With Star Broodmare Kamakura, Mike Ryan Bringing Out the Best

[Wandering Eyes]

Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan has picked out dozens of Grade I winners over the years. He has also bred Grade I winners, most notably Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) and his half-sister Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union), and he's even raced a few, including 2008 GI Spinaway Stakes victress Mani Bhavan (Storm Boot) and 2019 GI United Nations Stakes winner (Tiz Wonderful)

But this year's GI Gamely Stakes marked a particularly special victory for Ryan when 'TDN Rising Star' Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), a horse that he bred and races, scored her first win at the elite level.

“It doesn't get any better,” said Ryan, who watched the Santa Anita race from back home in Kentucky. “It's the pinnacle, when you've had patience and are lucky enough to make some good decisions along the way. It was a very thrilling win and very exciting because of her being a homebred and still having the mare and the siblings.”

One of Be Your Best's siblings is poised to further bolster his family's credentials. 'TDN Rising Star' Postmodern (Too Darn Hot)–whom Ryan sold for 270,000gns at Tattersalls October Book 1 last year–is pointing toward the G2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 17.

Under the moniker St. Croix Bloodstock, Ryan runs a commercial breeding operation with around 35 broodmares. Some are owned in partnership, including the mare he co-owned with his late friend Gerry Dilger that produced a Kentucky Derby winner. He boards the majority of his mares at Indian Creek Farm in Paris, Kentucky, though he also keeps a few at Ballylinch Stud in his native Ireland. Most of his stock goes to auction, but Ryan is not shy about retaining a filly for his own racing program.

Such was the case for Be Your Best, who was foaled and raised at Ballylinch. By the time the filly was a yearling, her sire Muhaarar had fallen out of commercial favor and was moved from Shadwell's Nunnery Stud to France.

Kamakura at Indian Creek Farm | Katie Petrunyak

“She wouldn't have brought $25,000 at a sale,” Ryan predicted. “She was a nice yearling but we knew we would be overlooked at the sales and understandably so. If it had been a colt, I probably would not have kept him. But she had enough quality about her that I said, 'Let's bring her back to America and see what we can do.'”

After earning the 'Rising Star' nod in her Saratoga debut and collecting a stakes win in the P.G. Johnson Stakes under the tutelage of trainer Horacio de Paz, Be Your Best has raced almost exclusively in graded company over her four years on the racetrack. She was transferred to Saffie Joseph last fall and has since made four trips to the winner's circle, including a gutsy score in the GII Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes.

Ryan said that one of the keys to the now-millionaire's recent success has been figuring out her affinity for firm turf. In between her wins in the Pegasus and the Gamely, Be Your Best put in a disappointing last-place effort in the GI Jenny Wiley Stakes during a particularly soggy Keeneland meet.

“We finally understand now that she doesn't want anything but fast, firm ground and since Saffie has had her, she's won four of six races, all graded stakes,” said Ryan. “She has been a remarkable filly. She's very sound, very low maintenance and she's been very consistent.”

From here, Ryan reported that Be Your Best will likely make an appearance in the GI Diana Stakes at Saratoga on July 12, although the Beverly D. Stakes at Colonial and E. P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine are also under consideration.

“If it's not firm ground, she won't run,” he said. “She'll have two more races hopefully before the Breeders' Cup. We think she'll like that firm turf [at Del Mar]. When we give her the time between races, on the right surface, she always runs well.”

While awaiting Be Your Best's next start, Ryan has plenty more to look forward to from other members of his star homebred's family.

Just four days before Be Your Best's Gamely score, her half-brother Postmodern stamped his ticket to Royal Ascot after an eye-catching five-length debut win at Yarmouth on May 22 for owner Wathnan Racing and trainer Hamad Al Jehani.

“He has a blend of terrific speed, but he should be able to get a mile to a mile and an eighth and possibly a mile a quarter like Be Your Best,” said Ryan. “Too Darn Hot is one of the most exciting young stallions in Europe. I'm a huge fan of Dubawi (Ire) and he's one of Dubawi's best sons. Postmodern has gotten a lot of media attention. The manner of his win was super impressive and we're really looking forward to seeing him run in the Coventry, but he better be good because Aidan O'Brien has got a couple of nice Wootton Bassetts that are going to be there as well.”

With both Be Your Best and Postmodern showing sky's-the-limit potential for the latter half of the year, their dam Kamakura (Medaglia d'Oro) is well positioned to cement her status as a top-class broodmare for Ryan.

Ryan purchased Kamakura from Godolphin for 150,000gns at the 2016 Tattersalls July Sale. The 3-year-old was unraced, but came with a pedigree that was too good for Ryan to pass up.

“This was one the greatest pedigrees of Mr. [William] Farish, with Up the Flagpole (Hoist the Flag) and Flagbird (Nureyev),” Ryan described. “Those kinds of pedigrees are hard to access and when you have the opportunity, I prefer really good bloodlines over a mare that was a good race mare but doesn't have much pedigree.”

Already, Kamakura has had three winners from four to race, starting with her first foal Komachi (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) who sold for 625,000gns as a yearling back in 2019.

Ryan is hoping for more fireworks from the family this fall when the latest Kamakura yearling hits the sales ring. The mare's Baaeed (GB) filly was foaled and raised at Indian Creek, but recently sent to Ireland where she will point toward the Tattersalls October Sale.

Kamakura and her Cody's Wish foal | Katie Petrunyak

“She is very impressive,” Ryan noted. “She's a big, strong, powerful filly with a lot of Medaglia d'Oro in her. She's much bigger than Be Your Best.”

With Be Your Best's growing reputation in the U.S., Kamakura is here to stay for the time being. This year she produced a Cody's Wish colt and has since checked in foal to Nyquist.

“The family goes both ways,” explained Ryan. “There is a lot of dirt and grass in this pedigree, so it seems very versatile from that perspective. We don't have a half-sister right now except for the yearling filly that is going to sell at Tattersalls, so if she were carrying a Nyquist filly we would lean pretty heavily towards keeping her and racing her ourselves. The mare is only 12 years of age, so hopefully we'll have a few more years to get another filly out of her.”

Ryan said he has around 20 horses in his racing program. He is excited about several 2-year-old homebreds set to debut in the coming months, especially a half-sister to stakes winner Saddle Up Jessie (More Than Ready) named Give Your Best (Ire) (Too Darn Hot), as well as a filly he owns with his friend Jeff Drown called Sweet Little Lila (Ire) (Palace Pier {GB}) who is the first foal out of the partners' Grade I-placed mare Sassy Little Lila (Artie Schiller).

For Ryan, watching a mare like Kamakura make an impact on both sides of the Atlantic is the validation of a long-term vision. And he is confident that there is still more to come.

“She's on her way to becoming a blue hen like her great-grandmother Up the Flagpole,” he said. “It's a lot of fun. Believe me, we're enjoying the ride.”

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