Ed Ryan – Weir View Stud takes the Derby Sale Q&A

1. Tell us about your background ?

I grew up on the family farm just outside Cashel. My father inherited it from his father who managed Camas Park Stud for over 30 years. My father always pinhooked National Hunt and Flat foals, and we did a lot of ponies and showjumping growing up. As I got older I moved into racing, and my interest in sales started to grow. I spent my summers in Camas Park, and also worked with David Redvers for a year. I completed the Irish National Stud course, followed by a stint in Tally-Ho and then I did the Godolphin Flying Start programme. It was time to come home then, and I’ve been working alongside my father at home for the last two years. I’d like to think I’m putting all that knowledge accumulated to good use !

2. Tell us a bit about your Derby Sale draft?

The Maxios gelding (Lot 236) is a big rangy horse. His half-sister Sarahs Lawn (by Yeats) won a four-year-old maiden earlier this year. The Vadamos gelding (Lot 262) has great size and shape to him, with a brilliant action and I think he’ll go down very well.

I’m selling a Santiago filly (Lot 12) and an In Swoop gelding (Lot 78) for clients.

Santiago and In Swoop have the potential to be great stallions. We’ll see Santiago’s first crop of three-year-olds this year but I was very impressed with his foals. In Swoop sired the third horse home in the Italian 2,000 Guineas recently, so he could some speed into his progeny.

We have two nice horses in Part II. The Poet’s Word gelding (Lot 443) is a half-brother to Blacksmiths Forge who won a bumper on his racecourse debut. The Sholokhov gelding (Lot 471) out of Lady Pippa is also a nice type.

3. How has the preparation gone with them over the last few months?

It has all been fairly smooth sailing. We try to keep the same routine most days. We put rollers and side reigns on them, and teach them a bit of manners, with the aim of making the next person’s life easier.

4. What does your sales day routine look like?

It all depends on the numbers in our draft. We would probably start around 5/5:30am, and some of the team would lunge them while the others muck out the stables. We would do some hand walking then for 10 or 15 minutes. We’d then rug them up, feed them hay and work our way down through the draft. The staff can get their breakfast once all that is done, and then we return to groom them over, oil their feet, and do some practice shows to make sure we are happy. The aim is to be ready for showing from 8am.

5. What person do you most admire in the industry?

I’m very stud orientated so it would have to be one of the big stud farm owners. Paul McCartan from Ballyphilip Stud does an incredible job, while Roger and Tony O’Callaghan from Tally-Ho are also brilliant men. They all work so hard and I think that is why they are all so successful.

6. What is your earliest memory at the Derby Sale?

Dad is taking us to the Derby Sale ever since we could walk. I recall playing on the bales in the middle of the barns, and people trying to show horses were not too impressed with us.

7. What is your favourite memory of the Derby Sale?

We were fortunate to sell a son of Mahler a few years ago, and we were hopeful that he would appeal to buyers. He was purchased for double the amount we had in our minds, and that went down as a memorable moment for me.

We’ve sold and bought some good horses down through the years at Tattersalls Ireland and they all go down as special moments.

8. What is the best piece of advice you have been given from someone within the industry?

I’ve been told that the harder you work the better you will get on. And success in bloodstock or stud work is when hard work meets opportunity. I live by that mantra – the harder you work, the road will come to meet you.

9. Name three people you would like to sit down down to lunch with at the Derby Sale and why?

From a social perspective there’s plenty of characters would lighten the mood at the table – it could turn into a long boozy lunch !

We do a lot of breaking and pre-training, so the likes of Sam Curling, Colin Bowe, and Ian McCarthy – I’d like to sit down and pick their brains. They are top class men at working with young horses.

10. If you could swap jobs with anyone in the industry for one day, who would it be and why?

I’d love to be Ryan Moore for one day and experience the thrill of riding high class thoroughbreds.

11. Name your one wish for Derby Sale 2026?

Simple – empty head collars at the end of the week.

12. Have you anything nice planned once the Derby Sale ends on June 26^th?

I like going to the Curragh for the Irish Derby. It’s a good social event, and I can relax for the day. And then it’s straight into prep with the flat yearlings. The wheel keeps moving.