Ryley Major has been retired

Ryley Major (Art Major), a local champion of the Tasmanian harness racing scene, has been retired.

Connections made the heart-breaking decision after the 10-year-old gelding pulled up sore after a trial at Carrick Park that he won on Monday night.

The winner of 35 races was trained and driven for most of his career by Rohan Hillier, who bred and raced the pacer with his wife, Katrina.

Ryley Major was the first foal out of Group 1 winning mare Shez Ryleymak, who was also raced by the Hillier clan.

Ryley Major won two of his six starts as a two-year-old before hitting his straps at three, winning eight consecutive races, including the Group 3 Tasmanian Derby and the Group 3 Globe Derby (Tas Sires’ Stakes).

Ryley Major was sidelined for three years from the track after a race at Melton in July 2016 after sustaining an injury.

“He had two bowed tendons in the same leg, and we gave him plenty of time to get over them both times,” Hillier recalled.

He returned with a win in Launceston in March 2019 and won at metropolitan level at Melton in the same month.

“That win at Melton was my favourite win.

“He won a C5 to 7 at a tier two meeting in Launceston on the Sunday night, and we chucked him in a M0 only at Melton six days later.

“To then go out and run 1m 54.6s, I was happy to show what I knew he was capable of,” Hillier recalled.

In April 2019, he contested his first Easter Cup, where he finished third behind Franco Tristan.

Later that year, he would claim another Group 3 when winning the Golden Apple in Launceston.

2020 proved to be another successful year, winning the Listed Hobart Pacing Cup on his way to winning the state’s premier race, the Tasmania Cup, off the maximum back mark of 30m.

“It was the race you grew up always wanting to win.

“I thought he was always good enough to win a race like that, but off 30 metres, it was a tough ask, and it was a pretty quality field that year, said Hillier.

In 2021 he added another Group 3 win when coming off 30m to win in the Devonport Pacing Cup by 8.7m, and recorded yet another placing in the Easter Cup behind Scooterwillrev.

Again in 2022, he raced at the state’s top level, winning the Danbury Park Cup and a heat of the Tasmania Cup, where he finished second to Gotta Good Reason in the Group 1 Final.

He also recorded placings in the Hobart Cup and Golden Apple Final.

He only had two starts in 2023, filling the placings in the Hobart Pacing Cup and Elite Free For All, and up until his recent trial, he was on track for another tilt at the Tasmania and Easter Cups.

Ryley Major finishes his racing career with 77 starts, 35 wins, 33 minor placings and stake earnings of $416,873.

Hillier said he expected the pacer to recover to be sound in the paddock to enjoy his retirement at his Beauty Point property.

by Duncan Dornauf, for Tasracing