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Ed O'Rourke's Murwillumbah stable has been ticking over nicely so far this season and the former Irish trainer looks poised for further success at his home track on Monday.

O'Rourke has had five winners from just 13 starts since the season kicked off on August 1 for a 38 per cent win strike rate and 62 per cent place strite rate.

The Irishman, who moved to Australia in 2011 and formerly trained at Randwick, headed north to Murwillumbah earlier this year to take up an offer to train for Emmanuel Bloodstock.

Trainer Edward O'Rourke (Pic: Bradley Photos).

He has had eight winners in total since he had his first runners from his Murwillumbah stable on May 31. Jockey Ben Looker has teamed with the stable in each of those eight wins and partners all the O'Rourke runners again on Monday.

"Things have being going very well since we had our first runners at the end of May," said O'Rourke.

"We have a nice team of horses and the club (Tweed River Jockey Club) have been very good to us. Hopefully, we can team up with Ben again and pick up another win or two here at Murwillumbah on Monday."

Murwillumbah's meeting on Monday is shaping up on paper as a battle between the local stables of O'Rourke and leading trainer Matt Dunn. O'Rourke and Dunn runners square off in four of the seven races.

O'Rourke's runners are Current who resumes in the Maiden Plate (1200m), Wave Maker in the Class 1 (1200m), Zavy's Hope in the Benchmark 66 (2020m), Vertical in the Benchmark 58 (1100m) and Rumberella in the Class 2 Hcp (1550m).

Wave Maker and Rumberella were dual acceptors - Wave Maker also an acceptor with Vertical in the Benchmark 58 and Rumberella an acceptor with Zavy's Hope in the Benchmark 66 - but O'Rourke obviously wanted to avoid his runners clashing.

The trainer is particularly keen on the chances of the consistent Zavy's Hope and last-start winner Wave Maker.

Wave Maker resumed to lead all the way in a Grafton Maiden over 1115m on September 29 while Zavy's Hope, an I Am Invincible mare, has been racing very well in her three starts this campaign.

Zavy's Hope won first-up at Lismore in a Maiden over 1516m on August 3, then successfully stepped up to a Class 2 over 1710m at Grafton on August 31. She is coming off a last-start third to Glycine Max and Hayate over 2230m at Grafton September 21 when she led until the dying stages.

The mare carried 58.5kg last start but drops to 55kg in Monday's Benchmark 66.

"I'm very pleased with how Zavy's Hope's been racing and I'd rate her the best of my runners on Monday, just ahead of Wave Maker," said O'Rourke.

"She's up in class but down in weight and the drop back to 2020m will suit her. There looks like there may be more speed in this race than has been the case in her recent runs when she's led, but I'll leave the ridng tactics up to Ben (Looker). I'm keen on her chances and expect her to be right there at the finish on Monday.

"Wave Maker won nicely first-up, even though his coat wasn't quite there. He's improved a fair bit off that first-up win and I think the 1200m Class 1 on Monday is a more suitable race than the 1115m race."

O'Rourke thinks his other three runners can all be competitive.

Vertical, who resumes in the Benchmark 58, geared up for his return to racing with an easy Grafton 1020m barrier trial win over stablemate Current by almost six lengths on September 29.

"I'm very pleased with how Vertical is coming along. He will definitely improve with this run and he does have to carry 60.5kg, but I expect him to be very competitive," said O'Rourke.

"Current is also coming along nicely but will also improve with this run. She has had a few quirks we've had to deal with but she seems to be heading in the right direction."

Wave Maker wins at Grafton on September 29

Rumberella rounds out the O'Rourke runners on Monday when he lines up in the final race, the Class 2 Hcp over 1550m.

He resumed with an encouraging two-length second to Beat That in a Class 1 over 1420m at Grafton on September 21, making good ground late.

"I was very happy with his first-up run and his stats show that he's always been very effective at his second run back," said the trainer.

Rumberella has a win and two good seconds from his three previous second-up runs.

"Hopefully, we can have some success on Monday, but we are up against the Matt Dunn team. Matt's a great trainer and always hard to beat, especially here at Murwillumbah where he's been having great success, so it won't be easy."

Dunn has won nine of the 13 races from the two most recent Murwillumbah meetings - four at the seven-race meeting on August 28 and the first five winners (plus a photo-finish second in the final race) at the six-race card on July 2.

Dunn accepted with five runners (Uprise, Legato Feeling, Think High, Exodia and Valle De Lei) against O'Rourke's Current in the Maiden Plate, Pieloce and Maspoeta tackling Wave Maker in the Class 1, Vivendo Il Sogno and Rest Of The World lining up against Vertical in the Benchmark 58 and Bell's Approaching, Divine Diva and Devine Grey up against Rumberella in the final event.

All the fields, form and replays for Monday's Murwillumbah meeting