Mike Ryan

TIMONIUM, MD - The first of two sessions of the under-tack preview of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale got underway under brilliantly sunny skies and a brand new format Tuesday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. Some 250 horses previewed over the track, and, while they were cascaded by the beeps of stopwatches from onlookers in the grandstand, Fasig-Tipton provided no times for the works. With forecasted wet weather later in the week, the under-tack show was condensed to two days, leading to close to nine...

Juan Aguilar and Sarah Sutherland have launched Heartwood Farm, a Thoroughbred boarding and sales consignment operation in Paris, KY. Heartwood Farm will operate at the Bourbon County property long known as Indian Creek, which is owned by Shack Parrish and his family. Heartwood Farm succeeds the longstanding Indian Creek operation, where Aguilar and Sutherland were central members of the management team for many years. Aguilar and Sutherland both grew up immersed in the Kentucky Thoroughbred industry. Aguilar developed his feel for horses while working with leading operations including Niall Brennan,...

A colt by Hill 'n' Dale's Curlin out of SW & GISP Cherry Lodge (Bernardini) sold for $1.4 million to Mike Ryan Wednesday during the third session of the Keeneland September yearling sale. Consigned by Gainesway and sold as hip 652, the chestnut was bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds LTD. The March colt's dam is a full-sister to GSW Gala Award and a half-sibling to GISW Stormello (Stormy Atlantic) and to additional GSW My Best Brother (Stormy Atlantic), as well as to the dam of Canadian champion Curlin's Voyage...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- You knew this wouldn't last much longer. Chad Brown's Saratoga barn has too much young talent inside of it. Eventually, the trainer was going to find his way to the winner's circle with one of his juvenile runners. That day was Saturday when Brown's Capital Partner (GB) (Kingman {GB}) unleashed a furious closing kick to win the second race at the Spa, a $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-yeasr-olds. With jockey Flavien Prat doing the steering, Capital Partner flew down the stretch in the 1 1/16-mile...

Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan has picked out dozens of Grade I winners over the years. He has also bred Grade I winners, most notably Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) and his half-sister Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union), and he's even raced a few, including 2008 GI Spinaway Stakes victress Mani Bhavan (Storm Boot) and 2019 GI United Nations Stakes winner (Tiz Wonderful) But this year's GI Gamely Stakes marked a particularly special victory for Ryan when 'TDN Rising Star' Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), a horse that he...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Lope De Vega's Growth Trajectory at Monmouth Park.   Chad Brown. Check. Klaravich Stables' silks. Check. Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling grad. Also check. That particular combo combined in Lope De Vega's 3-year-old filly Growth Trajectory, who blitzed a field of Monmouth maidens by 3 1/2 lengths on May 25 (video). Bred by The Wekeela Partnership in Britain, she was an 180,000gns purchase...

Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan has not ruled out offering his recent Grade II winner Be Your Best (Ire) at a European sales house but explained that priority number one was to bag a victory at the highest level with his homebred daughter of Muhaarar (GB). Ryan is perhaps best known for sourcing many champions on behalf of owners Klaravich Stables and trainer Chad Brown but described seeing Be Your Best, who he bred under his own St Croix Bloodstock, landing the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale smashed its previous records for gross and average and produced its lowest buy-back rate in 11 years when it concluded its four-day run in Lexington Thursday. " All in all, I am somewhere between thrilled and ecstatic with the results of these four days," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. said at the close of business Thursday evening. "The consignors continue to bring us higher quality horses each and every year and it is reflected in these results and these statistics." Through four...

There are horses who are special to us because of their quality, and there are horses who are special for what their names evoke in our memory. And then there are those who are special for both reasons. When Chad Brown left his position as an assistant to Bobby Frankel in 2007, the first person he hired was Mary McKulick, a bookkeeper with whom he credits for helping him build his company. She passed away in October, 2020 after losing a battle with cancer, and so when Brown was given...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, Ky - With a pair of seven-figure colts by Nyquist leading the way, trade remained strong straight through the conclusion of Book 2 during the fourth session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Thursday in Lexington. "It was a great day," said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy at the close of business Thursday evening. "We are very pleased. The median is up 25% for the session over last year, which is a metric that we always use. That shows that it...

by Jessica Martini and Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY -- The momentum which began with a competitive Book 1 section rolled into Book 2 with a trio of yearlings bringing seven figures and continued increases over last year during the third session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in Lexington Wednesday. "We saw the same kind of momentum and trends just rolling over," said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "There was a great positivity around the grounds. Consignors were invariably very pleased. And buyers found it tough and a...

At this point in the season, a freshman sire can hardly do better than to win Saratoga's--and the nation's--first graded stakes of the year for 2-year-olds. When that young stallion also leads the nation's first-crop sires in winners with 12 (75% of starters), he's signaling he might be something special. With that kind of start, it's no surprise Airdrie Stud's Complexity, a son of Maclean's Music, is firmly on top of the freshman stallion list at this early juncture. He's also currently leading all sires, regardless of number of crops,...