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Last Friday saw the major reduction of the Haltcliffe pedigree Limousin herd in Carlisle’s Borderway Mart, a common prefix in the Limousin world having bred numerous champions and high sellers, including Haltcliffe Vermount, the first bull to hit the six-figure mark in the UK.
The herd, which is owned by Craig Ridley, Cumbria, saw 119 cattle forward made up cows, maiden and in-calf heifers.
These females come from the herd's best lines, which were formed in 2001 after the original herd got wiped out by Foot and Mouth disease. These lines were mostly French cows, but also UK-bred cows with strong French lineage were secured.
Adding to these lines, the Ridley family are no strangers to spending on bull power, with many notable bulls used throughout the years. With such a large entry and the prestige of the herd, only standing room was available around the sales ring all day.
Leading the trade with a top call of 8,000gns was the first in-calf heifer into the ring Haltcliffe Maria. This two-year-old heifer is out of the 13,000gns Haltcliffe Hitec, the bull who also sired the 2017 Balmoral champion Trueman Lute. Dam was Haltcliffe Bianca, a Sympa daughter who is a full sister to successful AI bull Haltcliffe Dancer, who was purchased by Philip Crowe.
Packed with Irish connections, Maria sold in-calf to Grahams Michael, the 20,000gns 2017 Highland Show male champion and son of three-time Balmoral champion Millbrook Ginger Spice. Successful joint bidders were Richard Bartle of the Absolute herd he runs with Mary Cormack and the Dinmore herd of Paul Dawes.
Two lots traded at 6,500gns. First up was the cow and calf combination top seller Haltcliffe Gina and her eight-month-old calf Nellie. Cow Gina saw Sympa, Cloughhead Umpire and a full sister to the aforementioned Haltcliffe Vermount in her lineage, while Nellie was sired by the 20,000gns Ballyrobin Joop. This one was secured by an undisclosed buyer.
Matching her at the price tag was Haltcliffe Mel, who found a new home in Northern Ireland with K&S Williamson, Co Tyrone.
This in-calf heifer was sired by Sympa son Haltcliffe Ivan and out of Vermount daughter Haltcliffe Fate. This muscly heifer sold in calf to the 32,000gns Ampertaine Elgin.
Hit twice throughout the sale was 6,200gns, with the 10th lot in the first at the money. The four-year-old Haltcliffe Humble was secured by Sligo-based Michael Philips. This one was sired by Cloughhead Ernie on a Sympa cow that again went back to a full sister of the 100,000gns Vermount. Selling with the cow was her six-month-old bull calf Norman, a son of French bull Ducasse.
Further adding to the lots to get the boat across to Ireland, Benny Quinn secured Haltcliffe Mirage at 6,200gns.
This in-calf heifer was sired by Cloughhead Umpire, while the dam is a Loosebeare Fantastic daughter out of the same dam as Haltcliffe Avon, who had bred extremely well in the Claragh herd.
Getting the sale off to a flying start, the first cow into the ring Haltcliffe Bridget went under the hammer at 6,000gns.
This 11-year-old cow sold alongside her bull calf Nebraska and had embryos retained by the breeder. Sired by Cloughhead Umpire, Bridget also sees Sympa and Sapho in her lineage. Sapho was one of the foundation females which was purchased from the Chateil herd in France in 2001. Her six-month-old bull calf was sired by Vermount and she sold back in-calf to Ampertaine Elgin. Successful bidder was S & DJ Williams, Powys.
Matching her at the money was Haltcliffe Impress with her three-month-old calf Haltcliffe Night. Haltcliffe Gains was the sire behind this third calver, while Vermont and Sympa also feature in the pedigree. Sire of the young bull is the 20,000gns Dinmore Jacot. This one is also set for Irish soils with the Davis brothers in Co Longford.
WJ Bradley from Magherafelt, Co Derry, was the third and last to pay a 6,000gns bid. His high bid was for the 16-month-old Haltcliffe Mandy. This embryo transfer-born heifer was sired by the French bull Hero's and out of foundation female Renoncule.
This mating offered one of the last chances to buy a Hero’s daughter, as well as an established female line with Renoncule being the best heifer the Ridleys saw when searching in 2001.
Trade stayed consistent throughout the sale, with one third of the lots through the ring selling for 4,000gns or more.
Thirty-one served cows or cows suckling saw the highest average, with 31 selling for £4,223.71. Of the heifers, 26 in-calf sold to average £3,497, while 22 maidens settled at £2,921.
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