Every mile’s a winner for Nathan Stratford

From Invercargill to Ashburton, every mile’s a winner for Nathan Stratford

Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford was back on the road again to record a notable first at the Ashburton A and P Show on Saturday.

In his 20th season of Open-class competition, Stratford gave another display of the determination needed for a possible World Championships bid in his home town in February to claim another show title, this time 480km away from home at the Ashburton A and P Show.

Perhaps taking a leaf out of the book of horse trainer and cups king Bart Cummings, Stratford did the miles and got the reward in an event as he made it four-from-four in South Island competitions in possibly his busiest start to a season, all aimed at being ready for the national World Championships team selection final in Christchurch on November 11.

In the space of five weeks Stratford has won competitions in Alexandra, Leeston in Canterbury, Rangiora and Ashburton and also competed at the Royal Perth Show in West Australia, in a transtasman test in Warialda NSW, and at the Great Raihania Shears in Hawke’s Bay.

On Saturday he was second to finish a five-man final over 16 sheep each, the race being won by Gore shearer Ringakaha Paewai in 16min 27sec.

But Stratford’s trademark quality in the pen-judging was in a class of its own, eventually enabling him to claim victory by more than three points from Paewai, with third place going to defending Ashburton champion and New Zealand team member Tony Coster, of Rakaia.

The other titles were kept in the Canterbury region, headed by Corey Smith, of Rakaia, scoring by more than 6pts from runner-up and Chilean shearer Luis Pincol in the Senior final. It was Smith’s third Senior title in New Zealand.

Amberley’s Mitchell Murray had his second Intermediate win, a year after the first which was also at Ashburton. He won by more than 8pts from runner-up and Mataura shearer Jesse Barclay, who earlier in the month won the New Zealand Spring Shears Intermediate title at Waimate, while Liam Norrie, of Geraldine, had his second Junior win, also by a wide margin, beating runner-up Adam Hodges, also from Geraldine, by over 8pts.

Tony Dobbs, of Rakaia, continued his domination of blades events in a final which featured the nowadays are show appearance of 2008 World Championships finalist Peter Race, of Rakaia.

Results from the Ashburton A and P Show Shears on Saturday, October 30, 2016:

Open final (16 sheep): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 16min 37.54sec, 57.13pts, 1; Ringa Paewai (Gore) 16min 27.06sec, 60.04pts, 2; Tony Coster (Rakaia) 17min 0.66sec, 60.35pts, 3; Grant Smith (Rakaia) 16min 39.19sec, 65.52pts, 4; Ant Frew (Oamaru) 17min 58.43sec, 66.36pts, 5.

Senior final (8 sheep): Corey Smith (Rakaia) 12min 8.18sec, 47.03pts, 1; Luis Pincol (Chile) 12min 54.34sec, 53.09pts, 2; Corey White (Waimate) 11min 45sec, 55.63pts, 3; Joel Richards (Oamaru) 11min 34.69sec, 66.36pts, 4; Adam Maw (Rakaia) 11min 38.4sec, 81.55pts, 5.

Intermediate final (4 sheep): Mitchell Murray (Amberley) 7min 2.02sec, 1; 36.1pts, 1; Jesse Barclay (Mataura) 6min 59.02sec, 44.45pts, 2; Eve Pedie (Oxford) 8min 8.22sec, 45.41pts, 3; Jordan Hart (Blenheim) 8min 15.53sec, 48.53pts, 4; Kelly Macdonald (Lake Hawea) 8min 7.79sec, 50.39pts, 5.

Junior final (3 sheep): Liam Norrie (Geraldine) 12min 2.35sec, 47.12pts, 1; Adam Hodges (Geraldine) 12min 31.94sec, 55.93pts, 2; Sam Bryan (Hororata) 11min 44.82sec, 3; James Webster (Christchurch) 10min 36.44sec, 62.49pts, 4; Makaira Keene Black (Timaru) 11min 20.7sec, 68.7pts, 5.

Blades (5 sheep): Tony Dobbs (Fairlie) 15min 3.5sec, 59.18pts, 1; Tim Hogg (Timaru) 17min 18.5sec, 70.73pts, 2; Brian Thomson (West Melton) 15min 58.03sec, 72.7pts, 3; Phil Oldfield (Geraldine) 16min 59.5sec, 74.38pts, 4; Peter Race (Rakaia) 14min 42.22sec, 74.51pts, 5.

ends

© Scoop Media