A NORTH Yorkshire farming partnership's first venture into a French livestock sale proved to be a good move.

Because today, Sagitaire - the young bull they bought - is one of the best Salers breed bulls in many years.

Terence and Malcolm Pye, and their wives, Jane and Gill, bid against leading French breeders to secure Sagitaire at the French Salers Bull Test Station Sale, in April 2002.

The centre takes the breed's best 70 bull calves each year - Sagitaire had the highest score for muscle development.

At the sale, each animal was led into the ring and described for ten minutes before sealed bids were invited.

It was with a great deal of excitement that the Pyes learnt they had outbid the famous French breeder Yves Fourtet by only 40 euros.

Terence Pye said: "He was much wanted and the whole experience was so different to anything we had previously been to. There was absolutely no help provided.

"We had to work out what was going on, judge the interest, decide what bid to put in - and cope with the foreign language."

But the effort was well worth while.

In the intervening five years, Sagitaire has produced 236 calves. His bulls and heifers have topped sale and show rings nationwide.

Rigel Petra was the top-priced heifer at the Salers Society Premier Sale in November and six Sagitaire heifers have won championships in the past year. They include Rigel Mithril, who was reserve breed champion at the Royal Highland and breed champion at the Great Yorkshire Show.

Mr Pye said: "He is certainly one of the most successful Salers bulls for many years."

Born in February 2001, he joined the Pye's Rigel herd at Middleton-on-Leven, near Yarm, in May 2002.

Two months later, he was the breed's junior, male and reserve supreme champion at the Great Yorkshire Show.

Although only 16 months old, he was then turned out with 38 cows and heifers.

Since then, he has served 46 cows each summer, producing an impressive 236 live calves - more than 97 per cent unassisted, including 12 out of 14 sets of twins.

Altogether, the Pyes calve 140 cows a year in three pedigree herds put to their three Salers bulls - Sagitaire, Amazonian, and Rigel Othello Poll.

A fourth herd has a mixture of pedigree Salers, pedigree Charolais and Salers crosses, put to their home-bred Charolais bull.

In addition to selling breeding bulls and females, the Pyes sell store bulls in Darlington and fatten Salers heifers for Yarm butcher David Rigg, who hangs the carcases for at least three weeks for maximum flavour and tenderness.