Bush wizard Ryan plots another Mount Garnet raid

By Jordan Gerrans

Respected bush horseman Athol Ryan boasts an incredible strike-rate on the North Queensland country circuit and he heads to Mt Garnet Amateur Turf Club this week with every intention of continuing his winning ways.

Based at Georgetown, Ryan is a master at placing his horses at clubs that only race once a year such as Mount Garnet, Ewan, Cooktown and Einasleigh.

In his last 50 starters, dating back to October of 2024, Ryan has prepared 11 winners, with all coming at non-TAB meetings.

The 57-year-old rarely runs his horses on TAB programs.

Known for his master horsemanship, Ryan has been able to effectively place his horses to win after long breaks without trials on numerous occasions.

For example, Racatoon won at Atherton in late November of last year and was not seen publicly again until the middle of April at Mareeba when he won strongly first-up.

Apprentice hoop Lauren Guernier did the steering on both occasions and has a close association with the Ryan camp. 

Racatoon is one of four runners the Ryan camp will take to ‘Garnet’ this weekend. 

The veteran gelding will start in the Benchmark 60 Handicap over 1000 metres on Saturday. 

“We have a lot of luck with Lauren,” Ryan said.

“Racatoon was in the other day, he won first-up and Lauren won on him. We didn’t think he could win first-up but he did.

“He'll be at Garnet, but he'll have a bit of weight. We've got four runners. They'll all be competitive.

“I have got Verbalize in the longer maiden on Friday and I think he will go well.”

Ryan is also one of Queensland’s most isolated trainers as Georgetown is based in the middle of Cairns and Karumba in the Gulf country.

He lives more than 300km from the nearest registered trainer.

“From Cairns to Karumba, we're virtually in the middle,” he said.

“There's a track here at Georgetown. I battle through on it and get them going. Then I take them away and gallop them and finish them off.

“They used to race here at Georgetown a couple of times a year, but it was just a dirt track. It was a bit up and down and a bit hard and soft.”

For the well-travelled Ryan, Mount Garnet is just a short trip from his Georgetown base compared to other venues he visits with his small band of horses.

The Friday and Saturday format for Mount Garnet makes it a popular long-weekend holiday destination for participants from right across the Sunshine State.

Jockey Guernier will ride one of Ryan's gallopers on the Friday program. 

Stables from as far south as Mackay will have runners at Mount Garnet over the two days.

“It is only a little town, Garnet, it's a mining town,” he said.

“There's a lot of good people there. The Garnet weekend, it just comes alive.

“There are just thousands there. They all want to go to Mount Garnet because you've got the two-day races, rodeo and a long weekend.

“And, it is good weather, usually good weather.”

The Mount Garnet carnival offers attractive prizemoney as well as a heat of the Magic Millions Rob Koch Memorial FNQ Up and Coming Stayers series on Friday.

It is an annual trip that Ryan enjoys making.

In a rarity for the Ryan stable, he did not produce a winner during the 2025 Mount Garnet carnival and had to settle for one minor placing from five runners.

So, he is keen to make amends this time around.

“It is good money and you've got two days of racing,” he said.

“So, surely there's a race there for your horse. And, then you've got good prizemoney and it's a pretty good track.

“It'll be good now because they've had a good wet and it'll have a bit of give in it and it's got plenty of grass on it.”

As well as Racatoon and Verbalize, Ryan will also campaign Red Falcon and Deal An Ace from his stable over the two days of Mount Garnet’s carnival.

Ryan prepared a career-best eight winners in the 2020-21 season.

With seven already to his name in the 2025-26 campaign, he has every chance of posting a new high mark over the coming months.

He is striking at 28% for winners this term while his runners finish in the money in 60% of their starts.