Purchased by a syndicate of NSW studs, the ram was sired by Langdene 074073, with fleece measurements of a 2.9 standard deviation, co-efficient of variation of 17.0, comfort factor of 99.6 per cent and curvature of 57.

Walwa stud, Gurrundah, were the majority buyers in the syndicate, with Demondrille, Harden; Conrayn, Berridale; Hillcresten Park, Bigga, and

Merrignee Merino stud, Boorowa, all getting semen rights.

Top-price buyer and Walwa principal Alan McCormack said he had never seen a better ram than the $25,000 Grathlyn lot.

"He's almost perfect; he has tremendous wool quality, tremendous staple length and a great sirey outlook. I've seen ewes as good as him, but I've

never seen a ram that is better."

The ram was taken home by vendors the Rayner family to be shedded and shown by Grathlyn at the Dubbo Merino National in August, before heading to his new home at Walwa.

Mr McCormack said less than an hour after casting their winning bid Walwa had sold 400 straws of semen.

Overall, the sale average of $3462 was up on last year's by $55, while 75 per cent of the 122 rams offered found buyers - equal to last year's clearance rate.

Three of the superfine rams sold for $10,000 or over, while a few high-performing medium-strong wool rams also made five digits and 150 of the 152 registered bidders finding something they liked.

Merryville stud, Boorowa, also continued their string of high-priced sales at Bendigo, making $10,000 for a 16.7M ram that also went to Tasmania.

Landmark auctioneer Andrew Sloane, Geelong, Vic, said the sale was reasonably firm given the ambling wool market, with bigger-bodied Merinos sought after this year to accommodate the optimism around lamb prices.