Sean Ryan, Keeneland assistant to New York-based trainer Chad Brown,
took on the role of equine flight attendant on a whirlwind Tuesday. Ryan
accompanied Balance the Books, winner of Sunday’s
Bourbon (G3), on his flight from Blue Grass Airport, which left at 12:45
p.m., for Islip Airport on Long Island. When the plane landed, a van
containing Brown’s Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) entrants, Dayatthespa and Samitar (GB),
was waiting for a flight to Louisville and Ryan was headed back to
Kentucky. The Brown crew then took a van to Keeneland, arriving about
8:45 p.m.
“I’m pretty tired,” said Ryan, whose father is noted bloodstock agent Mike Ryan. “It was a very busy day.”
Dayatthespa enters the QEII off four consecutive victories, including
the Appalachian (G3) here in April. After that race, she did not
compete for four months, returning with a 1¼-length victory in the
Riskaverse at Saratoga on August 31. Brown trains the New York-bred
daughter of City Zip for Jerry Frankel, Ronald Frankel, Steve Laymon and
Bradley Thoroughbreds.
Samitar, a Group 1 winner in Ireland last year, comes into the QE II
off a win in the Garden City (G1) at Belmont on September 15. She
finished a head in front of Somali Lemonade, one of her
rivals in the QE II, in that race to score her first victory in two
starts in North America. The daughter of Rock of Gibralter (IRE) races
for Martin Schwartz, who raced Keeneland stakes winners Angara (GB), Asi
Siempre, Gorella (FR) and Lady of Venice (FR).