Shearing weekend round-up: Toa Henderson shines at Warkworth A&P Show

Toa Henderson, seen here winning the Golden Shears open title, also took out the open shearing title at the Warkworth A & P Show on Saturday. Photo / Pete Nikolaison

New Golden Shears champion Toa Henderson kept it close to home and had an expected win at the Warkworth A&P Show on Saturday.

It was his fifth consecutive win at the show and his 39th in open finals dating back to 2019, when he scored his first open win in New Zealand after several years in Australia.

Played to the arena commentary provided by his father, Mike Henderson, it was also his ninth in 12 finals this season and his sixth consecutive Saturday triumph since the Otago Shears on February 8.

Less than 40km from his home base at Kaiwaka, Henderson kept the faith with the locals in preference to the bigger competition of the Waimarino Shears in the central North Island.

He shore the 15 sheep at Warkworth in 13m 59s, finishing 65 seconds quicker and ultimately more than 12 points clear of runner-up Dargaville shearer Neville Osborne.

Osborne won the Warkworth final four times in a row from 2013 to 2016, shearing at the show for over 30 years, including a senior final win in 1993.

Read more shearing and woolhandling stories here.

At the last of the six A&P Show shearing competitions north of Auckland this season, Michael Boyd, of Dargaville, won the senior final by less than a point from Alan Boler, of Wellsford.

Liam Smedley, of Whangaroa, stepped up from a series of second placings to beat Danielle Boyd in the intermediate final.

Mahurangi College head girl Tessa Berger won the Warkworth A&P Show's junior shearing final and the Neil Sidwell Memorial Trophy.

New Mahurangi College head girl Tessa Berger, of Ahuroa, won the junior event and the Neil Sidwell Memorial Trophy.

More than 50 shearers at Methven A&P Show

Good numbers were a feature of the Methven Lambshears, attracting 52 shearers across four grades to the Methven A&P Show on Saturday.

They included 16 in the open class, where Rangiora shearer Hugh De Lacy had his first Methven win, denying Pleasant Point shearer Ant Frew a fourth win in the event.

Scoring his third win in successive Saturdays, after victory at the Amuri A&P Show on March 1 and at Cheviot a week earlier, De Lacy won the race by less than two seconds and with the best points in the pens beat Frew by 1.58 points, with third place in the final of 10 lambs each going to Alex Smith of Rakaia.

Ōamaru shearer and New Zealand senior crossbred lambs champion John Cherrington claimed his seventh win of the season, a fortnight after finishing second in the Golden Shears senior final in Masterton, Caleb Brooking, of Mataura, broke through for his first intermediate final win of the season, and Tye Meikle, of Ōamaru, scored his 14th junior win of the season, a fortnight after just missing out on the big one when second at the Golden Shears.

Weekend shearing results

All the action from the Warkworth A&P Show Shears and the Methven A&P Show Lambshears.

Results from the Waimarino Shears at Raetihi on Saturday, March 15, can be found here.

Warkworth A&P Show Shears

Saturday

Open final (15 sheep): Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka) 13m 59s, 49.14pts, 1; Neville Osborne (Dargaville) 15m 4s, 61.49pts, 2; Phil Wedd (Silverdale) 17m 5s, 61.88pts, 3.

Senior final (7 sheep): Michael Boyd (Dargaville) 10m 47s, 37.06pts, 1; Alan Boler (Wellsford) 10m 3s, 37.72pts, 2; Kieran Gillespie (Mangawhai) 12m 11s, 47.98pts, 3.

Intermediate final (4 sheep): Liam Smedley (Whangaroa) 6m 55s, 32.5pts, 1; Danielle Boyd (Dargaville) 7m 28s, 33,9pts, 2; Shanelle Kemp (Maungaturoto) 8m 3s, 45.9pts, 3.

Junior final (2 sheep): Tessa Berger (Ahuroa) 5m 49s, 28.45pts, 1; Jordan Hilditch (-) 5m 11s, 52.55pts, 2.

Methven Lambshears

Methven A&P Show

Saturday

Open final (10 lambs): Hugh De Lacy (Rangiora) 10m 14.14s, 35.31pts, 1; Ant Frew (Pleasant Point) 10m 15.87s, 36.89pts, 2; Alex Smith (Rakaia) 10m 45.64s, 38.88pts, 3.

Senior final (5 lambs): John Cherrington (Ōamaru) 5m 43.87s, 25.394pts, 1; Zion Smith (Christchurch) 5m 27.93s, 26.397pts, 2; Nick Owen (Christchurch) 5m 28.46s, 26.423pts, 3.

Intermediate final (4 lambs): Caleb Brooking (Mataura) 6m 6.51s, 26.58pts, 1; Bastian Gonzalez (Punta Arenas, Chile) 7m 0.65s, 29.78pts, 2; Lachie Cameron (Pohangina) 7m 7.98s, 32.65pts, 3.

Junior final (3 lambs): Tye Meikle (Ōamaru) 4m 52.6s, 17.3pts, 1; Holly Crombie (Rangiora) 6m 25.78s, 26.29pts, 2; Tamati Dennison (Kurow) 5m 55.89s, 29.13pts, 3.