NEWMARKET, UK – Adrian Keatley warmed up for the Breeders' Cup in the best possible fashion when netting a cool 600,000 gns for the ultra-smart juvenile Tyrrhenian Thunder (Night Of Thunder) at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale on Wednesday.A €300,000 purchase at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale, Tyrrhenian Thunder represented a vindication for Keatley's change of modus operandi in becoming more of a trading stable when selling to Billy Jackson Stops and Will Bourne on behalf of Australian trainer Ciaron Maher. “We really put our necks on the line when we bought this horse at the breeze-ups,” Keatley said. “I think he is going to be a flagship horse for us, which is important, because we want to go down this trading route. It's the only way to survive.”Keatley's training career had gone from strength to strength since making the move from Ireland in 2019. The Classic-winning handler has sent 26 winners on the level in Britain this year and has Hell Of A Spin (Naval Crown) to look forward to in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.Speaking about the rebuilding process, which has seen him amass his best team of youngsters and a career-high tally, Keatley added, “Any game you are in, if you feel it's not working, you just break it down and look at it and rebuild. That's what we did. We are in a really good location now in the north of England – albeit, it's not a location that the fancy owners like to have horses. I'm not going to get the bigger horses off the fancier owners where I am, so this is what we want to do, and I think it's a better business model. We want to buy the younger horses at yearling and breeze-up sales, and when we produce them on the track, we want these horses to go on and achieve bigger and better things”He added, “I think Tyrrhenian Thunder will be a very cheap horse some day, for sure. He is a proper Group 1 horse. If he ended up being a Cox Plate horse, I wouldn't be one bit surprised. He is very smart.”Tyrrhenian Thunder's lightly-raced profile made huge appeal to the Australian market, according to Bourne, who is a regular attendee to this sale.He said, “He's very lightly-raced but ran a huge figure the other day. He's by Night Of Thunder so even though he's still doing a few things wrong as a two-year-old, we're hoping he can progress over a mile once he gets down to Australia. I guess you have to pay when there's low miles on the clock but he's still shown plenty of ability in his two starts, which is advantageous for his new owners. That price was pretty much bang on.”Maher's buying team also sourced the 100-rated Organ (Ulysses) for 375,000gns and talented stayer Winday (Galiway) for 325,000gns. Despite an 8% rise in turnover to 12,137,000gns, the Wednesday session didn't provide much stardust and continued the theme of a somewhat subdued market for tried horses which cannot be ignored. The median was down by 8% to 22,000 gns while the average was up by 1% to 44,786gns. The clearance rate was up by 3% to 92%. BBA Ireland Capitalise On “Soft Market” To Spend 1.5 Million Gns BBA Ireland agent Michael Donohoe said that the softening to the market this week played a massive part in him spending 1,542,000 gns on 14 horses to go to Saudi Arabia. That spend was headed by the 425,000gns Blue Courvoisier (Sea The Stars), last seen finishing a narrow second in a Listed contest at Chantilly over 1m1f. Donohoe said of his week's shopping, “All for the same client, to be campaigned in Saudi Arabia – all good-looking horses who, physically, have plenty of size and scope and appear as though they would act well on the surface out there. They train on the dirt track out there, which is very kind and forgiving, but they need to vet well and be robust types, which all of these are. They are sound, clean-winded horses and should all do very well out there. With regards to Blue Bourvoiser, he is trained by Clive Cox, who is an exceptional trainer but is also a good man to buy off as his horses go on.”Speaking about the market, he added, “I found the week soft. Definitely. That's just my opinion. In previous years, you would have had a lot more competition on some of the better horses, so possibly, we may have found value here this week. That's how it felt to us, anyway. It's not surprising with what is going on in the world, especially in the Middle East, and the Australian dollar is not as strong as it was before. It has been that way all year with the private trade as well – that market has definitely been a bit softer. So perhaps we have had a bit of a reality check this week. The yearling sales just gone, they were stronger than ever. People within the bloodstock industry, they seem to have a short-term memory and we are all believers, which is the beauty of the game. The pinhookers and the breeze-up handlers, they have to go back in every year, and they did that stronger than ever this year, but this is the reality..”Walker Can Sleep EasyEd Walker will sleep like a baby tonight given Alfred Wallace (Dubawi), the second-most expensive horse through the ring on Wednesday at 450,000 gns, is returning to his stable after Dermot Farrington secured the colt on behalf of Jim and Fitri Hay. Farrington said, “He has been bought for Fitri and Jim Hay. He is one of the best-bred horses in the catalogue, by a brilliant stallion and has shown top class form throughout the summer. He goes back to Ed Walker.” Buick And Stokes Strike Up New AllianceA new relationship was forged this week when bloodstock agent Martin Buick sourced the 170,000gns Glory Road (Too Darn Hot) for 170,000gns to continue his career in Australia. Buick said, “He will be trained by Phil Stokes, who is a very good trainer in Australia. He does exceptionally well with middle-distance horses, so the hope is that this horse could become a Cup horse. I met Phil on a trip when we were viewing stock in France during the summer and we have kept in touch ever since.”Buy of the day Could we have seen the next Pierre Royal (Kingman)? Quite possibly. Bay Of Stars (New Bay) boasts a very similar profile and looks well bought at 150,000gns to Blandford Bloodstock's Stuart Boman to go to Joseph O'Brien. At a more workingman's price, the Horsewatchers should have plenty of fun with Bad Boy Rizz at 16,000gns. Despite the fact he's had a wind operation, he could do plenty of damage in British sprints. There is a good programme for him in Britain and he could be one to keep the right side of.Thought for the dayIs there a chirpier bunch of people at the sales than the soldiers behind the Green Room catering company? Doubtful. Rarely are they spotted without smiles on their faces and they always find a way to raise spirits even on the longest of days. A great team. The post Thunder Down Under: Ciaron Maher Snaps Up Potential ‘Cox Plate Winner’ At 600k appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.