Talk The Talk on his way to victory

Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale record broken by half-brother to Talk The Talk

Horse Racing

Thu June 25, 2026 · 2M ago

For the second time in as many days, the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale has been broken.

Day one of the sale saw Joe Tizzard beat Gordon Elliott to €370,000 top lot for a No Risk At All half-brother to Brighterdaysahead, Mighty Potter and Caldwell Potter.

That record barely lasted 24 hours as Mags O'Toole and Rob Acheson, son of Brian Acheson whose horses run under the Robcour brand, went to €400,000 for a half-brother to Talk The Talk.

Among the early bidders was Tom Malone and it wasn't long until JP McManus and Frank Berry joined the fray but the latter pair had to settle for being underbidders on the exciting prospect.

When asked if they had expected to go so high, O'Toole told www.tattersalls.ie: "Absolutely not! We’ve bought three. The standard is fabulous and the market is hot. They’ve produced some beautiful horses here."

O’Toole explained that the half-brother to Talk The Talk took their eye from an early stage, saying: "We looked at nearly every horse on the ground and Rob [Acheson], who’s a very good judge, said from day one, ‘I don’t know what we’re buying here, but I know what we’re not going home without!’

"I know it sounds an awful lot of money but four years ago Brighterdaysahead was €310,000 and others have made €350,000 and that’s the market. We’re huge fans of Talk The Talk and this horse has everything; looks, movement, pedigree."

Robert Acheson added: “As Mags said, we saw pretty much everything here and he was just a standout. We’ve actually tried to get into the family before with horses under the second dam but it hasn’t come to fruition. When an opportunity comes along to get into a family you’ve been desperate to get into, you have to give it a go.

"He’s going to go to Paddy Kennedy to be broken and we’ll make a decision about a trainer after his break. The half-brother ran in a Grade 1 at four and he seems like a forward horse, so we’ll get ready to kick on with him."

It was a big day for consignor John Bleahen who said: "It was a very lucky find. He came from breeder Lume Vergette, an English lady who lives in the south of France and we have been very lucky from the farm before, she is a lovely woman and a friend.

"A lot of the credit goes to my brother Hugh, I own him with him and he spotted the horse first. We went down on a second trip to see another one, he'd spotted this horse and we looked at him together and we bought him in about ten seconds; he was an easy buy as you just don't come across them.

"Then for the double green Talk The Talk to have come and do what it did...

"The dream is to get €80,000 to €100,000, and you can never value those horses. It is massive to see JP here himself, the whole racing industry owes him so much, Tom Malone, he is plucky and keeps coming back for more, Mags O'Toole, Robcour.... fabulous people.

"It is stage by stage, to rear as best you can, bring them up and vet them, get them shown properly, I have the best guy in the world working for me, Wesley Hayes. He drives 45 minutes everyday to me, and I can go to France and sleep in cars looking for stock knowing he is taking care of the whole thing – he is my eyes and is a friend.

"Luke [son] came home – I gave out to my wife that we are giving them all this education and I will have no one at home! But Luke is at home, he has a better temperament than I have, thank god he takes after his mother. He is great guy to work with.

"It is all credit to the team, they live and die by the horses, they are the ones coming back at 11pm to give electrolytes and water and hay them."

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.

Like what you've read?