Classy Group 3 winner Aemilianus headed a low-key fourth session of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale on Thursday when sold for 250,000gns to leading Qatar trainer Gassim Ghazali.

By far the most accomplished horse on offer yesterday, the son of Holy Roman Emperor has been saddled by Markus Klug to win three races including last year’s Group 3 Grosser Preis der Landeshauptstadt Dusseldorf in the colours of his owner-breeder Gestut Schlenderhan.

He was last seen running third behind Brave Emperor in this year’s renewal of the Group 3 event at Dusseldorf.

“We waited three days for this horse,” said Ghazali. “It was difficult to buy yesterday so we waited for this horse, we tried hard to buy him and very pleased that we were able to do so. I hope he will do well in Qatar – the pedigree suggests he will.”

Ghazali has reason to look fondly upon the progeny of Coolmore’s Holy Roman Emperor since his 100-strong stable includes his talented son Emperor Maximus, who the trainer sent out to win last year’s Qatar Derby at Doha.

“Holy Roman Emperor was the sire of the last Derby winner for me,” he said. “They seem to like the track and ground in Qatar and I hope this horse will be the same as well. 

“This horse has been running in Germany so it’s not easy to know what level he will start at. But Dubday originally came from Germany and he turned into a very good horse in Qatar for me, and then won the Supreme Stakes at Goodwood. I hope this horse can be the same.”

Ghazali also went to 75,000gns for Heater. Sold by Valmont through Alex Elliott’s Imperium Sales, the two-year-old stepped up on his debut run when third in a 7f maiden at Wolverhampton for Michael Bell earlier this month. 

Those working with an eye on the increasingly important Saudi Arabian programme were also active on Thursday, notably Najd Stud who went to 100,000gns for recent Kempton scorer Tchaikovsky. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Lady Ogden’s homebred finished in mid-division on his debut at York in July before scoring next time out.

“His starts so far have been good,” said Najd Stud representative Saad bin Mishref. “We are looking for differing types of horses all the time as we have a variety of races now in Saudi Arabia. Hopefully he will do well for us.”

Gassim Ghazali: struck for high-class Aemilianus on Thursday. Photo: Tattersalls