Apprentice hoop Heidi Gillie back in the saddle after tough run

By Jordan Gerrans

After a tumultuous 2023, apprentice hoop Heidi Gillie is eager to finish the year on a positive note in her new venture in the Sunshine State.

The 27-year-old emerging rider has been through the wringer in recent months - to put it lightly.

The former apprentice of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace's suffered liver failure earlier this year and when she was almost set to return to race day action following that, she broke her leg in two places.

Gillie has not ridden in a race since late May of this year and will make a return on the non-TAB circuit at Bundaberg on Saturday afternoon.

The up-and-coming jockey has transferred her apprenticeship to be under the guidance of Stradbroke Handicap-winning trainer Natalie McCall at Caloundra.

“Being sick put my life into perspective,” Gillie said on Friday morning not long after she finished track work at Corbould Park.

“I thought life was too short and I wanted to race ride as well as being closer to my family.

“Once I started to feel better, one of my friends got me a few rides at the Sunshine Coast track and I met Nat and it has gone from there.

“Everything has fallen into place and felt right since then.

“I have learned a lot about my body since being sick and I am now juggling fatigue, rest days, recovery and all that a lot better now. Fitness and health is my passion.”

Gillie hails from Warrnambool in country Victoria and has spent time riding in Sydney as well as the Northern Rivers of NSW on loan before relocating to Queensland.

The Sunshine Coast move made sense to be closer to members of her family as well as to pursue her riding ambitions.

“I decided to take the time to recover with my family here in Queensland and have a go up here,” she said.

“I wanted to be closer to my family. I am one of nine kids and a lot of them and their families are up here.

“As I have been getting sent on loan and getting moved around previously, I have had no one around me ever so it is nice to now have that support around me now.”

It is widely accepted that jockeys need to put their bodies under stress to lose weight to ride on race day.

While Gillie was doing that, she was also training to be a competitive body-builder.

She over worked her body through wasting and training in the gym and soon found herself bed-ridden for 20 hours a day for two months with liver failure.

“I ended up having stage three liver failure, which was pretty serious,” the apprentice hoop said.

“I was feeling not so great for a little while and I just kept pushing, pushing and pushing before I had the liver failure.

“I got a blood infection as well so I was struggling. There is no medication for it, all you can do is to stop putting your liver under strain so I just had to eat organic and stuff like that.

“I got on to that straight away, which means I can make a full recovery.”

Reflecting back on it all, Gillie says she is not struggling with her eating at all at the moment and believes she is as fit and healthy as she has ever been.

Gillie was a mature-age apprentice, having her maiden race rides back in 2021.

She has 21 winners to her name and can ride on the provincial circuit, as well.

Gillie heads to the sand of Bundaberg on Saturday with four rides for Sunshine Coast trainer Trevor Thomas and one for local Bundaberg trainer Darryl Gardiner.

“Trevor has put me on all of his after I rode a jump-out for him recently so I am grateful for that,” she said.

“That is big for him to do that for a jockey who is on their first day back. I have been on the mechanical horse and I am feeling like my rhythm and everything is still intact.”