In just a decade, Tyler Schiller has progressed from country racetracks to the most famous racecourses in Australia. Photo: Doug Gorrel Racing.
With the 2025 Melbourne Cup kicking off today, jockey Tyler Schiller will be watching from the sidelines — a rare pause for a young man who has spent the past decade galloping from the paddocks of Young to the biggest stages in Australian racing.
Just last year, he made his debut in the big race at Flemington.
“It was terrific. It was my first ride in it and it’s an unreal experience — the crowd and the atmosphere of it all. It’s a lot different to just going out on a Saturday for the benchmark races in Sydney,” he said.
Growing up in Young, Tyler, son of Glenn and Susan Schiller, would spend his weekends at Milvale, west of Young, “out on the farm with Nan and Pop going around the sheep, acting like farmers”.
But his upbringing was about more than just rural life — he comes from a family steeped in equine tradition.
His pop, Peter Schiller, is a stalwart of harness racing in the Riverina, while Tyler’s great-uncle Ray Schiller carved out a celebrated career in Australian rodeo, from bull rides to bareback bronc events. His cousin Warwick Schiller is internationally recognised for his horsemanship and training methods.
Weekends for Tyler weren’t just about sheep; they were also about helping his grandad with the horses, be it early mornings in the stables, driving and trialling trotters — all of it absorbing the rhythm of animal and track.
Little did he know that this foundation would quietly forge the jockey he was destined to become.
But it was a chance encounter at the Young racetrack that really set Tyler on his path when a cousin introduced him to Wagga trainer Chris Heywood at the tie-ups.
Chris swiftly sized him up, saying: “You’re small, you like horses, you want to be a jockey?”
Tyler remembers thinking, “Well, I’ll give it a go because I like horses and racing.”
Although he joined Heywood’s stable on a school-based traineeship, there was one catch.
“I was very ordinary in the saddle,” he admits.
Following that stint, he enrolled in a riding school in Young to get the basics down before moving to Jerilderie trainer Phil Sweeney’s stable — a turning point in his career.
“Phil put me on a horse that just taught me how to ride … everything I did wrong, it corrected it,” Tyler said.
“I could have gone there and not been able to ride, but he was, he was persistent with me.
“Within three or four years, I went from not being able to ride to being an apprentice.”
Tyler’s rise wasn’t without setbacks. Early in his apprenticeship with Sweeney, he was involved in a serious car accident in the Riverina, fracturing his L3 vertebra and sustaining significant internal injuries. The accident sidelined him for around nine months.
“I lost all my strength, dropped to 45 kg … but I just really wanted to get back on a horse,” he recalled.
This focus saw him return stronger, laying the groundwork for the successes that would follow.
After notching up 100 wins in regional meetings, Tyler joined trainer Mark Newnham in Sydney in 2020, a move that would help him progress through the provincial grades.
“Mark got me going … once I got to metro, everything just kept rolling,” he said.
By the 2021‑22 season, he had captured the Sydney apprentices’ premiership with 45 winners, and the following year he rode 111 winners across NSW, including 61 at metropolitan level.
Tyler has become particularly renowned for his skill in country-to-city rides, highlighted by his three Kosciuszko victories at Randwick: in 2022 and 2023 aboard Front Page, and most recently guiding Clear Thinking from a wide barrier to claim the 2025 $2 million race.
Those races matter on a personal level.
“The Kosciuszko is huge for country people because I’m from the country, when I can get on them and ride a winner for them like I did with Front Page — who’s from down at Corowa — it’s great for the Duryea family and a few of their friends that have ownership in him — who work so hard with their country horses.”
Tyler’s rise has also brought Group 1 success, including the Doncaster Mile aboard Celestial Legend in 2024 and the Champagne Stakes on Nepotism in 2025.
His ability to handle high-pressure situations was evident in elite sprints, with rides in The Everest, Australia’s richest turf race. Paired with Briasa in 2025, he focused on energy conservation and timing, showcasing the tactical nous that has become his hallmark, finishing in eighth place.
Tyler has formed alliances with some of Australia’s top stables, including Phil Sweeney, Hawkes Racing, Les Bridge and Annabel Neasham, while also riding for Snowden Racing and other metropolitan trainers.
This breadth of experience, across country tracks and city circuits alike, has cemented his reputation as a versatile, reliable jockey capable of delivering in high-stakes races.
Off the track, Tyler keeps his feet on the ground. His mum is a constant support.
“She got me through a lot … helped me from getting to Phil’s and everything along the way,” he said.
His pop now mostly cheers on his grandson’s thoroughbred rides rather than trotters.
“He always said I had great hands on the trotters and he’s not surprised that I’m a good jockey,” Tyler said. “But yeah, he loves watching me. He actually never watched thoroughbreds when he was training trotters, and now he barely watches the trotters because I’m riding thoroughbreds.”
Fatherhood has added another layer to his perspective. His son, Arlo, now a little over a year old, keeps Tyler grounded.
“It’s great to come home to him … it just brings you back to what’s important.”
He’s candid about the mental side of racing.
“It can be tough … you’ve got to experience the ups and the downs. You’re never going to be at the top forever.”
Tested again in May this year when a fall at Canterbury left him with a fractured vertebra, Tyler said he was somewhat fortunate.
“If I’d landed on my head or neck, it could’ve been a hell of a lot worse,” he said.
Sidelined for around three months, it took nearly 30 rides to notch his first winner back.
Looking ahead, his goals are simple but ambitious: “Now I’m at a stage where I’m just trying to win more big races. I think Group 1s are the main goal.”
Tyler marvels at how far he’s come.
“Only about 10 years ago, I was at Chris Heywood’s stables, struggling to ride … and now I’m racing in Sydney. It’s pretty surreal,” he said.
Original Article published by Edwina Mason on About Regional.
