Mike Ryan

From a stellar class, which freshman sire will emerge on top? And what sire currently flying under the radar will be the year's biggest surprise? With the first 2-year-old sale of the season, OBS March, now in the books, we thought it would be a good time to ask the experts: JUSTIN CASSE Top pick: Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy--Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek). 2022 fee: $35,000, Coolmore America. "I saw some very athletic two-turn horses by Mendelssohn with size, scope, strength, and balance. They were very athletic types and they breezed...

Nobody has missed the explosive impact of Not This Time's second crop of sophomores on the Classic trail this year. But the fact remains that it's actually another stallion in his own intake that we find flirting most plausibly with an elusive distinction, with a chance of joining King Alfonso (1885), McGee (1918), Bull Lea (1952) and Native Dancer (1966) in siring the winners of both the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks. Okay, so we're getting way ahead of ourselves here. With nearly two months to go, it...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The two-session Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded with another day of competitive bidding and two additional seven-figure yearlings Thursday in Lexington, bringing the total number of lots to surpass the million-dollar mark to 15. "Excellent," Keeneland's vice president of sales Tony Lacy said when asked to gauge the day's activity. "The median was up 48% and the average was up 37% [for the session] and we've just passed the $200,000,000 mark for gross sales for the first...

A colt by Into Mischief sold for $1 million to the bid of bloodstock agent Mike Ryan during Thursday's fourth session of the Keeneland September sale. Ryan, who was bidding on behalf of an undisclosed group of buyers, said the yearling will be trained by Chad Brown. Out of stakes winner and graded placed Secret Someone (A.P. Indy), the colt was bred and consigned by Greg Goodman's Mt. Brilliant Farm. He is from the family of multiple Grade I winner Dunbar Road (Quality Road).

A win by Sifting Sands (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) last Sunday in Saratoga in the Better Talk Now S. continued a pattern that has been hard to miss this year. He became the seventh horse sold at a Tattersalls October Yearling sale to win a stakes race at the meet. One, Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), has won two graded stakes, the GII Lake Placid S. and the GIII Lake George S. Only one of the winners, State of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), is based in Europe. Five are trained by...

OCALA, FL - The three-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds more than bounced back from its 2020 pandemic-induced lull, ending Friday with its highest-ever gross and average and with a record-tying median. In all, 560 juveniles grossed $24,492,950 for an average of $43,737--besting the previous record figures of $23,475,500 and $39,722, respectively, set in 2015. The cumulative median was $20,000. With 125 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 18.2%. "The June sale is all grown up now," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "I...

A 475,000gns Tattersalls October yearling purchase by Mike Ryan on behalf of owner Peter Brant, In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was bet into 7-5 favoritism for her Mar. 28 bow at Tampa, but found trouble enough at the quarter pole and again 100 yards later to cost her a debut graduation. Kicked immediately into the lead here by Irad Ortiz, Jr., In Italian enjoyed a fairly soft time of things on the engine, clocking unpressured fractions of :24.03 and :49.39. Challenged briefly approaching the stretch, In Italian rebroke and coasted...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, post time: 4:38 p.m. Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables has successfully shopped the Tattersalls October sale over the past several years, using the services of Mike Ryan to acquire MGISWs Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and GISW Digital Age (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). INFINITE POTENTIAL (IRE) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was purchased by Ryan for 300,000gns at the 2018 October sale, a handful of months after her half-sister Ejtyah (GB) (Frankel {GB}) finished...

When entries were taken the previous Friday for a six-furlong Aqueduct turf maiden scheduled for Thursday, Apr. 8, you can safely assume that owner Larry Goichman wasn't necessarily brimming with confidence. After all, he was pitching his 200,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase Star Devine (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in against two well-meant runners from the all-conquering Chad Brown barn, a Godolphin homebred trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and a second-timer from the always potent Christophe Clement shedrow. Goichman approached the start with a can-do attitude. "You've got...

Dispatched at debut odds of 9-1 in Thursday's fourth race from Aqueduct, Lawrence Goichman's Star Devine (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) gave her rivals a bit of a head start after hopping slightly at the break, but she was handled perfectly thereafter by Trevor McCarthy and stormed home down the center of the track to graduate in sharp time to become a new 'TDN Rising Star.' Spotting the field a couple of lengths after that slow beginning, Star Devine--a 200,000gns purchase by Mike Ryan out of the 2019 Tattersalls October Sale--Book...

by Jessica Martini, Brian DiDonato & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - A dazzling array of race fillies proved demand for high-quality bloodstock remains high during a frenetic renewal of the Fasig-Tipton November Sale at Newtown Paddocks Sunday. Champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), who captured her second GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff Saturday, topped the sale when bringing a final bid of $9.5 million from B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm. The 5-year-old mare, who will return to training with Brad Cox, spearheaded a remarkable night of bidding for the Spendthrift team, which...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale--and the yearling sales season--concluded Thursday in Lexington with the market continuing to show resilience despite a plethora of worldwide uncertainties. Through four sessions, 961 yearlings grossed $32,743,700. The average of $34,073 was down 10.2% from last year's sale-record mark of $37,955. The median of $15,000 rose 15.4% from the 2019 figure of $13,000. With 265 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 21.6%. It was 24.5% a year ago. "All in all, I think it has to be considered a...