Melissa wastes no time hitting home

Melissa Harrison left the Illawarra nearly two decades ago, riding and working for the Murray clan. This month the 38-year-old returned to the region from Taree as a trainer in her own right.

Taking up boxes on Kembla's famous Kingston Town Drive, the Shellharbour local is the latest edition to the training ranks on the South Coast.

"The opportunity came up with these stables to rent with the house and I thought it would be a great chance to get home," Harrison said at her new stable next to the Murrays.

"One of my horses, Road To Summer, is owned by my uncle who lives down here and he set up RTS Thoroughbreds and they have been buying yearlings with Channel Seven's Simon Marshall picking them. That has a lot to do with me coming back here, too, which is handy."

Road To Summer has been Harrison's stable flagbearer over the past 12 months.

The six-year-old made it five wins on end last spring including a memorable triumph at Rosehill in October.

It completed a remarkable rise from local trackwork rider to racing's big time, but was one which Harrison would happily tread again.

She began her training career after leaving for the North Coast 15 years ago.

"My husband got a job in Taree and we went up there when I was riding and working for the Murrays back then. We went up there and a publican gave me a horse to train and that is how I got my licence. It went on from there," Harrison explains.

"Her name was Britt's Opera and she was actually my first runner and winner at Randwick. There was a connection because it was owned by all the people at the pub and Corey Brown was from Wingham where I was working, so it was uncanny."

First-time wins seem to be something Harrison has become a bit of an expert at.

With her first runner back at Kembla Grange on Saturday she notched up a debut winner when Mydream, ridden by apprentice Jess Taylor, outlasted her rivals.

Coincidentally the horse is one owned by her husband Matthew, who has joined Harrison on the South Coast with their son and her parents.

They hope it is the first of many victories as she looks to continue making a name for herself on the South Coast.

"I am definitely looking to expand. I really want to have a go at it while we are here," Harrison said. "With these great facilities it should be good because we didn't have anything like this when I was at Taree."