A Riverina rodeo man and his 30 ponies have beaten a $2 million Ferris wheel to a top prize at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
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John Gill, his family-run business and its ponies have taken out gold in the competitive commercial exhibit award.
"It's a hard award to win. There are showmen competing against each other with all these big flash rides and I come down from the bush, out of The Rock, and take away first prize," Mr Gill said.
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"Some people say 'how can that be?'. But the Sydney show has surveys, they don't just have a couple of judges."
The Gill family and their prize-winning ponies haven't returned home to The Rock without a ribbon since the award was introduced more than 15 years ago.
Among the stars is Mr Spots, "the most famous pony in Australia", who at 32 years old is enjoying his retirement from riding but still goes on the show circuit every year for pats.
The Gills have been taking their ponies to the Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne shows for decades, where part of their attraction has always been "real Australiana stuff ... back of Bourke and g'day mate and all of that".
They've been attending for so long that adults who rode the same ponies years earlier are now returning with their own children.
"Pony rides are becoming rare for these kids ... and they love it. You can see as soon as the kids get on, their grins go right up and nearly touch their ears," Mr Gill said.
Mr Gill thanked the Charles Sturt University vets for their help looking after their ponies.