IT was another memorable trip for the Thompson family, Venturon Livestock, Boyup Brook, to this year's Sydney Royal Easter Show.
If the Thompsons thought last year's trip with their Charolais was one for the memories, this year's will certainly not be forgotten anytime soon either - as they went one better than last year.
This year they exhibited the junior champion bull and female and the senior and grand champion bull.
Last year, they showed the junior champion female and reserve junior bull and the senior and grand champion bull.
But not only did they collect a swag of ribbons, the stud also won the Premier Beef Breeder Award and the most successful Charolais exhibitor title for a second consecutive year.
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The Thompsons are no strangers to making the 52-hour drive both ways across the Nullarbor Plain to exhibit their cattle, and the results they achieved this year were again beyond what they could have ever imagined - and backed-up their excellent showing of last year.
The family first exhibited at the Sydney Royal Easter Show show in 2011 and has only missed two years since then - in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.
When they started, the goal was to exhibit a grand champion and be among the top results in the interbreed competition - which is what they did this year, on the back of doing it for the first time in 2022.
Harris Thompson said he and his parents couldn't believe the results they had achieved again this year.
"It was one of the most amazing days we have ever had in a show ring and for it to be at the Sydney Royal was truly amazing," Mr Thompson said.
"It was amazing what we achieved and we couldn't be prouder of how our cattle presented.
"They were better than what we achieved last year and, once again, the highlight had to be how our animals stood up in the interbreed competition - which saw us place second in two of the classes."
The stud's junior champion heifer placed second in the interbreed heifer competition, which is one of the most prestigious classes at Sydney, while the stud also finished second in the interbreed breeders group of three class - with its three champions.
The stud's senior champion and grand champion bull also shone through the interbreed bull class, making the top five.
Mr Thompson said to achieve what they did was not easy when travelling from Western Australia.
The Thompson's team for Sydney consisted of 10 Charolais, made up of three junior bulls, one senior bull, five junior heifers and a cow/calf unit.
Leading the way for the stud in the ring was its senior bull Venturon Start The Party S97 (P), which was sashed the grand champion and senior champion Charolais bull, after winning its class for bulls over 20 months but not over 24 months.
Judge Kirrily Johnson-Iseppi, GK Livestock, Cecil Plains, Queensland, was full of praise for Start The Party S97.
"He has softness and performance, while maintaining the muscle shape I am looking for," Ms Johnson-Iseppi said.
The May 2021-drop, Start The Party S97, is a son of Venturon Hamish and at the stud's on-property sale in February it sold for the sale's $26,000 top price to the Holzwart family, Bauhinia Park stud, Emerald, Queensland.
Claiming the junior champion bull ribbon for the stud was Venturon Showbiz 161S, which was in the champion line-up after winning the oldest junior bull class for bulls over 19 months but not over 20 months old.
Showbiz 161S (AI) (ET) (P), was praised by Ms Johnson-Iseppi for its muscle and softness.
"He has a really good head and neck, and I liked the way he moves out and cruises around the ring," she said.
"When you stand behind him, he's really wide in the pins and has got a stack of muscle in him - while retaining that softness and the ability to cover really well."
Showbiz 161S is an August 2021-drop ET-bred calf by SCR Triumph 2135 (P) and out of SVY Starstruck 409B (P).
Rounding out the stud's champion ribbon winners was one the stud's favourite heifers, Venturon Starstruck 157S (P) (AI) (ET), which was sashed junior champion female and went on to finish second in the interbreed heifer class.
Ms Johnson-Iseppi said Venturon's heifer had a good blend of frame and femininity.
"She moves out really freely and, when you stand behind her, she's really wide and blends beautifully into her topline," she said.
Starstruck 157S, which is a full ET-bred sister to Showbiz 161S, was in the champion line-up after finishing first in its class for heifers over 19-months-old but not over 20-months-old.
Along with Starstruck 157S winning its class, Venturon also placed first in two other heifer classes and third in another two classes, meaning all five of its heifers won a ribbon in their respective classes.
Venturon Reminisce T54 (P) (AI) won the class for heifers aged between nine and 12-months-old, while Venturon Fancy Like T24 collected the blue ribbon in the class for heifers 12 to 14-months-old.
The ribbons kept coming for the stud when three ET-bred siblings by SCR Triumph 2135 (P) and out of SVY Starstruck 409B (P) won both the sire's progeny group and the dam's progeny group classes.
The stud also won the breeders' group of three in the Charolais section for the first time at Sydney and this was the group which went on to finish second in the interbreed breeders' group class.
The group consisted of the stud's three champion winners.
The Thompsons had further reason to smile because, not only did they take home a swag of ribbons, but three of the four reserve champions exhibited in the breed carried Venturon bloodlines - having been sired by Venturon Maximum Impact.
However, despite claiming three of the four champion three ribbons the supreme Charolais exhibit ribbon eluded the Thompsons.
It went to an eight-year-old Charolais cow with a heifer calf at foot, Wakefield Amaze 38, which was shown by Greg Frizell, Wakefield stud, Armidale, NSW, that was sashed the senior and grand champion Charolais female.
Ms Johnson-Iseppi said some might say this cow belongs in the paddock, but she is an amazing cow.
"For eight years of age she has a really fine and tidy udder structure, is totally sound on her feet and legs and strides out well plus she's is still doing a really good job on her young heifer calf, so you really have to appreciate that," Ms Johnson-Iseppi said.
