Racing
Meaburn set to debut on the big stage
Ashley Meaburn will jump into the deep end when she lines up with her first runners as a trainer in Hobart on Sunday afternoon.
Meaburn, 24, only has two horses in work, and they'll both be in action on the 10-event card.
Royal Dispatch will line up in a BM64 (1600m) while Ashfall takes on the state's best weight-for-age horses in the $125,000 Listed Kevin Sharkie The Inevitable Stakes (1600m).
Meaburn has a part-ownership in both horses, along with other members of her extended family.
"It's funny how it's worked out that I'm kicking off on a big day like this, but it's exciting as well," Meaburn said.
Meaburn comes from a racing family, with her grandfather, Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Goggin, and her mother, Luella Maeburn, also at one time a registered trainer.
"I grew up in a racing stable at Runnymede, and it's basically all I've ever known.
"I've been with horses all my life, through pony club and Off the Track horses. I've done a lot of eventing, showjumping and dressage, a bit of everything, and it's in the last five years I've come back to trackwork riding, and I just love it."
Maeburn has taken over the training complex at her family property in Runnymede, which still retains much of the infrastructure from the Goggin/Maeburn training partnership, which last saddled up a runner in 2022.
In terms of her two runners on Sunday, Meaburn says that both will take improvement from however they perform, with an eye to more suitable targets down the line.
"Royal Dispatch will appreciate going out to a mile this time, and in his own grade, he'll be better suited. He's still learning what it's all about, and we'll take this prep to get all the little things right with him. He should be a really nice stayer going forward.
"Ashfall is out of his grade, but the Conquering and The Inevitable were probably the best races that fit in for him heading towards the Hobart and Launceston Cups."
Inevitable Stakes betting is set to be dominated by Durazzo, who has started well into the red in his past two victories in the Newmarket (1200m) and Conquering (1400m).
Sunday's card, the last of 2025, is an outstanding one to round out the year. Mazzini and Crack the Shutters will renew their rivalry in the $125,000 Listed Ladbrokes Tasmanian Guineas (1600m), while the $50,000 The Wakeful Club Brighton Cup (2020m) is another stepping stone to races like the Devonport and Hobart Cups.
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