EVEN 11 millimetres of rain didn’t dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm for the grand finale of the Casterton P&A Society Show on Saturday, with hundreds out to witness the $13,000 Casterton Speed Shear.

With a $3000 cash prize up for grabs for the day’s gun shearer, the Open section was hotly contested and in the 10-man final, Caleb Morgan and Hemi Power set a cracking pace, both under 24 seconds and just 0.57 seconds separating the two.

Hemi looked to have the cash firmly in his pocket as the next three runs saw two DQs and times over 25 seconds - until Tiare Tipu stepped onto the board.

Barely giving the judges time to start the stopwatches, Tiare knocked the wool off in a flat 21 seconds to claim the hefty purse and epic bragging rights.

Returning to its pre-Covid format at the weekend and despite concerns about the weather, residents and visitors took advantage of what was mostly a fine Spring day - before the rain set in - and a big program of family entertainment and competitions.

More than 20 dogs from across the district went head-to-head with the mob in the Casterton Yard Dog Challenge and riders from across south-east South Australia and Victoria loaded up the horse floats to take on the Stockman’s Challenge and showjumping courses - the latter over two days.

While poultry, sheep and indoor sections saw fewer entries for the show’s first year back, largely attributed to the uncertainty of the event’s progress due to the weather, there were several classes that were hotly contested including - much to the judges’ delight - the men’s cooking and flower sections.