3 days ago
Gerald Ryan can't wait for spring after Skyhook equals record in The Rosebud at Rosehill
Skyhook made an early spring carnival statement when equalling a weight-carrying record to win the first Sydney stakes race of the new season at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
There was no fluke about Skyhook 's win in the Listed $200,000 The Rosebud (1100m), either. The race was run at a farcical early tempo, he settled last and had to come around the field in heavy track conditions.
But Skyhook managed to overcome all this while carrying topweight of 60.5kg – a feat achieved only once previously by the talented Menari when he won the Rosebud in 2017.
Gerald Ryan, who trains Skyhook in partnership with Sterling Alexiou, also prepared Menari and gave a glowing endorsement of his emerging three-year-old sprinter.
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'Skyhook worked here on Wednesday week ago on the course proper and my track rider Jason, who has ridden work for me for 10 or 12 years, said this is the best horse we've had since Menari,'' Ryan said.
'He's a good horse, Skyhook. If they had have recalled entries for the Missile Stakes and run it today, I was tempted to run him in the Missile Stakes with 52.5kg on his back instead of this race with 60.5kg.''
Skyhook ($4.40), ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, finished powerfully out towards the centre of the track to run down Grand Prairie ($5.50) and score by a half-length with Pallaton ($2.40 favourite) two lengths away third.
• What the jockeys said: Rosebud day
It was an impressive return by Skyhook who was having his first start since finishing seventh in Marhoona's Golden Slipper last autumn.
'We were never going to go to the Golden Slipper until he won the Pago Pago Stakes,'' Ryan admitted.
'His ideal preparation into the Slipper would have been if he had won that race at Randwick (Skyline Stakes) and gone three weeks into the Slipper.
'That's one of the reasons we ran him today and got him up early because I don't reckon he's a horse that can go two weeks-two weeks between runs.
'He's a horse that needs his races spaced. We'll now go four weeks into The Run To The Rose and then two weeks into the Golden Rose.''
Skyhook wins the Rosebud for Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou with Kerrin McEvoy in the saddle! ðŸ'� @RARacing_ @KPMcEvoy
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) August 16, 2025
Ryan then made the surprising revelation that Skyhook, a $575,000 Magic Millions Yearling Sale graduate, is the first yearling by champion sire Written Tycoon he has ever purchased.
'We've been going to the sales looking at Written Tycoons ever since Written Tycoon went to stud,'' the trainer said.
'But this is the only Written Tycoon we've bought even though we have loved him at the sales. We have been given them to train but Sterling and I have actually not bought one.
'We saw this colt at Arrowfield Stud and they are good, they let you know everything about the horse, and we liked him a lot.''
• Ninja finds kick to hang on for city win
Skyhook's Rosebud comeback success improved his race record to two wins (and two placings) from five starts for earnings of nearly $400,000 – with more to come.
Ryan said he was unsure how Skyhook would cope with the heavy track as all the colt's runs last season were on firm tracks.
'I went through all the Written Tycoon's (performances) on wet tracks and he hadn't got many wet trackers,'' the trainer said.
'But this colt's had a great preparation, he's a horse that doesn't take heaps of work, he doesn't get gross and he's got the right attitude.
'He probably doesn't look any different now to what he did in the autumn, but on the scales he's heavier but looking at him physically, he's not. He's such a fluent-actioned horse, a very athletic horse.''
The Ryan and Alexiou stable's other runner, Blitzburg finished only fifth, beaten nearly seventh lengths.
'Blitzburg missed the start but I was surprised he didn't show more speed,'' Ryan said.
'Whether it's the ground, I don't know, as they didn't seem to go that quick.
'I was a little disappointed with him because he has been going well at home.
'We might have to reassess, he's better than that.'
Trainer Peter Snowden deliberately set Grand Prairie for the Rosebud and the three-year-old went close to securing a stakes race win.
Pallaton settled behind the leaders in a slowly-run race and was forced to stay close to the rail in the straight where the better going was wide out so he had excuse in defeat.
'Tommy (Berry, jockey) didn't want to go back to the fence on Pallaton in the straight as it is clearly inferior ground,'' trainer Freedman said.
'But when the two in front didn't move anywhere, he had no other option.
'His defeat was combination of being fresh early, the pace dropping off mid-race and then having to go back to the inside.
'We will have a think about coming back here for the San Domenico Stakes in two weeks but I haven't totally ruled out the Moir Stakes. He would have only 52.5kg in the Moir and it is always run at a fast tempo which would suit this horse.''
