Sydney property developer Theodore Onisforou’s country dream alive at Easter Show

He’s a prominent Sydney property developer, but for Theodore Onisforou one of the highlights of the year is showing his champion Angus cattle at the Easter Show.

As a child from inner-city Sydney, the Sydney Royal Easter Show gave Theodore Onisforou a tantalising glimpse of country life – and sparked a passion that has lasted a lifetime.

It was his father Gregorios who started the annual tradition, taking a young Theodore and his sister Kary along to the show, not for the rides or showbags, but to walk through the cattle pavilions and inspect the animals.

Sydney property developer Theodore Onisforou is the owner of K.O. Angus in the Southern Highlands, and has been showing his champion cattle at the Easter Show for 28 years. Picture: Supplied

The animals are carefully selected and prepped for the show for months ahead. Picture: Supplied

A goat herder from Cyprus, Gregorios had come to Australia with his wife Stavrini for a better life, yet he missed his animals, and the show took him back.

“I remember watching other children go into the pavilions and they had one of two reactions – either they’d screw up their noses or they’d love it,” Theodore says. “I was one of the kids who thought it was a beautiful smell.

“I‘d see the country kids sleeping above the cattle at the show and I thought how wonderful it would be to be so close to the animals.

“From around 10 years old I knew I wanted to breed animals and compete.”

It would take some time before Theodore realised that dream; first he completed a law and commerce degree and then spent a decade working as a lawyer and then worked in investment.

Theodore Onisforou has realised his long-held dream at this year’s show, winning the Hordern Trophy for Grand Champion Female. Picture: Supplied

In the early ’90s the Sydney property developer established K.O. Angus Stud at Kangaloon and has recently added a property in Gundagai.

K.O. Angus is renowned for its prize-winning animals – even making history in 2012 when K.O. Grandfather sold for $110,000, at the time the Australian record price for an Angus bull.

And for 28 years Theodore’s been back at the show, exhibiting his champion Angus cattle – and the trophies keep stacking up.

One of his highlights was winning the Supreme Angus Exhibit at the 2013 show. His animals have also won Interbreed Champion at the Melbourne Easter Show for the past five years.

However this year’s Sydney Easter Show has allowed him to realise another long-held dream - K.O. Angus not only won the Supreme Angus Exhibit but took out the top honour, the Hordern Trophy, for Grand Champion Female.

“My dream has been to win the Hordern in Sydney,” he says.

It’s not all about winning prizes though. Like his father before him, Theodore has enjoyed sharing his passion with his children, 21-year-old twins Stephanie and Angus.

“I’m still a city slicker,” Theodore says. “I have wonderful staff running my cattle farms. And my kids have also been heavily involved from a young age – they’ve both won junior competitions for parading and judging.

“Yet more than that, I think the week at the show each year just keeps them grounded and earthy.”

This year he took his best in show – 10 females and four calves – to the event. The animals are carefully selected and prepped for months in advance for their time in the spotlight.

So what makes an award-winning cow or bull? It’s all in the shape, says Theodore.

“It’s about size, and having good muscle in the right positions for a bull, while judges look for a wedge-shaped female - narrow in the shoulders, a good strong top line, and all the muscle at the rear end,” he says.

“At the end of the day, it’s not one size fits all, you pick animals to show that you think the judges will like.”