Ryan prepares lightly-raced three-year-old King's Troop, a well-bred colt which bumped into Japonisme at two of his three career starts during the winter.
In their two meetings, King's Troop was only beaten a length and half a length over the 1100-metre Rosehill course, including a second in the Group III San Domenico Stakes.
So when Japonisme triumphed in the premier spring sprint for three-year-olds on October 31, it gave Ryan a welcome boost as he prepares King's Troop for a tilt at the $1 million Magic Millions Sprint (1100m) on the Gold Coast in January.
"That was only his first racing preparation as well so you would think he is going to improve off it,” Ryan said.
"He'll be trialling at Rosehill in two weeks and then hopefully head to the Magic Millions Sprint.
"Whether he has a run before that I'm not sure of yet.”
King's Troop is a close relative to Ryan's former star and now established sire Snitzel, but physically there are differences between the pair.
Snitzel was precocious enough to win a Breeders' Plate, the first two-year-old race of the season in Sydney, while King's Troop has taken time to grow and mature.
"He's going terrific so far, and he's definitely bigger and stronger now,” Ryan said.
"But he's still got more (growing) to do.”
The Magic Millions Sprint is an open age quality with a maximum field size of 12 starters plus five emergencies.
Ryan said he could also take Festival Stakes nominee Peace Force to the Gold Coast for the Magic Millions meeting on January 9.
"We'll see after Saturday if she goes to the Villiers and then has a freshen-up or she might just have a freshen-up now and then go straight to the mares' race,” he said.
"But you could run her in the Magic Millions Cup or even the 1800 race, depending on what she does in the next month.”