Domeland conditioner Sara Ryan eyes Brisbane Group 1 targets ahead of public training move

Trainer Sara Ryan will leave Domeland at the end of the season but aims to tick off a significant career goal before then.

Attractable (left) wins the 2023 Big Dance for trainer Sara Ryan (right), who will later this year leave her role as the private trainer for Domeland as she sets up her own public venture. Pictures: File

Big Dance-winning trainer Sara Ryan is eager to cap off a successful stint at Central Coast operation Domeland with a Brisbane winter carnival Group 1 raid before becoming a public trainer from next season.

Racing and breeding operation Domeland announced on Monday afternoon that Ryan would be leaving her position as the operation’s private trainer at the end of the 2024/25 season.

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Ryan has been Domeland’s trainer for the past two-and-a-half years and enjoyed success on the big stage in the 2023 $3m The Big Dance with Attractable and last month’s $1 million Provincial-Midway Championships Final with Matcha Latte.

She plans to head to Queensland with Attractable and Matcha Latte, with both holding nominations for the Group 1 $3m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 14.

Attractable is on the comeback trial after a year on the sidelines and won a trial at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.

He was nominated for Saturday’s Listed $200,000 Luskin Star Stakes (1300m) at Scone but will instead be saved for Brisbane.

1⃣ Attractable
2⃣ Verona Rose
3⃣ Movin Out

The 2023 Big Dance 💃 winner leads all the way to win a 1200m trial at Warwick Farm on Tuesday. Thunderlips, Flying Bandit and Engine Room were behind the placings. @tabcomaupic.twitter.com/0KhQpSoJfc

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) May 12, 2025

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“We’ve got a team four or five heading up to Queensland so that will be exciting,” Ryan said.

“Attractable trialled this morning and will go to the next week’s BRC Sprint (1350m) first-up. He needed another trial after a year off.

“I have been umming and ahhing whether to give him a hit out today for the race this weekend but felt like he has had so long off, and the way he races, he is so honest and will gutter himself first-up so I want him fit enough to be able to do that.”

“Matcha Latte is going to the BRC Sprint too and the Stradbroke, those are his two targets.”

Two-year-old Is It Spectacular will be on trial for a crack at the Group 2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes when he lines up in the opener at Randwick Kensington on Wednesday.

Ryan, who played a pivotal role as a pre-trainer before taking over full-time training, will depart Domeland shortly after the winter carnival.

Matcha Latte was a winner of the Provincial-Midway Championships. Picture: Jeremy Ng / Getty Images

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She will continue training at Wyong where she has about 30 stables on-course.

“It is a little bit heartbreaking because these horses are like my children and I’ve had them for six years so know them inside and out,” she said.

“I really do get to know my horses so it’s been heartbreaking and will continue to be, but there comes a time when you have to sink or swim again and it’s that time now.

“Domeland gave me a great opportunity, which I am very grateful for, and it’s been a great building block but I think it’s come to that time where I want the chance to train for other people.”

Ryan will play a role in helping Domeland find her successor with the decision hoped to be made before her current contract ends.

Originally published as Domeland conditioner Sara Ryan eyes Brisbane Group 1 targets ahead of public training move