It was a stroke of luck that saw Yvette Lewis land in Tamworth but it's been hard work and dedication that saw the young jockey crack into the riding ranks last June.
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June 8 - to be exact. The 20 year-old apprentice remembers the day well.
"It was a good way to kick off," Lewis said.
"It was for my boss Sue [Grills] which was really good. Just the thrill and the adrenaline I got from it was amazing."
It fulfilled the dream of a girl who grew up in Tingha wanting to take after her mother - jockey-turned-trainer Virginia Heron.
But Tingha not having a race track meant Lewis would have to move to chase that dream.
And how Lewis actually ended up at Sue Grills' stables in Tamworth came down to being in the right place at the right time.
"I was down in Moonbi competing in a team penning even and then we came to Tamworth for a showjumping event," Lewis said.
"Sue was there. We talked to Sue and a couple months later, we moved down here."
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Before the move, Lewis had to overcome some other hurdles as well.
"As I started getting older, I thought I'd be too tall and become too heavy," she said.
"But I left school, and I was able to maintain a good weight so I came down here [Tamworth] and gave it a go."
That was in November 2017. She learned the ropes under Sue as a trackwork rider before getting her start last year.
Lewis now has 38 winners to her name at a strike rate of 12.3 per cent.
And like many country jockeys, those winners have come at a range of locations.
The most have come at Tamworth and Inverell but the list includes wins at Dalby, Grafton, Lismore and Gilgandra.
The travel is one aspect Lewis would gladly go without but knows it goes with the territory.
"Every jockey does the miles so it's just a part of what you got to do. It's part of the job," Lewis said.
Lewis' goal for now is to out-ride her country claim and wants to one day ride in the city.
