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By Ray Hickson

November 2 of 2021 is a day Nicholas Hyde would rather forget, but it’s one he can’t because it was the day he gave up on being a jockey.

The toll of dieting to keep the weight on his 175cm frame down to a manageable level, and fulfil his commitments, was all too much and when he fell afoul of stewards for his weight twice at that Sapphire Coast meeting he’d had enough.

He was lucky the stewards allowed him to ride at all that day. Being a busy race day across the state there were limited jockey numbers so he was permitted to ride one at 2.5kg over and another at a staggering 5.5kg over (he rode it at 4.5kg over). Neither placed. He was fined.

“I thought ‘that’s me done, I don’t want to do this any more’,” Hyde said.

“Just being so tall, I guess you could say I was a bit immature and didn’t respect what I had to do.

“I started to face some weight trouble and through constant dieting I started to hate the industry. So I walked away from it.

“I was so zonked out, I just needed a good holiday so I didn’t worry about doing any work. Just got back to a normal life for a while.”

Nick Hyde runs second on Cumboogle in his comeback ride at Narromine (Pic: Janian McMillan).

His first shot at an apprenticeship lasted 33 rides, he rode one winner which happened to be on his birthday in 2021 at Nowra – nobody was there to see him do it and he couldn’t celebrate properly due to the COVID protocols at the time.

Last weekend Hyde, who turns 27 on Wednesday, made what you’d have to say was an unlikely comeback to race riding. Especially given how he felt about it on that fateful day at the Sapphire Coast.

And it was almost a fairytale return as he went down in a photo at his first ride back, on a horse called Cumboogle, in an 800m scamper at Narromine.

Where he’s been in the over three and a half years since is surprising. Because it makes you think how easy it is to be anonymous in the racing world.

Initially he returned to his home town of Dubbo and couch surfed for about a month. One day his father, trainer Darren Hyde, called on him to ride a horse in trackwork when a staff member didn’t turn up.

“So I went out and jumped on it, and got the bug back,’’ he said.

“But I wasn’t going to come back riding so I went back to the city and ended up with Gary Portelli.

“The first horse I ever galloped for Gary was an unnamed two-year-old and she ended up being called Fireburn. She was never a crash hot trackwork horse."

Yes, that's Golden Slipper winner Fireburn - little did he know then.

“The same morning I jumped on Sejardan as well. I thought ‘wow, this is a proper racehorse’," he said.

“I started to think if that’s what it’s like to sit on them in trackwork, I’d love to know what it’s like to sit on them on race day.

“But it was more of a dream because at one stage I was walking around about 82kg, and I didn’t want to put myself through it again.”

Hyde says he’s been lucky enough to work with all of Portelli’s top liners over the past few years, including the likes of Encap and Kimochi, and has played strapper on occasion.

In his time at Warwick Farm he’s struck up a friendship with leading jockey Jason Collett and he says advice from Collett, and Josh Parr, particularly paved the way for him to make a comeback.

But to do it the right way and learn how to keep his weight in check.

“I picked their brain on what they do on the dieting side,’’ he said.

“They’re very down to earth and humble guys and before I knew it I was back down to 59-60kg just letting the body do its own thing.

“It took a fair while to have a look at coming back, just because I was still finding out what did and what didn’t work for me.

Nick Hyde on strapping duties after Encap won the Theo Marks last spring. (Pic: Bradley Photos).

“There was a day I was talking to Janet Nestor, who is Kody Nestor’s mother, and she brought up what she calls an everyday diet. Have everything I have but just downsize my portions.

“So I was doing that as well as what Jason was telling me, and I’ve gradually got my weight down to 55kg. I’ve been able to maintain in between 54.5kg and 57kg and I’ve just enjoyed it.

“I guess you could say I found a new lease on life and thought I’d have a crack at it again.”

This weekend Hyde will venture to Gundagai on Saturday and back home to Dubbo on Sunday where at the latter meeting he’ll reunite with Cumboogle in the Dubbo RSL 178 Restaurant Handicap (1000m).

The gelding is trained by Brett Thompson, Hyde is likely to transfer his apprenticeship to Thompson in the coming weeks, and he’ll ride it at 59kg after his 4kg claim.

He said he has every reason to think he can get that breakthrough win over the weekend and in Cumboogle’s case he knows he’s on a horse that will try his best.

“It was good to get on a very competitive horse like that, especially with a big weight like he had so I didn’t have to worry about weight,’’ he said.

“We were unlucky we fell short by half a head. I would have loved to see what he would have done if we’d drawn a softer gate.

“This time he drew three and steps up an extra 200m, and he drops in weight as well. It really brings him into it with me taking that 4kg off.”

All the fields, form and replays for Sunday's Dubbo meeting