Unwanted filly gives Ryan breakthrough win as $151 shot at Scone

Hawkesbury trainer Blake Ryan gave a nod to Newgate boss Henry Field and looked ahead to the Princess Series after $151 shot Queen Regent gave him an unlikely first black-type victory on Saturday in the listed Woodlands Stakes at Scone.

Coming off a fading fourth on debut at Hawkesbury, the daughter of Wild Ruler was fourth emergency on Wednesday for the two-year-old fillies race. Six scratching gave her a start and she raced midfield with cover under Jay Ford before powering down the centre of the track to win like a short-priced favourite, 1.3 lengths ahead of Found The Gold.

It was a career highlight for Ryan, the son of prominent Rosehill trainer Gerald Ryan, who has been training in his own right for four and a half years.

“I’m over the moon,” Ryan said.

“She’s my first stakes winner, we’ve run second a couple of times, so it’s good to get on the board.

“We don’t have a lot of runners and are just trying to build.

“I was bringing her here to give her a trip away. She’d always shown a fair bit of ability at home and I went to Hawkesbury for her first start very confident after a really good trial, but she just got it wrong. She’s got a lot of speed but she didn’t harness it, and overdid it.

“She pretty much came up as a mate to Strawberry Impact in the first today, but I thought if she could run midfield, she would spell and we might have a nice enough filly to poke around the fringes with next preparation.

“I suppose now she’s a stakes winner, we’ve got no option but to head to the Princess Series in the spring. She won’t run a mile, but she’ll go to the shorter legs and maybe even a race like the Rosebud.”

Ryan bought Queen Regent for $40,000 as a yearling to syndicate but after getting no support, he tried to sell her at the Inglis Ready2Run sale. She was passed in at $30,000 before breeder Geoff Wilson helped Ryan by buying back in to the filly. Ryan had faith in Queen Regent and retained 25 per cent ownership.

“I couldn’t sell one five per cent share in her. She sat on my website for five months,” Ryan said.

“My fear at the moment, with the cost of living and the way horse ownership is going, your mums and dads with $5000 spare to buy 10 per cent of a horse, they’re not really there any more.

“It’s not just me, a lot of trainers have struggled with that.”

Ryan said Field rang him after Queen Regent’s first trial and told him to target the Woodlands Stakes.

“I’ve got to thank Henry a lot. He’s been very good to me over the years,” he said.

Snowden pair on track for Queensland riches

Scone born-and-bred champion trainer Peter Snowden came away with a feature double at his home-town track and renewed hopes for the Queensland winter carnival.

Miss Freelove, second-up off a sixth at Warwick Farm and chasing a first black-type win, stormed up the inside under Rachel King to edge out Nathan Doyle-trained Mercy Me and give Snowden a first victory in the listed Denise’s Joy Stakes (1100m) for three-year-old fillies.

Snowden was looking to fillies features in Queensland next month with Miss Freelove and Akaysha, which finished fourth on Saturday.

Tuileries, freshened up after finishing second last in the Emancipation Stakes, then swept down the outside for jockey Chad Schofield to win the group 3 Dark Jewel Classic (1400m) for fillies and mares by three-quarters of a length from Luvnwar. The win came at a price for Schofield, who was suspended eight meetings, from May 21 to return on June 6, for careless riding. The initial 10-meeting ban was reduced because he misses two feature Brisbane Saturday programs.

The four-year-old mare now heads to the group 2 Dane Ripper Stakes and potentially the group 1 Tatt’s Tiara.

Tom Charlton-trained Bev’s Nine produced a tough on-pace effort to hold out Brudenell in the listed Ortensia Stakes (1100m).

Tyler Schiller-ridden, Chris Waller-prepared Sun God ($15) came late with runner-up Point And Shoot to upset Linebacker in the listed Luskin Star Stakes (1300m). Zac Lloyd, who won on Bev’s Nine, was suspended for shifting out late on Linebacker. He will miss six meetings, reduced from seven, and is out from May 24 to June 5.

Trainer remembered after raceday tragedy

A minute’s silence was held for Tamworth hobby trainer Stephen Meyer before the feature Dark Jewel Classic at Scone on Saturday after his death the day before at the track when kicked by a horse.

Meyer, 71, was struck before his only horse, Danza In The Dark, raced in the last on Scone Cup day. Danza In The Dark, Meyer’s only runner over the past nine and a half years, won the 2024 Walcha and Quirindi Cup.

Racing NSW paid tribute to Meyer, saying he was “a dedicated and highly regarded horseman, Stephen was known for his integrity, work ethic, and deep lifelong love for thoroughbreds.

“His humble approach and sportsmanship earned him wide respect across the industry.”

Bullock reins supreme close to home

Top country hoop Aaron Bullock showed his class at Scone, finishing with five wins, a second and two thirds from only nine rides to claim the Golden Whip award as jockey of the two-day carnival.

The Newcastle-based jockey, who started his career in the Upper Hunter under trainer Todd Howlett, had victories with all three of his rides on Saturday’s standalone city card.

The Australian premiership winner in 2022-23 claimed the Midway-Highway Handicap double to start the day with Oakfield Saturn (trainer Damien Lane) and Autumn King (Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich) before taking Tavros to victory for Craig Martin in the fifth.

It was also a memorable day for apprentice Shannen Llewellyn who won aboard Nathan Doyle-trained Lightning Glory for a first Saturday city winner.