The 40th annual Commonwealth Championship Sheepdog Trials were run and won at the Port Fairy Football Club on Sunday with interstate owners taking out the top two prizes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Martin Waddingham from Westbury, Tasmania, took home $2500 after beating out more than 240 competitors to win the open final with Waterlea Meg.
And while John Perry’s five-year-old Border Collie Boco Raffa broke its leg in October, he was still good enough to win dog of the year and earn his owner a $1000 prize.
Mr Perry, from Bredbo, NSW, has been trialling for more than 35 years and said he was proud of Boco Raffa’s ability to handle pressure.
“I’m quite lucky, you don’t get really good dogs too often,” he said.
“He never gets fizzed up, he just keeps his cool, and I think that’s the key really.”
Brett Smith won the improver final with Cook’s Jake, while David Hines won the trans-Tasman final with Tacoola Cloudy.
Commonwealth Championship Sheepdog Trials president Bill Paton said he never expected the competition to enjoy such longevity.
“It’s been a lot of work putting it together for 40 years,” he said.
“But we’ve got a great committee and I think it’s getting better every time.
“It went off really well from start to finish this week. We had tremendous sheep that worked really nicely and gave everyone the chance to show their dogs off.”