She could light up an empty room – and is missed more than words can say

Following the verdict, Margaret and Drew Wilson said yesterday: "She was a dream come true for us. Her friends said she could light up an empty room.

"We are so very proud of Jan and her achievements all through her short but full life and thank all those who helped her get there and made her into the girl we miss so much."

Mrs Wilson added: "Drew and I miss her more than words can say. I hope through the Jockey Jan Memorial Fund our Jan will live on and help others and benefit them as she would like."

The couple also voiced their thanks in particular for the British Racing School at Newmarket where Jan went in 2007 after leaving the family farm in Scotland, and all those at the North Yorkshire yards of Ferdy and Paul Murphy, and David Barron where "the fairy tale really started" for Jan when she began riding Imperial Sword for him.

"She loved that horse to bits, in fact she loved them all," Mrs Wilson added. "Out of 10 rides on him she had three wins and a second.

"Jan proves if you give a girl the same chance they're every bit as good as the lads."

The teenager broke her nose coming out of the stalls on her first race at Goodwood when still an amateur. Her former boss Paul Murphy recalled: "She did not whine or stop. She came back with two black eyes and blood running down her face and laughed about it."

Like many people in her life, the Leyburn-based trainer's son Paul became a friend as well as an employer.

The Murphys usually recruit from the Northern Racing College so to get someone from Newmarket was unusual but Jan had her heart set on coming to Ferdy in 2007 because of his yard's success in Scotland, training three winners of the Scottish National.

Paul Murphy recalled: "Jan was very, very bubbly. First in the yard in the morning. I never saw the girl in a bad mood. I'll never forget her big cheery face and her typical Scottish hello with about ten noughts on the end.

"She would do everything for anyone any time. Her mates used to ring at 3am asking for lifts from a nightclub and she would go. It is just the way she was."

It was Paul and her mother who bought her first horse, Bedfellow, as an amateur jockey. She was too small and frail for jumping so she wanted a flat racing horse.

Although she neither drank nor smoked in those early days she was held back, however, by a lack of physical fitness. Mr Murphy said: "After she rode Bedfellow at Beverley she was full of herself but so out of breath she could hardly breathe.

"In front of her mother I told her she was wasting my time, wasting her mother's time and wasting her own time if she was not fit enough to do the sport.

"She did not go off crying. The next morning she said – 'I joined a gym last night'. Most people would have sulked for a week. She rode him the next time and never again blew after a race.After that she was a fitness fanatic."

She loved dancing, shopping and her mobile phone. But with a steely ambition to emulate the likes of Italian-born champion Frankie Dettori and to ride more winners than top female jockey Hayley Turner, her amateur days were numbered.

She decided to go pro as an apprentice for David Barron, riding her first winner, Imperial Sword at Ripon.

"It was a laugh a minute with Jan," said Mr Murphy, who added: "If you were in a bad mood she would soon put you in a good one," Mr Murphy added.

She improved very quickly through her hard work.

"She was obsessed with the game. She wanted to be a champion . She missed Scotland and her mum and dad but as long as she was around horses she was happy.

"Her mum and dad doted on her. The way she was taken away from them was shocking."