3 minute read

Talented sprinter Much Much Better has only been in trainer Sara Ryan’s care for less than a couple of weeks but it’s safe to say few people would know the grey better than her.

The 27-year-old's name might not be too familiar to punters, as she's only had her owner-trainer license for about 10 months, but she has been a vital part of Domelight/Viribright Racing for the past five years managing horses, pre-training and spelling and communicating with trainers.

That means she broke in Much Much Better and did his early education before passing him on to John O'Shea, who was his initial trainer, before the horse moved to Gary Moore.

"I know him well. He's a little cheeky bugger but he loves to run,'' Sara Ryan said.

"He's a very exciting horse and I'm very grateful to be given the opportunity to work with him.

"He's been naughty from the day we broke him in, sometimes he pretends he's never had a saddle on his back.

"He's been learning his craft and I think he's worked it out and this last prep it's like 'ok I know my job now'."

Much Much Better, who runs in the Grainshaker Vodka Handicap (1300m) at Randwick on Saturday, has won six of his 20 starts and has built a consistent record including his narrow defeat to Surreal Step two weeks ago.

Ryan elected to run in the Benchmark race in preference to the Listed Bob Charley AO Stakes over 1100m and she expects the gelding, $5 with TAB on Thursday, to hold his form.

"In the 1300m I'm going to be able to come across and be with the leading horses,'' she said.

"There's no reason to stress that he won't be running at his best. He's licking the feed tin, he's bouncing out of his skin at home and doing the work easily."

It's always tricky to predict what level a horse will reach when they are being educated and Ryan admits, based on what she saw in the early days, the four-year-old has surprised her a little with how professional he's become.

"He wouldn't have given me that impression when we first broke him in, he didn't know his left foot from his right foot,'' she said.

"He was a gangly little thing but he has grown into himself."

Ryan grew up in the showjumping and event riding arena and has only had her license for about 10 months, and only a handful of runners so far, but her numbers are set to grow.

While she may be a fledgling trainer her background with horses and role over the past five years has given her an enviable grounding.

"I've been playing a long with a couple of my own horses,'' she said.

"(Domeland/Viribright) decided they wanted me to start training for them and I just need to get a few more results before I can get a provincial licence.

"Event horses have to be as fit as racehorses. It's hard work but that's horses.

"I've pre-trained for John O'Shea, Mark Newnham, Clare Cunningham, Gary Moore, Peter Moody and been in contact with them about how fit we get the horses for them.

"Because Domeland has such great facilities we fit them up a lot more than we would in general pre-training."