Derek S. Ryan

Derek Ryan, a native of Thurles, Tipperary, Ireland, grew up around horses and began his professional career as a steeplechase jockey. He then exercised horses and served as an assistant to trainers around Europe for several years before moving to the U.S. and starting his own stable. He notched his first win as trainer in 1996 and built up a steady business in the subsequent years, winning his first graded stakes in 2002.

Ryan first made inroads on the Triple Crown trail in 2009 with Musket Man, who won the Tampa Bay Derby and Illinois Derby and then finished third in the Kentucky Derby. In 2023-24, he campaigned globe-trotting Book’em Danno, an elite sprinter who nearly won the lucrative Boutique Group Saudi Derby in March 2024 and one start later became Ryan’s first Grade 1 winner when taking the Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun.