Trainer Gerald Ryan is confident his Murwillumbah experiment can reap further dividends when stablemates Easy Play and Grand Lady clash at Doomben.Easy Play will be shooting for a hat-trick of wins in Wednesday's Electrical Trades Union Handicap (1200m) but Ryan expects the four-year-old to meet stiff opposition from her stablemate Grand Lady."They're both going well up there and Grand Lady should race on the pace while Easy Play will get back a little," Ryan said.Both mares are cared for by for

Trainer Gerald Ryan is confident his Murwillumbah experiment can reap further dividends when stablemates Easy Play and Grand Lady clash at Doomben.

Easy Play will be shooting for a hat-trick of wins in Wednesday's Electrical Trades Union Handicap (1200m) but Ryan expects the four-year-old to meet stiff opposition from her stablemate Grand Lady.

"They're both going well up there and Grand Lady should race on the pace while Easy Play will get back a little," Ryan said.

Both mares are cared for by foreman Matt Dunn who is in charge of Ryan's satellite stable at Murwillumbah in NSW's Northern Rivers region.

Ryan, a former Gold Coast trainer, has been at Rosehill for several years after quitting Queensland.

He believes the decision to open a satellite stable at Murwillumbah last November has been a huge success after recently landing his 28th winner from the country base.

"It's been good because I can keep horses in the system by training them at Murwillumbah," Ryan said.

"It keeps clients on my books and keeps horses with me that don't measure up to Sydney."

Ryan has 65 horses in work at Rosehill and has steadily built his Murwillumbah stable to around 25 after starting off with 15 last November.

"I've got horses at Murwillumbah which are more than paying their way up there," he said.

"Mazuka is racing well there now and Pyramids has won four times in Brisbane."

Pyramids was the first metropolitan winner from Ryan's Murwillumbah stable when he scored at Doomben in November.

"A lot of my horses go to Murwillumbah for education before I decide whether to send them here to Sydney or race them in Brisbane," Ryan said.

"I rent some stables across the road from the Murwillumbah racecourse and it's not far to take them to the beach for exercise.

"Being at Murwillumbah in a country environment is good for horses and there's good access to the Gold Coast and Brisbane.

"Easy Play is a good example of how Murwillumbah has helped.

"She had a bit of an attitude problem when she was in Sydney but the quieter environment at Murwillumbah has really helped and brought her along."

Ryan was reluctant to separate his pair but warned Grand Lady, who won first-up in her Queensland debut at Ipswich on August 20, had trained on well.

"Grand Lady's a Randwick winner who was also a bit temperamental when she was in Sydney, but she's trained on since going up there," he said.