TWO furlongs out, she knew she’d done it. Amy Ryan knew she had her first winner as a professional jockey.

Wolverhampton isn’t York.

The all-weather track is a place strictly for the enthusiast. But you can bet it’s a venue the North Yorkshire-based 19-year-old will never ever forget.

Neither will the Horizons Restaurant–The Place To Dine Claiming Stakes, a Class 6 five-furlong contest with a first prize of just under £1,900, fade easily from her memory.

When Ryan, the daughter of Hambleton trainer Kevin Ryan, ditched her amateur status at the turn of the year and became an apprentice, she knew there was only hard work ahead.

She’d ridden more than 15 winners in the part-time sphere – and had been crowned lady champion – but taking on the big boys is something different entirely.

Ryan had planned to use the all-weather as a training ground – a place to hone her craft before making a real impact when the turf season starts at the end of this month.

Then Harry Up on February 26 fired home by three-and-a-quarter lengths to push her into the winner’s enclosure for the first time as a fully paid-up member of the racing fraternity.

For Ryan, who says she has never wanted to do anything else with her life, there was beautiful symmetry.

“Harry Up was my first ever winner as an amateur and now he’s my first ever winner as an apprentice,” she said. “He was my first winner at 16 and it meant so much to win on him.

“You just have to jump and let him go. He is just a star – the easiest ride. I had been at Southwell before I rode Harry Up. I rode in the apprentice race there and that was no good.

“I got a lift across to Wolverhampton. I was a bit nervous but you just have to leave him to it. He knows more about racing than I do. He jumps out, you have to make the running on him and the quicker you go the better.

“We led, kicked off the bend and he bolted up by three lengths. He’s very quick and if you can get two or three lengths off the bend then they won’t catch you.

“It was brilliant. I love him. It is all I have ever wanted to do.”

Ryan didn’t have to wait long to double up. Grimes Faith was next barely a week later – holding off Colorus by a neck at Southwell.

“I just get on with Grimes Faith,” she added. “I had ridden him a week before and I’d dropped my stick and finished third on him. He probably could have won. At Southwell, it was my next ride after Harry Up and it was great.

“He’s not the easiest of rides. He is keen and you’ve got to take him down to the start steadily.

“He travelled well and he hit the front, but he wouldn’t do more than he has to.”

After two winners in a week, Ryan won’t be riding again until the grass. With only three victories to go before her valuable seven-pound claim becomes just five, it’s an advantage she wants to keep for some bigger handicaps.

She is enjoying the professional life and, with female pioneer Hayley Turner single-handedly breaking down barriers, there has never been a better time for a woman to start out in the sport.

“It’s a lot nicer to ride against professionals,” Ryan added.

“It’s a lot safer. It’s not easier but you learn a lot more from them and they have been really good with me and have helped me a lot.

“It is everything. It was my dream to be an apprentice but dad wasn’t too keen on the idea and he just wanted me to get a lot of experience first. You get thrown in the deep end when you are riding against professionals. It’s a lot different.

“I know a lot of people are negative and say it is going to be hard. I am under no illusions.

“I know it is going to be hard, especially when I get down to a 5lb claim – I’ve only got three winners left on my seven-pound claim.

“This year it is all about getting rides – for outside trainers as well, getting down to my 5lb claim and then setting higher hopes for the year after.

“I would like to aim for 15 winners for the year and try to get noticed more. To become Champion Apprentice next year would be a dream but you have to aim high.”

Ryan continued: “I think Hayley is awesome, she’s brilliant. I am good friends with Hayley as well and she is a great help, and Cathy Gannon is the same. They are brilliant riders.

“People say lads are stronger than girls; she has proven that is wrong. She rides for everybody now.”

And dad’s advice? “Enjoy yourself” is what Kevin told his daughter as she prepared for her first ride as a pro. Amy Ryan is determined to do just that.