Shearing record update

Shearing record update

Te Kuiti shearer Stacey Te Huia has gone to lunch in his World record bid 10 sheep down on the required pace and is unlikely to seriously challenge the mark of 721 ewes in nine hours shorn by Southern Hawke's Bay shearer Rodney Sutton six years ago.

With five and a half hours gone in the Te Hape woolshed, off State Highway 30 east of Benneydale, 33-year-old Te Huia had shorn 430, 10 less than Sutton had at the same stage of his big day on which he beat the previous record by just one, with four seconds to spare.

Te Huia wasn't throwing in the towel however, and according to father Dean is determined to beat a personal best of 674 shorn in a two-stand record last year, and to also become only the fifth shearer to beat 700 in an official nine-hour record bid.

With two sheep rejected by the judges during the morning on the basis of quality, Te Huia has today recorded run-tallies of 149 for the first run of two hours, and 141 and 140 for the next two of one hour 45 minutes each, which compares with Sutton's morning tallies of 158, 140, and 142. The record for a 1hr 45min run is 143 shorn by Southlander Darin Forde in his record 720 in 1997, but to beat the record, Te Huia would need an average 146 for each of the afternoon runs.

ENDS

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