OLLY MURPHY GOES TO £60K FOR HOT PROSPECT LIRION
Mar 28, 2025
Friday 28th March 2025 – Olly Murphy went to £60,000 to secure the top lot from ThoroughBid’s March Sale, Lirion, a promising four-year-old sold by Tom Weston.
The exciting youngster only has one start Under Rules when a fine second to Dan Skelton’s highly touted Mydaddypaddy at Huntingdon, and will now join the Grade 1-winning trainer to go novice hurdling next season.
Speaking to ThoroughBid, Murphy said: “I thought Lirion’s performance on debut at Huntingdon was great, and it looked a strong race as I know the Skeltons think a lot of the winner (Mydaddypaddy). My stable jockey, Sean Bowen, rode him that day and really, really liked him, so he was keen for us to buy him.
“I went and saw him after his debut and loved him, so we’re delighted to have bought him. He’s now for sale, so we’ll look to find an owner in the yard for him in the coming days, and hopefully he’ll make into a lovely novice hurdler for next season.
“Everything about buying him through ThoroughBid was smooth and easy, so I look forward to buying more horses on the platform in the future.”
Lirion’s consignor, Tom Weston, also commented on the sale: “We were delighted to sell Lirion through ThoroughBid, and we're thrilled to see him join a top yard like Olly Murphy’s. The whole sale process with ThoroughBid was very straightforward and we'll hopefully have some more nice stock for their future auctions.”
Elsewhere in the sale, which achieved a 79.3% clearance rate, Angel Of My Dreams was a £15,000 purchase by Graeme McPherson. She is a filly who will be worth keeping an eye on, as she’s eligible for ThoroughBid’s popular £5,000 Point2Rules bonus, should she win first-time-out under Rules for her new connections.
Armstrong praises “unbelievable ease” of selling three with ThoroughBid
The sale also saw David Armstrong and Lee Westwood sell three lots, Shadows In The Sky, Leading Force and La Quarite for a combined £20,000, with Armstrong over the moon to see three nice horses find new homes to continue their careers after using racing’s online auction house.
Armstrong said: “This was my first time selling with ThoroughBid and I don’t think I will go back to a physical sale to sell a horse ever again! The ease of this is unbelievable and it’s far more economical. The costs and labour involved in going to a physical sale just don’t add up. It costs a fortune, and I would have been thousands of pounds worse off.
“I’ve been using ThoroughBid as a buyer for a little while, having bought Shadows In The Sky off there a few years ago. He won a couple of races for us and has more than paid for himself, and I was pleased to get a bit back for him today.
“We sold three in total with ThoroughBid today and I think we got very fair prices for each of them. I’ll keep a close eye on them, particularly La Quarite (bought by Michael Bowen for £7,000). I didn’t want to let him go too easily, as I think he’s still a bit ahead of the handicapper, but we got a good price and I’m sure he’ll do a good job for the Bowens.”
Reacting to the sale, CEO of ThoroughBid James Richardson said: “It’s fantastic to see such strong trade in our March Sale, headed by the sale of Lirion. He looks a top youngster to follow, and you know you’re selling a good one when Olly Murphy is walking away with him. We’ll follow his career closely for new connections and hopefully he’ll be a nice novice hurdler for next term.
“It was great to see Angel Of My Dreams change hands, and she looks a prime candidate to land our popular £5,000 Point2Rules bonus for her new connections. We’re always thrilled when vendors are so happy with using our platform, and none more so than with David Armstrong. He’s a great owner for the game and we’re happy to have facilitated his horses finding new homes to carry on racing. A 79.3% clearance rate for the sale is very strong in the current climate, and we look forward to our next sale on April 29th.”
ThoroughBid’s next sale will take place on Tuesday 29th April 2025.