SO far this season no jockey has won more races at Tyers Park than Greg Ryan, but when he returns to the Bathurst track on Saturday he will not feel pressured to continue his roll.
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In the four Bathurst Thoroughbred Racing meetings staged so far this season, Ryan has ridden 14 winners and enjoyed another four placings from the 28 occasions he has saddled up.
All but one of those victories came for Warwick Farm trainer Bjorn Baker, but he will not send any members of his team to Tyers Park this Saturday.
Instead Ryan will saddle up for Warwick Farm trainer Matthew Smith, Dubbo’s Darren Hyde and Gulgong’s Brett Thompson.
Given Ryan’s talent and well-earned reputation, he will be well supported in each race he contests. But over the years he has learned not to let expectation have an impact on him.
“There’s one thing that’s been able to help me is to get that pressure out of my mind. In my younger days, I felt pressure and it doesn’t help a thing, it’s no good for nothing,” he said.
“If I had my time over again, I’d work hard to get my head where it is now a lot earlier.
“I just try to take a common sense approach to everything now and realise that at the end of the day, it’s all about doing your best and keeping some common sense in your riding.
“If you do that, the results come and if the results come, people keep giving you rides.”
And the results have certainly come for Ryan. As well as his 50 percent winning strike rate at Bathurst, he currently tops the country premiership with 40 victories.
“I’ve had a really good trot the last six weeks. Bjorn [Baker] has been really good backing for me and I’ve had a good trot for other blokes too,” Ryan said. “The smaller stables, they pitch in with their couple of winners here and there, yeah, it’s all going well.”
At Bathurst Ryan will contest maidens aboard Ausbred Trump, Goldylux and Kadoma Man for Smith, will guide Hyde’s Milk’N’Brandy in a Benchmark 55 and seek Class 1 success for Thompson.