John Ryan's horses to follow: "He's a horse we like a lot"

It has been a good season so far for trainer John Ryan. When Mount Frisco won the Careys Cottage Cup at Gowran Park on Saturday, the Kalanisi gelding brought up the trainer’s 21st win of the season in Ireland, and Ryan is well on track for bettering last season’s total of 23.

The Templemore handler had 39 winners during the 2021-22 season. That is his highest total in a single season since he started training, and that was also the year that he sent out Waitnsee to win the Grade Three Imperial Call Chase at Cork. He also finished seventh in the trainers’ championship.  

Last season was his best season since then, and it looks like this season is set to be even better.

Here are five horses who could be worth following, according to the trainer, as we move into the spring and beyond. 

He’s a lovely, young horse who we like a lot. He finished fifth in his only point-to-point. He’s going well at home, and he should be having his first run for us soon.

He’s by Order Of St George and he’s out of Flemensfirth mare, Jezuki, who is a sister to Jetz, who finished third in a Drinmore Chase and is out of a three-parts sister to the Champion Hurdle winner Jezki. 

It’s a lovely family, and we’re looking forward now to getting him going.

We were delighted with his win in the Listed handicap chase at Fairyhouse in November (watch above). He stayed on well and he won nicely.

He raced a bit too keenly at Leopardstown last time out, so we might just let him jump and bowl along next time. He’s entered in the Grade Three two-mile chase at Naas on Sunday, and we might let him take his chance in that.  

He’s in super shape, and he could run well there.

We lost him for a little while after the Listowel Festival in 2024. He fell in the handicap chase that Solness won there, he bruised his shoulder, and it took him a little while to come back from that.

He was great at Gowran Park on Saturday. I knew that we had him back, and I knew going to Gowran that he was coming back to himself. He battled back well and he won by nearly five lengths in the end.

The handicapper raised him by 7lb for that win, but I was expecting something like that. It takes him up to a mark of 109, and I still think that he’s better than that.  He’s only a seven-year-old, and he’s a big horse. 

There’s lots of stamina in his pedigree, too. His dam won two point-to-points, and she’s out of a half-sister to Commanche Court, who was top-class. He won a Triumph Hurdle, as well as an Irish Grand National and a Heineken Gold Cup.

He could go back to Gowran Park now next month, or he could go to Leopardstown for a two-mile-five-furlong handicap chase.  He could sneak in at the bottom of the handicap for that.  

He goes on any ground and he could also step up to three miles. He’s a smasher.

He was impressive in winning his maiden hurdle at Limerick in November on just his second run, and the runner-up from that race came out and won a handicap hurdle at Limerick over Christmas next time out.

Piccolo Player ran well too at Thurles last time in finishing third behind the well-regarded Eachtotheirown from Barry Connell’s yard. That horse led from early, and we went to try to beat him, and that probably cost us second place in the end. We had the Grand Annual winner Jazzy Matty behind us.

He’s a lightly-raced, young horse, he has only had five runs, and he should continue his progress. He’s in the two-mile handicap hurdle at Naas on Sunday, and he could go there.  He’s a nicely-bred horse, his dam is a half-sister to Gala Ball, from the family of Voy Por Ustedes, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he progresses.

He’s owned by a lovely group of lads from Galway and Cork, and he’s been a really good fun horse for them.  

He ran four times in October, he finished second three times and third once, before he went to Cork in early November and finished fourth in the Cork Grand National. That was a big run, over the longest distance which he had ever raced over.

He’s on a little bit of a break now, but he should be out again in the next few weeks, and he should continue to be competitive in some of those good handicap chases.