Champion bush jockey Greg Ryan has ridden his 3000th winner, reaching the milestone in a maiden race in country NSW on Tuesday.

Ryan, 47, partnered the Luke Griffith-trained Akamas to a clear-cut win in the Carlton Mid Maiden Plate (1600m) to give him 3000-1/2 winners.

A motor mechanic who turned to the saddle as a 25-year-old, Ryan joins Robert Thompson and Jack Thompson as the only Australian jockeys to ride 3000 winners.

Akamas' victory also brought up Ryan's 100th win for the racing season, putting him in fifth place in the 2012-2013 national jockeys' title.

"It's taken 20 something years to get there. I didn't realise until someone rang the other day," Ryan said leading up to the Tamworth meeting.

Ryan rode his first winner, Standard Time, at Wellington on February 9, 1991.

But his first few years of riding returned a modest 49 winners until a breakout season in 1993-94.

Only a handful of his wins have been recorded outside NSW.

He celebrated the milestone by riding the Griffith-trained Double Halo to win the following race on the Tamworth card.

Robert Thompson has ridden 3862 winners while Jack Thompson finished his career with 3322 victories.