canberra in January. The impressive ram was a son of Wurrook Stormy.
