“It’s such a big relief to get this first win out of the way. Let’s hope it will open up the door to more wins now,” said Meech, wearing a smile that spoke volumes about her state of mind.

“It’s been a huge shock to the system coming here as I was used to riding winners every week back in Australia.

“But I knew my turn would come eventually, and it did today as I was on a good horse.”

Happy Everybody, a former Victorian known as Probable, had had three starts for a second and a third prior to Sunday’s win, gave his 13 rivals no chance the moment he found the fence from barrier 9.

Meech had a good hold of her mount throughout the 1200m journey and only scrubbed him up at the 200m mark. Big Choice (Terry Ong) was the only one who narrowed the deficit a little at the business end but still had to concede 2 ½ lengths on the wire.

It was also fitting Meech’s first win was also supplied by one of his staunchest supporters thus far, trainer Steven Burridge.

“She highly deserves that win as she works really hard. She hasn’t had the best horses to ride but today Happy Everybody was a top chance and she didn’t let it slip by,” said Burridge