Rossa Ryan secures 1,000th British winner at Ascot

Rossa Ryan registered his 1,000th British winner when he steered Blazeon Five to victory at Ascot on Friday.

Primarily based with Ralph Beckett, the 26-year-old who was born in Ballinderry, County Galway, enjoyed his defining moment when steering Bluestocking to victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October.

It is somewhat fitting he reached the career landmark almost a year to the day of that ParisLongchamp triumph, with the Alan King-trained Blazeon Five taking Ryan to four figures in the Colliers Business Rates Experts Handicap.

He said: “It’s great to have ridden 1,000 winners. I’ve had a lot of great support from people; I think the biggest thing is that I have a fantastic agent behind me. All the credit goes to Steve Croft.

“I had an unbelievable grounding with Richard Hannon and that evolved into going to Amo Racing and then that evolved onto Ralph Beckett. It’s been a good journey, so far, with hopefully plenty more winners to come.”

Ryan was also aboard Bluestocking when she won the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh last summer, while July Cup success with Shaquille and Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint heroics aboard Starlust are other notable victories in his career to date.