KEY POINTS:
Hawkes Bay shearer John Kirkpatrick reached another milestone on Saturday when he claimed his 100th open class title by winning the Otago championship for the fourth time in five years.
In the final in Balclutha, the 38-year-old Napier father of three had champions and past masters to beat.
The 2006 winner and fellow Napier shearer Dion King was second, and Te Kuiti icon David Fagan, now 47, was third in his bid to win the title for an 18th time since he won at Balclutha in 1983, the first open-class victory in a career tally of 589.
Kirkpatrick will return next week in a bid to repeat last year's double of wins in the Southern Shears Open and South Island Shearer of the Year finals in Gore.
