Te Huia on the pace in merino record bid

Te Huia on the pace in merino record bid

New Zealand shearer Stacey Te Huia has started his World merino shearing record bid in Australia just ahead of the pace set by when the current record was set nine years ago.

Te Huia is challenging the nine-hour record of 513 set by New Zealand-born Australia-based shearer Dwayne Black near Kojonup, in his home state of West Australia, on April 6, 2005.

The record is taking place today at Parkdale Stud, 36km northwest of Dubbo, NSW, where the temperature is forecast to reach 33deg later in the day.

Starting at 7am, the 36-year-old Te Huia shore 113 of the soft rolling skin fine-wooled Poll merino ewes in the opening first run of two hours, which compared with Black’s opening run of 112.

Black followed the first run with successive 1hr 45min runs of 103, 98, 99, and 101, and Te Huia, who last month near the King Countyry town of Bennydale failed in his second bid to break the crossbred record of 721 in nine hours, has to up the hourly average from the current 56.5 to over 57 the break the record befor time is callt at 7pm (9pm NZDST).

The record bid is under the rules of the World Sheep Shearing Records Society which has appointed judges from Australia and New Zealand, with an observer from Wales.

It’s the first of two records being attempted in a major event for Australasian shearing at Parkdale, with Australian shearers Beau Guelfi and Bob White tomorrow tackling the two-stand record for eight hours set by Australia-based New Zealand brothers Cartwright and Michael-James Terry in 2003.

ENDS

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