Stratford Steps Up The Pace At Ashburton

Southland shearer Nathan Stratford signalled he’s a serious contender for a place at next year’s Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships with a sub minute-a-sheep performance in winning the Ashburton A and P Show’s Open shearing final on Saturday.

Stratford, from Invercargill, shore his 13 sheep in a five-man final in 12min 20.26sec for the 13 sheep in the final, and was first-off in a blow-for-blow finish with Gore shearer Lionel Taumata – the pair separated by just 0.05 seconds.

But he also maintained the trademark quality, resulting in the buffer of just 0.003pts on time becoming a win by 2.16pts over Taumata, with a further 2.27pts back to Rangiora shearer Hugh De Lacy in third place.

Improving the speed is likely to be a big factor for Stratford if he is to win either the Golden Shears Open in Masterton in March or the New Zealand Shears Open in Te Kuiti in April, the targets for World Championships selection.

In his 26th season of Open-class shearing, it was Stratford’s 76th Open win, and third at Ashburton, where he won in 2016 in his build-up to winning a place in the two-man two machine shearing team which won the World teams title in Invercargill the following May.

He won at Ashburton again in 2017 as he hit the road building up to a successful bid to wrestle the South Island Shearer of the Year title away from the invaders from the North Island, and a second New Zealand Shears Circuit win in Te Kuiti, with a place in the New Zealand team in the UK, where he won the Great Yorkshire Shoe Open final in 2018.

With a third placing in the NZ Merino Shears Open in Alexandra, and a NZ Winter Comb title and Spring Shears fourth placing at Waimate, he’s had four finals in four outings this season, and is expected to target a fourth NZ Corriedales Championship in Christchurch on November 11 ahead of the transtasman test match on November 24 in Bendigo, Vic.

No South Island shearer has won either the Golden Shears or NZ Shears open finals since Edsel Forde last won the titles in 1990 and 1993 respectively.

Stratford, a finewool and multi-breeds specialist, has won the national shearing circuit twice and the NZ Shears Circuit three times, but has had just one win in an Open crossbreds final in the North Island.

Yet another show bouncing back from cancellation in the Covid-19 lockdowns, Ashburton attracted 48 shearers across five grades, including 18 in the Open grade, and 11 in the Senior grade, which provided a first win for South Island-based Yorkshireman Alex Clapham.

Jacob Taylor, of Dannevirke, had his first final and first win in the Intermediate grade, and Lydia Thomson, of Rangiora, won the Junior final.

The bladeshearing final, part of the third-round of a New Zealand team selection series, was won by veteran Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, despite finishing the four sheep 50 seconds after 2019 World Teams Champion partner Allan Oldfield, who had won at Rangiora a week earlier.

All five in the final have represented New Zealand at World championships, with Dobbs fourth to finish the five-man shear, Dobbs ultimately won by just 0.67pts from runner-up Mike McConnell, of Timaru, with

RESULTS from the Ashburton A and P Show shearing championships on Saturday, October 29, 2022:

Open final (13 sheep): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 12min 20.26sec, 41.09pts, 1; Lionel Taumata (Gore) 12min 20.31sec, 43.25pts, 2; Hugh De Lacy (Rangiora) 12min 50.36sec, 45.52pts, 3; Toko Hapuku (Methven) 13min 34.2sec, 46.71pts, 4; Luis Pincol (Chile/Oamaru) 14min 15.21sec, 48.99pts, 5.

Senior final (8 sheep): Alex Clapham (England) 9min 8.32sec, 37.17pts, 1; Liam Norrie (Cheviot) 11min 9.34sec, 40.09pts, 2; Blake Crooks (Timaru) 10min 45.87sec, 40.17pts, 3; James Wilson (Ryall Bush) 10min 6.4sec, 42.57pts, 4; Sam Bryan (Darfield) 11min 39.5sec, 46.85pts, 5.

Intermediate final (5 sheep): Jacob Taylor (Dannevirke) 7min 41.67sec, 36.48pts, 1; Dre Roberts (Gore) 9min 8.32sec, 37.42pts, 2; Will Sinclair (Balclutha) 8min 14.32sec, 38.32pts, 3; Jesse Sullivan (Harihari) 8min 57.34sec, 42.47pts, 4; Richard Parore (Ashburton) 8min 18.13sec, 46.31pts, 5.

Junior final (4 sheep): Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 8min 17.37sec, 36.62pts, 1; Caleb Brooking (Gore) 9min 0.17sec, 41.51pts, 2; Robin Krause (Germany) 11min 44.72sec, 43.99pts, 3; Cody Waihape (Mataura) 11min 12.24sec, 47.86pts, 4; Jess Toa (Ashburton) 12min 24.28sec, 5.

Blades final (4 sheep): Tony Dobbs (Fairlie) 11min 10.85sec, 42.54pts, 1; Mike McConnell (Timaru) 10min 54.25sec, 43.21pts, 2; Allen Gemmell (Loburn) 10min 47.49sec, 45.12pts, 3; Allan Oldfield (Geraldine/Lower Hutt) 10min 20.8sec, 45.79pts, 4; Phil Oldfield (Geraldine) 11min 58.37sec, 51.67pts, 5.

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