Midnight Star shines brightest to take top honours
AS THE afternoon light began to fade yesterday it was Midnight Star who shone brightest in the beef rings.
At the end of two days of judging, it came down to the supreme beef championship and it was the homebred Limousin heifer that stole the show.
Mark Harryman and Sarah Warriner, of Pickering, were the victors with a beast that clinched the commercial championship on the same turf in the summer, at the Great Yorkshire Show.
A champion too at this year’s Ryedale Show and winner of its class at Malton Show, Midnight Star will now be prepared for a show ring appearance at the forthcoming Agri Expo in Carlisle.
It was a satisfying show for her owners, who went one better than their last Countryside Live appearance, which had seen them named reserve supreme champion in 2017.
“It’s good for business,” Ms Warriner said of the latest victory. “And it’s a good feeling to win because it’s a tough competition.”
The reserve supreme beef champion this time around belonged to Phil and Sharon Sellers, of Lincolnshire, with another Limousin heifer, named Fancy That.
Both established show outfits and newcomers parade their animals in the rings and there was success for teenager Rachael Graham.
The 15-year-old won the Beef Young Handlers class on her first outing at Countryside Live.
The teenager has been showing homebred Limousin X Black Diamond throughout the year and was named the champion young handler for the whole of Cumbria in August.
Black Diamond is now owned by Ayrshire farmers June Dowie and Jennifer Heslop and Miss Graham, of Gilsland, near Brampton, in Cumbria, was invited to show the beast once more over the weekend. On taking first place, she said: “I feel privileged. It’s a hard achievement to do, there are some of the best in the country here.”
Tom Anderson, 16, of Leyburn, came in second place and Fiona Jowett, 18, of Bradford, ranked third.