Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
In arguably one of the most competitive racing jurisdictions in the world, Sara Ryan continues to make her mark as an emerging trainer with serious talent.
Sara Ryan maintains the second-best winning strike rate (24 per cent) of the top 20 metropolitan trainers for the current season.
Ryan strikes at an impressive 21 per cent winners to runners when competing in races of BM88 and better.
Last month, Ryan landed the biggest win of her training career when claiming the $3 million The Big Dance with Attractable (I Am Invincible).
Having trained 11 winners already this season, Ryan is on track to enjoy her most successful season to date with over seven months remaining in the season.
With 11 winners to her name this season at a strike rate of 23 per cent, Ryan has established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the New South Wales training ranks. Just over a year ago, Ryan was appointed the Hong Kong-based Domeland’s head trainer. Starting out as the racing manager before progressing to the head of pre-training, Ryan’s association with Domeland has gone from strength to strength in a short period of time.
| 2023/24 | 11 | 48 | 23% | $2,105,475 |
| 2022/23 | 16 | 119 | 13% | $1,045,725 |
| 2021/22 | 11 | 53 | 21% | $607,335 |
Table: Sara Ryan's results by season
Just a quarter of the way into the current season, Ryan is only four winners away from equaling last season’s career best effort of 16 winners. While her stable has naturally increased in size since being appointed Domeland’s private trainer, Ryan has enjoyed a 50 per cent increase in winners while only increasing her total runners by roughly 27 per cent. A career-best performance from Attractable in the $3 million The Big Dance last month not only handed Ryan the biggest win of her training career, it took her earnings to double that of last season with over half of the racing year still to come.
From only 48 starters this season, Ryan has trained 11 winners at a winning strike rate of 23 per cent which has her currently placed within the top 40 NSW trainers of the season. In a testament to her training ability, the Wyong-based horsewoman maintains the fifth-highest winning strike rate of any of the current season’s top 40 NSW trainers.
| Matthew Dunn | 25 | 36% | $2,213,950 |
| Sara Ryan | 17 | 24% | $1,826,675 |
| Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | 197 | 19% | $8,470,400 |
| James Cummings | 120 | 18% | $10,294,100 |
| Edward Cummings | 23 | 17% | $1,023,550 |
| Joseph Pride | 108 | 16% | $14,105,075 |
| Bjorn Baker | 91 | 15% | $2,525,275 |
| Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | 142 | 15% | $7,639,250 |
| Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | 68 | 15% | $1,284,550 |
| Brad Widdup | 51 | 14% | $780,325 |
Table: NSW leading metropolitan trainers by winning strike rate
With four metropolitan winners to her name, Ryan continues to assert herself as an up-and-coming influence within the Sydney training ranks. Striking at an impressive 24 per cent winners to runners when starting her horses in Sydney, this has Ryan amongst one of the better performing stables in regards to metropolitan performers. Currently sitting in 17th in the NSW metropolitan trainers' premiership by winners, Ryan is second only to Matthew Dunn (33 per cent) when considered by winning strike rate. Her four metropolitan winners were achieved by as many horses with Much Much Better (Stratum), Attractable, Money From The Sky (Frankel {GB}) and Chief Conductor (I Am Invincible) all landing Sydney wins. While her victory in the $3 million The Big Dance is undoubtedly the biggest win of her career, just 10 days later she went awfully close to training a metropolitan hat-trick at the season opener of the Canterbury night series.
| Newcastle | 10 | 1 | 10% |
| Wyong | 7 | 2 | 29% |
| Hawkesbury | 6 | 1 | 17% |
| Canterbury | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| Randwick | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| Gosford | 3 | 1 | 33% |
| Kembla Grange | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Coffs Harbour | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Table: Sara Ryan's current season winners by location
Ryan isn’t afraid to travel her horses for the right race with the astute horsewoman notching up wins at Kembla Grange to Coffs Harbour. Her 11 winners for the season have occurred at eight different locations with two at her home track of Wyong as well as dual success at Canterbury and Randwick. Her only runner at Coffs Harbour was a winner with stable star Attractable taking out the $150,000 Coffs Harbour Cup which handed her the biggest win of her career at the time.
| Maiden | 15 | 1 | 7% |
| Class 1 | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| BM64 - BM68 | 10 | 3 | 30% |
| BM72 - BM78 | 7 | 2 | 29% |
| BM88 + | 14 | 3 | 21% |
Table: Sara Ryan's last 50 starters per race class
Of Ryan’s most recent 50 starters, outside of maiden company she managed to maintain an impressive winning strike rate of 29 per cent. Two of her four runners in Class 1 company won while three of her 14 starters inBM88 races and better were victorious. Of the 11 winners this season, seven are unique with Attractable, Vegas Outlaw (Casino Prince) and Frank Express (Frankel {GB}) each notching up two wins apiece. Thanks to the $1.56 million collected by Attractable in The Big Dance, Ryan’s average prizemoney per starter is a healthy $43,864 which comes up significantly stronger than many of her peers.
December marks an exciting time for the emerging trainer with Attractable shooting for stakes glory in the G2 The Ingham S. on Saturday while a handful of promising 3-year-olds are set to make their debuts in the coming week. With just over a full season of training under her belt, the future looks bright for Sara Ryan and her team.
