Rookie Scone trainer Liam Ruddy has already shown he’s not afraid to have a crack, whatever the odds, on or off the track, as he tries to build his stable.

And while Ruddy did not expect Saturday’s group 2 Missile Stakes at Randwick to come up as strong as it has, the 26-year-old is not shying away from the challenge with $151 shot Aviatress.

“She’s found probably the deepest Missile in probably the last 10 years,” Ruddy said.

“I think off the last few years, a 102-rater like her would be about the top rater, and she’s found one that isn’t the case.

“She will run because the next week you’ve got a benchmark 94 and she’s a group 3 winner, so there’s no point going back to benchmarks. The week after there’s the Show County over 1200m, but she’s going to get some weight. There’s a 1100 mares race as well, but I don’t want to go back to 1100.

“Three weeks between runs is the Mona Lisa Stakes at Wyong, which is probably the perfect race for her, over 1350m. The week after there’s the group 2 Sheraco over 1200.

“I think she’s got to run and if she gets beat four or five lengths by this lot, she’s probably the right horse for one of those mares races. I think she’ll hold her own.”

Ruddy paid $360,000 for the mare, now six, at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in May after she won more than $575,000 across 23 starts for Richard and Chantelle Jolly. On debut for Ruddy, she was six and half lengths off the pace in the July Sprint (1100m) three weeks ago on a heavy Rosehill track.

He said Aviatress’s “wheels spun” on the surface after tracking well into the race and he expected a better performance at Randwick, which was a soft 5 on Friday.

Aviatress has been among many several horses, tried or yearlings, Ruddy has bought to kick-start his new stable, which had its first runner last December. That became possible when Ruddy, and Cade Hunter from Hunter Lodge, bought subsequent JJ Atkins winner Tron Bolt for $250,000 as a yearling then sold him for $900,000 to Hermitage.

It was the major boost the former Ciaron Maher racing manager needed to go out on his own with partner Emily Kelly, an ex-assistant trainer to Annabel Archibald at Scone. But for the ambitious Ruddy, a former jumps jockey who came to Australia from Scotland seven years ago, it is only the beginning.

“He was a good result and we had a few other little bits on the way, but when you try to set up training, if you want to get upscale, it takes a shit-ton of money to get on your way, so it’s all back in,” Ruddy said.

“We bought some yearlings this year and probably 10 tried horses this last six months, so we’re chips in buying horses. It’s not sat in a bank, I can tell you. Hopefully we can find a good one the next few years and we’ll be away.

“I worked 48 horses this morning. I’ve got a farm and 10 boxes at the track, and I’m about to get another 30 at the track, so I’ll be up to 65 boxes.

“It’s going to take a year or two, but hopefully we can be in the position where we’ve got 60-80 horses out there and be a decent force in the country.”

Ruddy has had eight wins overall so far but six city runners without a placing, including $350,000 buy Melody Again running 10th in the group 1 Tatt’s Tiara.

“It’s chewed me up and spat me out, to be honest, but that’s all right,” he said of metro racing.

“We’ve had a group 1 runner and come four lengths off them, and finish fourth in a listed race. For me, seven or eight months into training, it’s good to put saddles on horses at that level.”

Apprentice ready to work after Crown Lodge call-up

Apprentice Shannen Llewellyn stumbled into racing just five years ago because she wanted a second job.

Now the 25-year-old former Woolworths assistant manager is ready to work even harder to make the most of a golden opportunity to ride for three-time Australian premiership-winning trainer Ciaron Maher.

Llewellyn is set to start on August 17 at Maher’s newly acquired NSW headquarters, Crown Lodge in Warwick Farm, after being offered a three-month loan stint.

The Wyong-based rider is set to move from Newcastle trainer Nathan Doyle and hopes to turn the chance into a long-term position with Maher.

“I was shocked that there was interest because obviously you don’t expect people like that to be watching you and wanting you to come around,” Llewellyn said.

“I’m just grateful that they offered it to me and I’m just taking it with a grain of salt. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself.

“Going from 50 to 150 horse, it will definitely be a big change, but I like to work, and that’s what I’ll be doing.

“I’ve had a pretty good stint with Nathan, but I think the opportunities are drying up with him, so it’s long overdue for a move.

“Ciaron has more numbers and he’s able to spread them around a bit and utilise me more. It’s a bit tougher when you’re with a smaller stable to get those opportunities.”

Llewellyn had her first race ride in February 2024 for initial boss Brett Robb and has since racked up 152 winners, including seven at metropolitan level. One of those, Cherish Me, was for Maher last month at Randwick.

She now hopes to maximise her two-kilogram provincial claim with Maher before focusing on the city.

On Saturday, Llewellyn has the chance on eight-year-old Eliyass ($41) for Maher in the Premiers’ Cup Prelude (1800m). Third in the 2024 group 1 Turnbull Stakes and a two-time group 3 winner at Randwick, Eliyass is second-up from more than a year out with injury. He finished well back in his return in the Civic Stakes in June.

“I trialled him on the Beaumont track as he was resuming after a long time off,” Llewellyn said.

“It’s really good to get on a nice horse like that. He was a good horse in his day, so it will good to take him around.”

She also reunites with Paul Perry-trained Cosy Corner ($17) in the Midway Handicap. She was a close fourth on the mare two starts ago in a Rosehill Midway.

“She’s a lovely little horse and she was very gallant and unlucky in the Midway at Rosehill to run into a horse of Cold Brew’s calibre,” she said.

“She was beaten not even a length to him, so there’s some good form there. She tries her guts out.”

Her other ride is Beaumista ($18) for Scone trainer Simon Casey in the Highway Handicap.