Brodie Loy makes surprise comeback to racing after hitting 74kg and taking up football

Brodie Loy was emotionally defeated by racing as a result of continual wasting, but time away has given him a renewed outlook on life and the sport he loves.

Brodie Loy is coming back to be a heavyweight rider after playing football during his time away. Picture: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography

Brodie Loy was so done with racing, he had taken up boxing and was playing football instead of riding.

On Saturday at Doomben, Loy will be looking to land a punch and kick some goals on the racetrack in a surprise return to the saddle after handing in his license earlier this year.

The jockey said he was not only battling a physical fight with his weight earlier this year but also his mental health, in a constant quest to ride light in the hope of impressing trainers.

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An open and candid Loy said he is still far from the finished product, but believes five months out of the game, which included a trip to New Zealand to follow in the footsteps of UFC champ Israel Adesanya at a “calm under pressure” workshop has cleared his mind.

“I handed my license in, I didn’t want to be back, I was tired of it all and I didn’t want to participate any more,” Loy said.

“I was riding in a Group 1 not long ago but I was miserable to be there because of what I was putting my body through, I needed the good long break I had.

“I might have been going great on the track, but I was far from that mentally, I’m 26-years-old and still learning how to look after myself when it comes to not pushing it too far.

“I had no intentions of coming back and one of my best mates, (boxer) Connor Wallace, had someone pull out of his fight night a few months ago and he asked if I could do it for him.

“I had three weeks to get ready, I was 74kg and he wanted me at 68kg, so I got there for the fight.

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Brodie Loy is on the comeback trail to racing. Picture: Supplied

“Not long after that I was in Melbourne working at the Cox Plate (for trainer Matt Dunn) and all the muscle I put on training dwindled away, I came back 65kg, so I thought I was a sniff.”

Loy returned on Melbourne Cup day at Murwillumbah, where he had one ride for Dunn at 62kg, which won comfortably, but still left him wondering whether to give it away.

“I had one ride which was a winner and thought about going out with a bang or come back and have a crack, Matt (Dunn) said I should have a crack, so here I am,” he said.

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Loy admits he has let plenty down in the past in committing to rides which he was incapable of taking at a light weight, but said he is going to ride at around 58kg in a slow return to the saddle.

Riding Holyfield in the Listed Recognition Stakes (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday, Loy has a new outlook on life thanks to the team environment provided while playing football.

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“It was great to play some reserves footy, compete in a team sport and make some new mates,” he said.

“It’s funny because there’s people there who come up and ask how you become a jockey, I was saying all I wanted to do was play AFL football, I clearly wasn’t going to make it, so I had to do something else.

“I won a couple of games of footy, kicked a few goals and won my fight, I was pretty stoked with it.”

Riding at 58kg on Saturday, Loy said he is in the best mental space he has ever been in as he slowly dips his toes back in the water of racing.

Originally published as Brodie Loy makes surprise comeback to racing after hitting 74kg and taking up football