A TALENTED jockey from Wemyss Bay who first featured in the Telegraph more than 10 years ago as a rookie rider is now living the dream in Australia.

Heather McGee, now 29, left home as a teenager to train at the prestigious training school in Newmarket.

Her incredible journey has taken her to riding with top names like Frankie Dettori and riding in Italy, Japan and America – where a serious accident almost left her paralysed.

But Heather made a remarkable recovery, and is now based just north of Melbourne at Lindsay Park, working for top trainer David Hayes.

She said: “I realised my dream of becoming a jockey and rode professionally around the racetracks of the UK for four years under trainer Luca Cumani, whom I was apprentice to.”

She also got the chance to ride with turf legend Dettori.

Heather said: “Growing up I idolised him, then I got the chance to ride with him together at races and later on became his pacemaker.

“He gave me great advice as a young apprentice during the Cumani years, where he did his apprenticeship too.

“We became good friends – and I also called my dog after him!”

Heather’s wanderlust took her to Italy where she was employed as a track rider for a few years before she moved to the States to do the same thing there.

But in 2010, Heather broke her back while training at the home of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Heather said: “I was nearly paralysed from the neck down.

“I was very lucky and after eight days in intensive care, three months in a back brace and in rehab learning to walk again, I made it back on to a racehorse after only months.

“I’ve been riding ever since.”

She then returned to the UK, back to where it all began, at Newmarket – the headquarters of flat racing – to work with champion trainer back John Gosden.

Heather said: “I worked there for four years and rode some of the best horses and worked with some of the best jockeys the UK has had to offer. I’d also travel to Japan every spring to ride.”

The local girl is loving her time in Melbourne following a six-month stint in Sydney.

Heather said: “Amongst all this my little dog Frankie, who I got as a puppy in Italy, and travels with me wherever I go. 

“He’s an adventure-seeker like his mum and loves travelling around. His passport is more full than most people I know!”

Heather knows her time in the saddle is coming to a natural end due to the back pain caused by her accident and she is now looking to become a trainer.

She said: “I have ridden without problem for six years now but recently my back, in which the upper half is being held together by eight pins and two rods, is starting to let me down.

“It’s my lower back which is having to overcompensate due to the lack of movement from the upper half that is causing me problems. 

“My love of riding has always outweighed any back pain but it’s now outweighing my love for it – I’m getting older and a catastrophic accident like that was always going to catch up with me one day. 

“I knew I’d not be able to ride forever so my future ahead lies on the ground, where hopefully I can put the knowledge and experience I’ve gathered around the world into training these beautiful animals one day. 

“It really has been one hell of ride.”