Tye Findlay finds happiness in racing

By Jordan Gerrans

Tye Findlay is almost there.

The Sunshine Coast-based racing participant will feel ‘100 per cent happy’ when able to wear a bikini or jumpsuit and not be questioned about the attire.

The 35-year-old is in the middle of medically transitioning.

Tye was born male and in the middle of September 2023, that is where it remains.

Tye needs to complete three separate surgeries to medically transition and identify as a female.

Tye has gone through two of the three surgeries and will undergo the third one early next year.

Asked what pronouns the trackwork rider at Caloundra would like to be referred as, “just call me Tye” was the response.

Tye is actively involved in a wide array of different areas within the racing industry.

The former competitive showjumping rider is a strapper on raceday for many stables, predominantly Kris Lees and Mel Eggleston.

On top of that, Tye rides trackwork for James Moore at the Sunshine Coast as well as running a spelling and pre-training facility on a property that Group 1-winning hoop Nikita Beriman owns.

It’s people like Lees, Eggleston and Beriman, among others, that make Tye feel safe and confident in the sport of racing, which is something Tye may not have said in years gone by.

“I am now around people who accept me for who I am, that was the most important thing,” Tye said.

“For a long time I was around people who did not understand it and I do not blame them at all, because I did not understand it and it was foreign to me.

“The circle of friends I have now and the support I have in the background has allowed me to be happy, that has a lot to do with the job I have with Kris Lees and Nikita has welcomed me into her family with open arms. I feel that sense of support.

“I feel the support on my good and bad days – they are still there and take you for the situation you are – and they do not judge it.

“Finding happiness really was finding a support system that worked.”

Tye has completed the first two required surgeries to medically transition but when COVID hit a couple of years back, the third surgery was put on hold.

The final surgery focuses on Tye’s face and voice and will require around three months off work to recover and rehabilitate from.

“That is a day I cannot wait for,” Tye said of the third surgery.

“Then I will be 100 per cent happy and can wear bikinis or a jumpsuit and not get questioned.”

While frustrated that the surgery was delayed initially, it has been a blessing in disguise for the long-time racing participant.

Tye thought that when the third surgery was over and done with, it would bring complete happiness that he had been searching for since he was a four-year-old boy embracing his reality. 

It was not until Tye was 17 years of age that the process around transitioning commenced, spending countless hours in doctors and specialists' offices.

It was another nine years before Tye could have the first surgery, such was the process through speaking with psychologists and the like.

The delay pushed Tye to find self-love and not rely on what the surgery would bring.

“It made me stop and realise that I needed to a learn a lot of self-love,” Tye reflects.

“You can go and get an operation and do all that stuff, but it doesn’t change the person you are – which I thought it would.

“I was trying to escape my reality, which has taken me a long time to realise I do not need to escape my reality, I needed to come to terms with the situation I was.

“I am happy and content now, I am at peace and I have realised finding happiness in yourself is the biggest thing I had to do.

“This has happened just recently for me, I am at a stage in my life where I am happy with the decisions I have made and what I have done.”

Hailing from the Sunshine Coast region, Tye’s first touch point to the racing industry was buying an off-the-track horse for showjumping pursuits.

Tye excelled in showjumping and moved to Sydney for the discipline, as well as qualifying to compete overseas.

The racing industry is a perfect place for Tye to work.

With regular doctors’ appointments, it can be difficult to find a full-time role within or outside of racing that allows the necessary time off.

With a few different casual and part-time jobs on the go, Tye is able to still earn a living and focus on the transitioning process.

Strapping gallopers on raceday is where many in the racing game would have come across Tye over the years.

Tye is regularly trusted to campaign horses locally in Queensland or around the country for the Group 1-winning Lees stable and for Eggleston, among other trainers.

“It is a big responsibility,” Tye said of the strapping role.

“I believe the raceday job is just as important as an every morning job, if not more important as the horse is your responsibility there and then.

“It is incredibly vital the job of a raceday strapper to not just the horse but the trainer to ensure that everything goes well as the horse is your responsibility.

“It is a big job and one that I do not take lightly at all.”

Tye has strapped Group level winners many times before.

The Lees-trained Amokura gave Tye a victory at the highest level during the recent Queensland Racing Carnival with the now four-year-old grabbing the Queensland Oaks.

The daughter of Kermadec won at Caloundra in the weeks leading into the Oaks and that was where Tye struck up a close bond with the progressive youngster.

As the Lees barn had two runners in the Oaks, Tye could have easily been handed the outsider in the market – stable mate Yankee Hussel – but was chuffed to get to parade the eventual winner.

“That to me was a real special one as she is a beautiful, kind horse,” Tye said.

“While it was satisfying to strap a Group 1 winner, it also represented that they trusted me with the good horses.

“She was just a baby when she was up here and now she is on the way to bigger and better things.

“She did it so innocently and perfectly in the Oaks, it was hard not to be emotional.”

While Tye has a strong support network through friends and colleagues, the racing participant says there is plenty more that can still be done to make the industry a more inclusive environment.

Tye points to the need for raceday staff to dress in a specific way for men or women.

Given the length of time to medically transition, Tye believes there needs to be some leniency and understanding to allow for people who do not feel comfortable specifically dressing as a man or woman on raceday.

“The majority of time people are great in racing and that all goes back to the general care and treatment of people,” Tye said.

“But, there has been several occasions over the last three years that show me that some people need to open their eyes and realise we are moving into the 21^st century.

“Not everything is black and white these days and there is a million colours in between it all.

“It is a good opportunity to take this as a learning curve and enlighten people that life is changing for some people.

“This is not a path I chose as a person, it was handed to me and I am navigating it myself.

“I certainly think there is a lot more work that can be put in here in Queensland.”