Bucking bull Air Raid fetches big money at dispersal sale, selling to NSW

NSW buyer, Julia Smith of Tamworth, paid $36,000 for the distinctive mottle-coloured bull, Air Raid, sired by US bull, Air Time, which was Lot 29 of 128 lots listed in the Wallace Bucking Bulls Dispersal Sale at CQLX Gracemere on Saturday.

The auction run by TopX Gracemere attracted 37 registered buyers on site and 80 registered online bidders with Stocklive, from as far away as South Australia.

The sale which was billed as a first for Australia and had a 100 per cent clearance rate, made $529,750 for an average price of $4204/head.

Miss Smith said she used to be involved in rodeos as a barrel racer, but had got back into the industry through her connection with former bull rider, Jordan Robb, who broke his neck when he was only 18 and was now a quadraplegic.

She said she hoped Air Raid and a yearling bull she paid $8600 for would add to their bucking bull breeding business of about 50 females and 17 young bulls.

"I hope I haven't made a monumental mistake...it's either going to be a monumental mistake or a gamble that's going to pay off," she said.

Miss Smith said she had her eye on another bull, Mr T, which sold for $21,000 and that she was the losing bidder to Dittman Bucking Bulls, Bloomsbury.

"But as soon as the catalogue came down, I liked Air Raid because he was a four-year-old. I don't think they thought he was going to go for that much and I don't think I did either. It just came down to a bidding war and I wanted him," she said.

"I liked him from the photos and I liked the video (of him) when they first posted it and I wanted him, and the young one."

Volume buyer, Colin Fry of PF7 Bucking Bulls, near Charters Towers, bought four bulls and eight cow and calf units, paying a top price of $12,000 for Lot 84, sired by Razor Sharp, out of the same dam as Air Raid.

Mr Fry, who has been contracting to the PBR for the past three years, said he bought 12 lots on the strength of what he already had and because Peter and Jaz Wallace had been breeding bucking bulls for a long time.

"I really like what they've done and their stock so with them getting out (of the business), it was hard not to go to a sale like theirs and try and purchase a few," he said.

"I was very happy with the prices that I paid. I expected they could have been a little bit dearer but, yes, it was still a very strong sale."

The Wallaces started Wallace Bucking Bulls at Biloela about 12 years ago when, in their words, "they got serious about the breeding side of the business", importing genetics from America.

A former professional bull rider, Mr Wallace said they had the dispersal sale because they wanted to wind down, do some touring, have more time to themselves and start trading steers.

Mr Wallace said a lot of the cattle in the auction were sired from semen from a US bull, Little Yellow Jacket, which was a three-time world champion bucking bull.

"We started out with his genetics and 'I'm a Gangster" also from the US and built from there...they were our two most successful sires early in the piece," he said.

When choosing a good bucking bull, Mr Wallace said he looked for "lots of kick in the rear end" and one which "had plenty of action about them and moved around well".

He said the couple were really happy with the results of the auction.

"We knew that if you presented a line of quality bulls (it would be good) and we had a lot of interest (in the sale) beforehand and we thought it would be strong," he said.

"It was better than we expected, it was overwhelming really, it was a great sale."

Mr Wallace said the highlight of the sale was seeing all the bulls go to people who were going to reuse them and hopefully breed future buckers from them.

"The clearance rate was definitely a highlight and seeing some of those good bulls go to good contractors and good people," he said.

"But it's always a sad day, I suppose, when you're ending up something that you've put 110 per cent into for a long time."

Mr T was 2023 PBR Rookie Bull of the Year.