John Tapp Racing

“I’ll just wake up one day and say to myself that’ll do me,” was the reply given by Greg Ryan when quizzed about a likely retirement date on a podcast posted on October 27th 2020.  He was then 54 years old and still riding in races. The winners were flowing and so were the opportunities from a wide range of prominent stables. That fateful day was to arrive just six weeks later. Greg was booked for six rides at a Mudgee meeting on Friday December 4th, including three for Sydney trainer Bjorn Baker. As he drove away from his Dubbo home for the 126km trip to Mudgee, not even wife Pauline knew this was to be her husband’s final day as a professional jockey. The punter’s favourite had to settle for a fourth and a third on his first two mounts, but was quietly chuffed when he came from well back to win a 1200m maiden on Without Shame for longtime supporter Sue Grills. His final three rides all finished out of a place, and still he hadn’t breathed a word to anybody about his impending retirement. The fact that he ha