2 months ago
6
By Craig Kerry
July 10, 2025 — 4.00pm
Sara Ryan believes Aix En Provence and Salt Lake City can bounce back and provide a city winner on Saturday as she prepares to finish up as Domeland head trainer and look to her own “very, very promising” stable.
Ryan, who has three runners on the Randwick program, is set to go it alone next month after six years with the Central Coast-based operation of Chinese businessman YP Cheng.
Trainer Sara Ryan has big plans for the future.
She will retain her training boxes on the course at Wyong, with Domeland moving to others at the track. Domeland, which has a 260-acre base at nearby Kulnura, is yet to appoint a replacement.
“We are still working out the final details,” said Ryan, who won the 2023 $3 million Big Dance with Attractable and this year’s $1 million Provincial Midway Championship with Matcha Latte.
“I think they are in the last stages of selecting an applicant and, obviously, I’ll stay with Domeland until that process is done.
“It’s probably going to end up in the middle of August, but I’m very excited for what’s to come.
Sara Ryan and jockey Regan Bayliss after winning The Big Dance with Attractable.Credit: Janie Barrett
“I’m very grateful for everything Domeland gave me, but it’s time to try and do this on my own.
“I’ve got my boxes here, and then it’s the process of setting up a new team, but that will come, and I know how to do it. I’ve done it once before so it shouldn’t take too long.
“I’ve got 28 boxes at Wyong, so I need something in the 40 to 50 mark, and we’ll be able to train some off the property at home as well.
“I have young stock that have confirmed they are coming through and once we have the complete date, then I’ll start ramping up and finding horses.”
She said early talks with clients were “very, very promising”.
“I’m excited to open up and be available to everyone; that’s always what you strive for,” she said.
“There comes a time when you have to have a go, and it got to that point.”
Ryan still has work to do at Domeland, which has Aix En Provence ($11, Sportsbet) and How Much Better ($20) in Saturday’s Midway Handicap (1600m). They have drawn alongside each other out wide, and How Much Better, which was two and a half lengths away in a Midway a fortnight ago, may race at Newcastle.
Ryan hopes Aix En Provence can get back to his best. The four-year-old won in commanding style at Newcastle first up on a heavy track, but was then caught flat-footed when fourth in a Randwick Midway on June 21.
“I just think he raced a little bit flat second up,” Ryan said. “Usually I race him three weeks between runs second up, but I went two and he probably didn’t have that sprint at the end.
“First up he was on a heavy deck carrying 61 kilos, so he was a bit flat second up, but he’s jumping out of his skin and he’s definitely ready to go.
“How Much Better, I think again it was just second-up syndrome for him. He jarred up a little bit on that ground. He’s trialled impressively on a wet track, so I’m hoping it stays in that soft range.”
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Import Salt Lake City, at $10 for race six (1800m), is yet to place in three Australian starts after Domeland paid $201,000 for him in 2023.
“We brought him over from the Tattersall’s sale and he strained a tendon in his first prep, then he had to go back out,” Ryan said.
“Then in his first-up run, he had a heart arrhythmia. We brought him back and really screwed him down and he produced quite a nice run second up. Then that third-up run, he suffered a bit in that wind carrying that weight.
“He’s a horse that if he can get cover and get cuddled up to the end, he’ll have a good turn of foot.”
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