Maher to the fore at Tatts with Tyrrhenian Thunder purchase

Ciaron Maher has added two more European recruits to his Australian team at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale in the United Kingdom.

Leading trainer Maher topped day three at Newmarket with the purchase of Tyrrhenian Thunder for 600,000 guineas (about A$1.19 million) and later went to 375,000 guineas (about A$743,000) for Organ, a four-year-old stayer bought in partnership with Melbourne Cup-winning syndicator Australian Bloodstock.

Tyrrhenian Thunder, a two-year-old colt by Night Of Thunder, was signed for by Ciaron Maher Bloodstock and JS Bloodstock from Harriet Jones’ Consign Ltd.

Trained by Adrian Keatley, he won his debut over seven furlongs at Ayr in September and then ran second in the Listed Silver Tankard Stakes over a mile at Pontefract on October 19. When he was added to the sale as a wildcard two days later, Timeform had him on 98p.

“He’s very lightly raced but ran a huge figure the other day. It’s not everything, but it’s definitely a big part of it. He’s by Night Of Thunder, so we’re hoping he can progress over a mile once he gets down to Australia,” Ciaron Maher Racing’s bloodstock manager Will Bourne said.

Bourne said Maher had followed the bidding by phone and liked the colt’s form, adding of the price: “I guess you have to pay when there’s low miles on the clock.”

The colt has now been traded three times. He was sold by Newsells Park Stud to Joey Logan for 165,000 guineas (about A$327,000 at current rates) at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, then bought as a trading project by Keatley and Dan Hussey for €300,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze Up Sale. Keatley said he had “every reason to believe he’s a proper Group 1 horse”.

Organ, a son of Ulysses, was sold by his trainer Owen Burrows and bought by Maher’s team as a last-start winner.

“He’s a staying horse but has a sharp turn of foot, which was flagged by our speed data,” Bourne said.

“He goes on firm ground, so he has the perfect profile. He’s just a nice, progressive horse who can step up in distance. He’s going to ship straight to Australia and has been bought for the same owners as Mr Monaco.”

Mr Monaco was bought by Astute Bloodstock/Ciaron Maher at the same sale in 2024 for 410,000 guineas (about A$813,000 at current rates). He has since won four of 11 Australian starts, including the Group 3 Bart Cummings on October 3. That win secured his Melbourne Cup ballot exemption and a 1.5kg penalty, which lifts him to 52.5kg for the $10.2 million race over 3200 metres on November 3.

Ballarat-based trainer Henry Dwyer bought Godolphin-consigned Valedictory, lot 1145, for 100,000 guineas (about A$198,000) and the lightly raced Empirical, a winner of three of his eight starts, for 150,000 guineas (about A$284,000) winner of four races from 11 starts and rated 100, he most recently won over 2800 metres at Doncaster in September.

Dwyer said Valedictory had form around several horses contesting the Melbourne Cup and would be syndicated among his owners, with a break before travelling to Australia in December and a southern hemisphere autumn campaign in mind.

Australian connections bought three of the top five lots on day three, which recorded a 92 per cent clearance rate and turnover up eight per cent on the corresponding session last year.

Group 1-winning Pakenham-based trainer Phillip Stokes made his first Tattersalls purchase in conjunction with De Burgh Equine, paying 170,000 guineas (about A$337,000) for Glory Road.

The Too Darn Hot three-year-old colt, trained by Ralph Beckett and sold by Imperium Sales for Valmont, has won twice over 2400 metres and 2800 metres and holds a British Horseracing Authority rating of 93.

On the opening day, Astute Bloodstock’s Louis Le Metayer bought Cambridgeshire winner Pierre Royal for 375,000 guineas (about A$743,000) for Maher. On day two, Ciaron Maher Racing and JS Bloodstock secured Mr Vettori for 130,000 guineas (about A$258,000).

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, buying with McKeever Bloodstock, paid 180,000 guineas (about A$357,000) on day two for Andab, a Saxon Warrior gelding trained by Joseph O’Brien and sold by The Castlebridge Consignment. A Listed winner and Group 3 placegetter as a two-year-old, he is a brother to Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road.

Waterhouse’s bloodstock manager Claudia Fitzgerald said Andab’s juvenile time figures were central to his selection and that, while he profiled as a miler, the team believed he could stretch to 2000 metres.

“There are plenty of really good races and options for him – obviously at Epsom and Doncaster and, if he will get the 2000m, there’s even more for us to think about. It was just all about the speed figures for us with this horse,” Fitzgerald said.