2009 Race Highlights
- 10
- 71
- 16
- 23%
- £207K
- Horses
- Turf races
- Turf wins
- Strike rate
- Total prize
2009 provided the John Ryan Racing team with the most successful season to date. Stable stars Ocean’s Minstrel, Silver Grecian and the progressing 3 year old Iver Bridge Lad were selected by John in the Sales ring and all triumphed at Group and Listed level.
Ocean’s Minstrel was purchased by John at Tattersalls Newmarket Craven Breeze Up sales in 2008 and went on to land listed wins in the International Trial Listed Stakes at Lingfield Racecourse and the Epsom Racecourse Listed Surrey Stakes. He ran in the 2009 Newmarket Stan James 2000 Guineas, finishing 10th behind See the Stars. His total career prize money at the end of 2009 was £51,091. He starts the 2010 turf season with an official rating of 102.
Another stable star, Iver Bridge Lad, bought by John for only £800 at the Tattersalls October 2008 Yearling sales. Broken in by John, he went on to win at both listed and group level stamping the form of his sire Avonbridge.
Iver Bridge Lad won the Listed Dragon Stakes at Sandown Racecourse, was 2nd in the Group 3 Sirena Stakes at Kempton Racecourse, was 3rd in the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at Ascot Racecourse and 4th in the Horris Hill stakes at Newbury Racecourse. Iver’s prize money now totals £41,144 and he is rated officially at 108.
Iver Bridge lad is entered in the Stan James.com 2000 Gunieas Stakes (Group 1) on the 1st May 2010 at 3.10pm.
Silver Grecian (sired by Haafhd, the 2000 Guineas winner in 2005) was bought by John at Tattersalls Newmarket Craven Breeze Up sales in 2009 for only £16,800 and gave John his first Group 2 success.
Silver Grecian, always ridden by jockey Michael Hills, hit the track for the first time on the July Course at Newmarket, winning the Intercasino 2 year old Maiden Stakes. 13 days later he went to Warwick Racecourse to win the BlueSquare Casino Novice Auction stakes (for those watching Racing UK TV channel this coincided with Iver Bridge Lad’s win only 10 minutes earlier at Sandown). Silver Grecian then won the Meydan Superlative stakes again at Newmarket’s July Racecourse. He was a creditable 3rd in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster Racecourse, carrying a 3lb penalty and only beaten 3/4L and a head by Godolphin’s Poet’s Voice, ridden by Frankie Dettori. He then finished the season completing the Jumeirah Dewhurt Group 1 Stakes in 7th place. Silver Grecian won a total of £64,605 and was sold to Hong Kong at the end of the 2009 season.