{"id":161083,"date":"2025-09-26T07:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T07:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/161083\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T07:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T07:06:09","slug":"ryan-upbeat-he-has-skyhook-on-song-for-golden-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/161083\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan upbeat he has Skyhook on song for Golden opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAt the moment, I think 1400 is his maximum,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPedigree says it, and it probably says it until he\u2019s tried it, and there\u2019s not many there who are proven at the 1400.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some there trying it for the first time and there can be a big difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll just see what happens, but it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if any of them won.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the result, Ryan was excited about what Skyhook could produce in the autumn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure where he will go after this, we\u2019ll just see him at the 1400m,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Trainer<\/p>\n

Trainer Gerald Ryan.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a great believer in pedigrees, and I\u2019ve always said whatever he does as a two-year-old and spring three-year-old, he will be heaps better in the autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerrin McEvoy again rides Skyhook and he was confident after the Run To The Rose finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good run and arguably right there with the winner,\u201d McEvoy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of them have run at 1400, he hasn\u2019t, but you would like to think that he will get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

McEvoy, meanwhile, will partner Epsom Handicap favourite Autumn Glow in a 1000m exhibition gallop between races one and two on Saturday. He will ride the unbeaten filly at 54.5kg in the group 1 next week.<\/p>\n

Ryan and co-trainer Sterling Alexiou also have King Of Pop and Grand Eagle in the listed Heritage Stakes for three-year-olds at Rosehill.<\/p>\n

King Of Pop ($20) was sixth in the San Domenico Stakes and 11th in the Run To The Rose, but Ryan said the Black Opal Stakes winner could hit back from gate one.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis first-up run, I think they went too fast on him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecond-up, he drew the outside gate and we went back on him. What was interesting in that second-up run, his last 600m was faster than Skyhook\u2019s. And with that good gate this time, we won\u2019t have to go back on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grand Eagle, which won twice as a two-year-old, came from last to finish a half-length second on the Kensington track in his only run this preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis pattern is probably not ideal for at 1100m race at Rosehill,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gets back and runs on and not many of them win from back there, but he has to go there. He will be hitting the line hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adkins on the double for exciting stayer<\/p>\n

Andrew Adkins is confident Juja Kibo can give him a second group 1 ride on next week\u2019s Epsom-Metropolitan program at Randwick with victory on Saturday at Rosehill.<\/p>\n

Adkins was a late alternate on the Ciaron Maher-trained Juja Kibo, which will chase the Metropolitan start on offer to the winner of the $250,000 group 3 Colin Stephen Quality (2400m).<\/p>\n

The five-year-old has won three of his past starts, including 2000m and 2400m victories at Rosehill. He was a $2.35 favourite on Saturday and needs to win to guarantee a spot in the $750,000 Metropolitan (2400m), where he was 65th in the ballot with 50 kilograms.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

Andrew Adkins after winning on Fire Star at Rosehill earlier this month.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Adkins is already booked to ride Joe Pride-trained El Castello, which he trialled at Randwick on Friday, at 51kg in the $1.5 million Epsom Handicap (1600m) that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI identified him a little way out as a horse I wanted to get on and once I was able to lock him in for the Metrop, I was able to get the ride on Saturday as well,\u201d Adkins said of securing a first ride on Juja Kibo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t sat on him yet, but he\u2019s obviously a very promising horse, a good stayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis wins have been quite dominant, he does it quite comfortably. He switches off well, and quickens up well.<\/p>\n

\"Ethan<\/p>\n

Ethan Brown riding Juja Kibo.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe relaxes like a good stayer then sprints like a sprinter, which is all the attributes you want in a stayer. His form is obviously holding up, and he\u2019s a very, very good horse to ride in that race tomorrow and hopefully the Metrop. I\u2019m excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old former champion Sydney apprentice is coming off a resurgent season in which he had two listed wins, 13 city victories and 65 overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good because I\u2019ve been working really hard, and it\u2019s good to receive the rewards on two really nice horses in two really good races,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really thankful for the support I\u2019m getting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adkins was happy with El Castello\u2019s work on Friday and his first-up fourth, off a long injury lay-off, in the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really good run first-up, considering that distance was not suitable, off the back of a slow speed, and they sprinted very quickly home. He ran really good sectionals. It was a terrific run and going up to the mile off a tick-over trial is nice. The blinkers go on and he will be primed ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAt the moment, I think 1400 is his maximum,\u201d he said. \u201cPedigree says it, and it probably says…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-161083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}