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Irish-born apprentice Erica Byrne-Burke celebrated her best day at the races with a riding double in Devonport on Sunday.
Erica Byrne-Burke landed her first winner aboard her favourite horse, Silkstone, in the Tasmanian Horse Transport benchmark 66 handicap over 1150m for her master Adam Trinder and she capped the day with a win aboard stablemate Sanction King in the Nova Design and Print benchmark 78 handicap over 1350m.
The talented rider arrived in Australia from Ireland about 18 months ago and started her venture in Sydney but with restricted opportunities, she looked afar
and heard Trinder was looking for an apprentice, she applied and landed the job.
The 23-year-old had her first rides in Devonport on May 09, the same day Chloe Wells made her debut which resulted in a win at her very first ride.
It took Byrne-Burke a bit longer to break the ice, but she did it in style with a double.
"It's great to finally get the win and to land a double is quite special," Byrne-Burke said.
"Having Silkstone as my first winner is special because he is my favourite horse in the stable as I do all of his trackwork and we get on so well."
She led throughout on Silkstone and was always confident of winning.
"We were running along at a solid tempo, and I knew at the 600m that we would win he felt so good and was traveling comfortably."
It was the complete opposite with Sanction King as Byrne-Burke had him settled last and they were still in that position straightening for the run home, but once she balanced the gelding, he thundered home to win convincingly from Galway Girl and Invincible Rock.
Silkstone was also stable employee Mia Dodd's first winner as a strapper.