It was standing room only at the ringside in Ballymena Livestock Market for one of the most highly anticipated sales in the Suffolk female sale calendar.
Buyers travelled from right across Ireland, the UK and Europe to get their chosen lot and this large crowd of buyers led to a roaring trade, producing a record-breaking female sale.
Stealing the show topping the sale at 13,000gns (€15,493) on three occasions was Jack Smyth of the well known Bessiebell flock.
The first to hit the high price was an extremely smart Fosters 6 Pack daughter and was described by Smyth as “maybe one of the most complete gimmers we have bred”.
This special shearling ewe hails from one of the best female lines within the Bessiebell flock making her a full sister to Bessiebell Big Al that sold for 4,200gns and the Bessiebell shearling ewe that sold for 8,500gns in 2022.
After a whirlwind of online and ringside bids she was knocked down in a two-way split to Graham Foster and Jake Robinson.
The next shearling ewe to sell for 13,000gns followed directly after and she was snapped up by the same duo.
This flashy modern type female was a daughter of the homebred Bessiebell Bandit and she also came from an extremely strong family line, that produced the 10,000gns Bessiebell Bonnie Boy and the 2024 sale-topping shearling ewe that sold for 10,500gns.
Smyth described this family as “a bloodline that never fails to breed each year”.
The final of the three to sell for 13,000gns was the second into the ring of Smyths second ballot of in-lamb shearling ewes.
This eye catching shearling ewe was sired by Kilduff Bruno and she was scanned in-lamb carrying twins to the much admired Tullywhinney ram.
She was snapped up with a last minute bid by Claudy-based breeder C McLaughlin.
Her full embryo sister was the next highest priced lot on the sales sheet when she sold for 10,000gns (€11,918) to Donegal-based breeder Michael Leonard.
This strong dark skinned female was scanned in-lamb carrying a single to the 15,000gns Bessiebell Batman.
Smyth went onto achieve a staggering pen average of £6,416 (€7,283) for his consignment of 18 shearling ewes.
Other top priced females
Selling their pen leader for 6,000gns (€7,152) was Kilcoo-based duo Patrick and Orla Grant of the well known Craigdoo flock.
Their mighty pen leader was one of the first daughters to be sold of the highly admired Birness The Gladiator, the sire of the 2025 NI premier sale champion that went on to sell for 42,000gns.
It was Cavan-based breeder Shane Brady that picked up this big boned, flashy shearling ewe. She was scanned in-lamb carrying a single to Limestone Rizzler.
The Grant family went on to sell their pen of nine in-lamb shearling ewes to average a strong £2,287 (€2,596).
Also having a strong sale was David Ford, with his pen of five topping at 5,500gns (€6,556).
This powerful in-lamb shearling ewe was a direct daughter of the much admired 2024 Royal Highland Show Suffolk male champion, Pyeston Phoenix.
She was scanned in-lamb carrying twins to Rhaeadr Northern Champ. She was picked up by Alistair Breen and James Dunne in a two-way split.
Newtownstewart-based breeder Ian Donald was also high up on the sales sheet when he sold his Redbrae Majestic daughter for 3,800gns (€4,530) to J & L Doyle.
The silky black haired shearling ewe was scanned in-lamb carrying a single to Kilduff Tommy.
Ewe lambs
There was a small entry of just three ewe lambs from Antrim man Andrew Moses.
The strong pen of January-born ewe lambs topped at 1,300gns (€1,550) for an Oakbridge Opportunity sired lamb.
It was long-time breeder Alastair Gault that placed the final bid to secure the top-priced ewe lamb.
The trade throughout the sale was extremely strong leading to an overall sale average of £2,550 (€2,895), up an impressive £1,195 (€1,357) on the 2024 sale.
The clearance rate remained exactly on par with the 2024 sale at 93%.
