Maher on the board as the Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale gets underway
Ciaron Maher has become a familiar name on the buyers’ sheet at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale in recent years and it didn’t take the trainer long to enter the market at this year’s edition, teaming up with Billy Jackson Stops to secure Jareth (Make Believe), a one-time winning juvenile, for 140,000gns (approx. AU$289,000).
Consigned by Baroda Stud, the gelding ran twice for Irish-based trainer John S O’Donoghue, finishing fourth on debut at Sligo, before returning 64 days later to score an impressive six-and-a-half length win in a maiden over a mile at Thurles. He went under the hammer with a HRI rating of 95.
With horses in his stable such as Future History (Showcasing), who added a second Australian stakes win to his record in last weekend’s JRA Cup (Gr 3, 2040m), and recent Herbert Power Stakes (Gr 2, 2400m) winner Herman Hesse (Frankel), all sourced at this sale, it is no surprise to see Maher returning to the lucrative well once again.
Will Bourne, head of bloodstock for Maher, was at Tattersalls and said Jareth was a different prospect to their usual purchase at the sale.
“This horse is a little bit different, he is a lot more lightly raced, being a two-year-old and he will probably get to the races a little bit quicker than the other horses out of full season as three-year-olds,” said Bourne.
“I thought his first up was good and the way he progressed to his second start was even better. When I inspected him, there was nothing special about him, he wasn’t a flashy type of horse, but I loved his turn of foot when he won in Ireland.
“We’ve had a lot of horses who haven’t been impressive to look at who have won a lot of races in Australia and even Duke De Sessa [Caulfield Cup winner], you wouldn’t say he’s a big robust horse, but it’s what they do on the track that counts. Ciaron saw the replay and loved the way he accelerated away in the last 200. He wanted to buy him and we did!
“I love his progression, he is a young horse, I loved his improvement from his first start to his second – he has shown that he has talent and you never know where they end up. The high handicap mark he was given on that last start was not that advantageous for us, but I guess it was justified.”
The gelding was bred by Herbertstown House Stud and owned in training by Dr Marcella Burns. He is out of the winning mare Diylawa (Mastercraftsman), herself a half-sister to Diamil (Awtaad), a dual Group 3 winner in Australia. It is the family of the Dibayani (Shamardal), who was placed at Group 1 level in Australia on two occasions, including when runner-up to Winx (Street Cry) in the 2016 Chipping Norton Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
A little later on in the afternoon, Warwick Farm-based trainer Matthew Smith made a foray into the market when he paid Coolmore 120,000gns (approx. AU$248,000) for Autumn Winter, a colt by the operation’s late breed-shaper, Galileo (Sadler’s Wells).
Bred and co-raced by Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm, the colt has had six starts for Aidan O’Brien, winning one over 1m 4½f at Thurles on October 10 and has also been placed on a further two occasions. He was offered with an official BHA rating of 92.
Out of the US Grade 2 winner Quidura (Dubawi), Autumn Winter is a half-brother to Listed winner Jeff Koons (Frankel) and hails from the same family as Italian Group 1 scorer Querari (Oasis Dream).