Gerald Ryan has been active at the opening days of the Magic Millions sale at the Gold Coast but his attention is turning to Sydney where he has three runners at Randwick.
At what has been a buoyant sale, Ryan bought a Snitzel colt out of two-time winner Asinara for $200,000 and secured another Snitzel youngster out of El Laoob, for the same price.
He has also been confirmed as the trainer for a $1.1 million Redoute’s Choice colt for Chinese businessman An Zhiqiang who races two-year-old Return With Honour with Ryan.
“There are plenty of nice racehorses here and from where they’ve come from and what they’ve gone through (drought), it’s quite a good sale,” Ryan said.
Corumbene Stud home-bred Omar opens Ryan’s account on Saturday and is regarded as one of several chances in an intriguing race.
The four-year-old underwent throat surgery after finishing unplaced at Randwick in April then suffered another setback that delayed his return.
“Just after he had the tie-back surgery he got colic and they had to operate,” Ryan said.
“But he looks well now and he’s going really well.”
Omar has mixed his form but Ryan puts the inconsistency down to the horse’s breathing problems, which he is confident the surgery has rectified.
“His record is three firsts and three lasts, or near enough to it. I think a lot of that had to do with his breathing issues,” he said.
“It’s a pretty tough little race. There’s only eight runners but you can make a case for six of them.”
Stablemate Albumin lines up in the Bisley Workwear Handicap (1200m) off the back of two competitive performances in Listed grade.
He has continued to please the stable and with more genuine speed engaged, Ryan rates Albumin his strongest winning chance.
Elusive Nature rounds out the team in the Schweppes Handicap (1500m) and could prove the surprise packet.
The mare posted a win and two seconds in her first three starts for Ryan before finishing seventh in the Belle Of The Turf Stakes at Gosford.
The feedback from jockey James Innes jr was that the mare struggled on the tight circuit and Ryan was optimistic she would bounce back on the bigger Randwick track.
