Tornado strikes in Maribyrnong Plate

Tornado Valley atoned for his debut placing at Caulfield last month when he won the G3 Darley Maribyrnong Plate on Tuesday, 4 November over the straight 1,000m course at Flemington.

Trained by Ciaron Maher at Cranbourne and well ridden by Ethan Brown, Tornado Valley took early cover behind the leaders before Brown pulled the colt across heels at the 300m pole.

Tornado Valley sprinted quickly to grab the lead before beating the fast-finishing Pinatubo colt Tale Of Time by a long neck, with Luna Vega 1.5 lengths away in third place.

The winner clocked 58.79 seconds on a track rated Soft 6 and is now a possible Magic Millions 2YO Classic contender at the Gold Coast in January.

Bred and offered by Rosemont Stud, Gnarwarre at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Tornado Valley was purchased by Bennett Racing P/L for $300,000.

Out of the Australian mare Oklahoma Girl, Tornado Valley has a yearling half-brother by Pinatubo and became the 29th individual Stakes winner for Too Darn Hot.

He was also the third Black-Type winner for the young Darley shuttle stallion over the past month, joining Shiki (out of Jest Excel) and Fallen Angel (Agnes Stewart).

Shiki won the G3 Gimcrack Stakes over 1,000m at Royal Randwick on 4 October, just a few hours before Fallen Angel captured the G1 Sun Chariot Stakes 1,609m at Newmarket in England.

Too Darn Hot, who won six races – including three G1s – and ran three placings from only nine starts, has already sired 238 winners of 420 races worldwide.

The stallion spearheads the roster at Kelvinside in the NSW Hunter Valley for a service fee of $275,000, GST inclusive.