Ryan eyeing Golden Rose with colts

As the season winds down with the Brisbane carnival, trainer Gerald Ryan is already well into planning for the spring.

Ryan doesn’t have a contender in the remaining Group One races in 2016/17 but has some exciting prospects.

Leading the way are rising three-year-olds Menari and Trapeze Artist who are back in training ahead of most of their counterparts for the early season’s features.

Both colts are by Snitzel who Ryan trained to win an Oakleigh Plate which secured his future at Arrowfield Stud.

Snitzel is this season’s leading sire and set a new standard for two-year-old winners when the Ryan-trained Pymble took his tally to 31 to pass a long-standing record.

The trainer has an obvious affinity for Snitzel’s progeny and Menari and Trapeze Artist are no exceptions.

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“They are both back in training for the Golden Rose,” Ryan said.

“I’m not sure how they will get there. We will play it by ear.

“Trapeze Artist was the surprise packet of the stable’s two-year-olds and like Menari he is back looking nice and strong.”

Trapeze Artist sprung a surprise in the Black Opal Stakes to earn a start in the Golden Slipper in which he finished sixth, two places behind Menari.

He then ran third in the Group One ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes in which Menari was unplaced.

Menari crossed the line third in the Slipper but lost his position when Tulip’s jockey Kerrin McEvoy successfully protested against Corey Brown.

The Golden Rose (1400m) is at Rosehill on September 9 while the first stakes race for the new season’s three-year-olds is the Listed Rosebud (1100m) on August 5.