Hawke's Bay shearer Matt Smith last night made a huge start to his bid for the toughest of World records after a record two-hour first-run tally in the dawn of his big day in Cornwall England.
Making the first World shearing record attempt ever in the Northern Hemisphere, the 32-year-old Smith was targeting the tally of 721 which was set by Porangahau gun Rodney Sutton in a King Country woolshed in January 2007, and had shorn 306 in the 3hrs 45min to morning tea.
His tally of 164 in the first run to breakfast, from 5am to 7am (4pm-6pm New Zealand time), was three more than the previous record two-hour opening run of 161 set by Southland shearer Darin Forde when he set a record of 720 almost 20 years ago, and six more than Sutton's struggling start to his successful bid almost a decade ago.
He kept ahead of the pace as he added another 142 in the second run to morning tea 9.45am (8.45pm New Zealand time), the first four runs of 1hr 45min that, with lunch and smoko breaks, would take him to the scheduled finish at 5pm (4am New Zealand time).
Under the watchful eyes of a three-man international panel of World Sheep Shearing Records Society judges, Smith had averaged 44.18 seconds a sheep caught, shorn and dispatched, already significantly under the 44.88 seconds average needed to break the record on the Romney and crossbred flock at Trefrank Farm, St Clether, where he farms with English wife Pippa.
Urging him on the board, with a global audience via live-streaming as he needed an average of 138.66 sheep a run for the rest of the day, was brother, World champion shearer and Maraekakaho farmer Rowland Smith.
In January 2012, Matt Smith set a since-broken eight-hour record of 578 (49.8 seconds a sheep) at Waitara Station, north of Te Pohue.