Coveted cattle set to converge on Spectacular

Prize-winning commercial cattle from across the length and breadth of Scotland will make their way to the north east later this week for the Thainstone Spectacular on Friday.

The fixture, which is now in its 25th year, is an annual show and sale of cattle with “show potential”.

Many of the beasts on offer have already done a stint on the summer show circuit, and all will be shown and sold on the basis of having potential to win rosettes for their new buyers in the future.

Organised by Aberdeen and Northern Marts (ANM) and sponsored by the Clydesdale Bank, the fixture takes place at the Thainstone Centre, Inverurie, on Friday.

A total cash prize fund of £4,000 is up for grabs in the pre-sale show, which will be judged by Somerset farmer Bob Kingston.

Mr Kingston will be tasked with assessing 62 entries with sections dictated by breed and age.

The champion from each section will then go forward to compete for the coveted overall champion title.

Last year the top accolade went to a Limousin cross heifer named Foxy Lady from Mark and Debbie Munro at Invercharron, Ardgay.

Mark and Debbie will be hoping to repeat their success at this year’s show as they put forward their cheekily named September 2015-born homebred heifer Kiss My ...

A strong team of five will also compete from John Robertson, Logierait, including the Aberfeldy show champion which is a Limousin cross bullock.

Stuart Fotheringham, Ballinloan, Dunkeld, has forward a Limousin cross heifer calf, born in August 2015, which was named the champion calf at Perth Show.

A special buyers’ incentive of £500 from Aberdeen & Northern Marts for any Spectacular entry that goes on to win the Overall Live Cattle Championship at a variety of future shows – including the Countryside Live, LiveScot 2016, East of England Smithfield Festival, Borderway Agri Expo, Royal Welsh Winter Fair and Thainstone’s own ‘Aberdeen Christmas Classic’ – stands again this year.

To qualify the winning entry must have been purchased at the Spectacular, exhibited by the buyer, and sold at the event as a champion.

This year’s sale will again benefit from the i-bidder.com online auction system – allowing those unable to attend on the day to view the sale in real-time and bid against ringside buyers for entries. Photographs of the entries can also be seen before the event on the mart’s website.

Ahead of this year’s fixture, ANM auctioneer John Angus said: “We have an outstanding line-up of summer show champions along with many prize winners at this year’s 25th Spectacular event taking place here at Thainstone.

“This is a great opportunity for buyers to purchase top-quality cattle for the Christmas show and sales.”

Last year’s overall champion and champion heifer was Foxy Lady from J Munro & Son, Invercharron Farm, Ardgay, Sutherland.