What nationality is Rossa Ryan?

Born in Ballinderry, near Tuam, County Galway on July 3, 2000, Rossa Ryan is an Irish citizen. He is, in fact, the son of successful National Hunt trainer David Ryan. A prolific winner on the pony racing circuit, Ryan was invited for a week’s trial by Richard Hannon in October, 2016, while still in school, and became apprenticed to the yard the following January. Reflecting on his decision to cross the Irish Sea, Ryan said later, ‘It was just too big to turn down. So, in January, I packed my bags and away I went. Haven’t looked back since.’

Ryan rode his first winner, Willwams, trained in the sunbets.co.uk Claiming Stakes at Lingfield on St. Patrick’s Day, 2017 – still three-and-a-half months shy of his seventeenth birthday – and finished his inaugural season with a highly respectable 21 winners. In 2018, he raised his seasonal tally to 78 winners, riding out his claim in the process and, in 2019, rode his first Group race winner, Duke of Hazzard, trained by Paul Cole, in the Celebration Mile at Goodwood. In 2020, he rode his first Royal Ascot winner, Highland Chief, trained by Paul and Oliver Cole, in the Golden Gates Handicap. In 2021, Ryan has been hindered by a broken collar bone and appendicitis, but that has not stopped him from riding 102 winners, including two more Group 2 winners on British soil, and amassing £1.4 million in prize money, so far.