Ryan eyes more Rosehill success with ‘sensational’ Lady Extreme

3 months ago 17

By Craig Kerry

July 31, 2025 — 2.55pm

Hawkesbury trainer Blake Ryan hopes to chase black type again with Lady Extreme, but there’s no hurry.

Ryan will happily take a third Saturday city win at Rosehill instead with the six-year-old mare, which has already earned almost 10 times her price and been “sensational” for his stable.

Lady Extreme was sixth last start in the listed Ramornie Handicap (1200m) at Grafton on July 16, which came after back-to-back wins at Rosehill, the first in Midway company then another in benchmark 78 grade. Those came after four consecutive seconds at Saturday and midweek city level in her previous campaign.

With Alysha Collett aboard again, Lady Extreme returns to Rosehill on Saturday for the fourth race, a 1400m benchmark 78 for fillies and mares, after Ryan considered the open benchmark 78. Ryan hopes a likely heavy track will favour the $8 Sportsbet hope, and also scare off odds-on favourite Tuileries.

“She’s won on heavy tracks and won on good tracks; she’s pretty bulletproof in a lot of ways,” Ryan said. “If there’s speed in the race, she can come from back in the field. If they don’t go quick, she was up running fourth, second up the other day.

“Wet tracks, dry tracks, she makes my job pretty easy by being versatile and honest.”

Hawkesbury trainer Blake Ryan is making a name for himself.

The daughter of Extreme Choice, Lady Extreme has won $270,000 since coming to Ryan as an unraced $27,500 online buy for FED Bloodstock’s Luke Wilkinson. She originally went for $250,000 as a Magic Millions yearling.

Ryan had a first crack at black type racing with Lady Extreme in the Ramornie and was pleased with the effort.

“She was good at Grafton,” he said. “We pushed the boat out and had a throw at the stumps.

“We probably had her go a pair or two further back than we wanted to get in, and then they didn’t go that quick, so it just made it hard, and then she got a bit of traffic to the corner. From a better barrier, it might have been a different story, she might have finished a length and a half closer.

“There’s no grand plans with her. The owner’s a breeder, and he’s got plenty of mares, so he’s happy to have her running around and collecting prizemoney, and if the right black-type race comes along again and she’s in form like she is, then we may have another little dip.

“But she’s had a busy couple of weeks, up to Grafton and back, and then only two and a half weeks between runs. Saturday is up to 1400, and she’s got plenty of weight [60.5kg], so if she doesn’t perform, then I might just give her a break and get her ready for January-February.

“It’s $80,000 to the winner on a Saturday. She’s won two of them this prep, and if she could win another one, she’ll take her earnings past $300,000. That’s not bad for a cheap filly.”

The son of successful Rosehill trainer Gerald Ryan, Blake has been training in his own right since early 2021. He is enjoying the ride with Lady Extreme.

“She’s been sensational for me,” he said. “It’s a young stable; not a lot of runners.

“To get one that can put you in the market every Saturday you run her is very important: important for my sanity, and it’s also important for the business.

“Just Awesome won at Gosford and then pulled up a bit sorry for himself the other day, so he’s gone to the paddock, and he’ll come back towards the end of the year.

“He’s a nice two-year-old. I’ve got a couple of nice two-year-olds trialling on Monday at Hawkesbury.

“It’s a slow burn. We started with one horse, we’re up to 34 boxes now with a lot of young horses. We are probably only racing and trialling a dozen at the moment. The rest are all babies.”