Apprentice Matthew Palmer has made the toughest call of his career by deciding to remain on the Gold Coast where he'll link with trainer Bruce Hill for the next three months.Palmer, 22, made a surprise decision to return home to Queensland last month and gave himself a mid-October deadline to decide whether to continue riding in Sydney or stay closer to his family.Palmer spent 10 months riding in Sydney where he finished second, four wins behind Peter Wells, in the battle to become Sydney's cham

Apprentice Matthew Palmer has made the toughest call of his career by deciding to remain on the Gold Coast where he'll link with trainer Bruce Hill for the next three months.

Palmer, 22, made a surprise decision to return home to Queensland last month and gave himself a mid-October deadline to decide whether to continue riding in Sydney or stay closer to his family.

Palmer spent 10 months riding in Sydney where he finished second, four wins behind Peter Wells, in the battle to become Sydney's champion apprentice last season.

"I signed an agreement with Bruce Hill last Thursday and I'll stay on loan with him for three months," Palmer said.

"I've decided to come home mostly for family reasons and the lifestyle in Queensland.

"The lifestyle is better than in Sydney and I could not be happier to be with Bruce Hill. He's a great bloke and is very flexible."

Although Palmer plans to remain a Queenslander he hasn't entirely turned his back on Sydney.

"I'll still be going back and forth to Sydney on race days that don't clash with Brisbane's races," he said.

"I'm hoping to do some riding for Gerald Ryan and with Tim Martin when the opportunities arise in Sydney."

Palmer is due to come out of his time next month but is hopeful of being granted an extension with Hill, who was a long time foreman for Ryan when the Rosehill trainer was based on the Gold Coast a few years ago.

"I've already had an extension because of EI (equine influenza) but I spent a lot of time out with injuries which should allow me a further extension," he said.

Palmer only started riding four years ago and won the Gold Coast apprentices' title in his first season before finishing third in the Brisbane apprentices' premiership to Ric McMahon in 2005-06.

He missed most of the next season when he was sidelined with a broken neck for 10 months following a Doomben fall.

Palmer and younger brother Michael, who also is an apprentice rider, are sons of former top jockey Gary Palmer.

He has already set himself a short term goal while apprenticed to Hill.

"I've got 15 wins left before I outride my 1.5 kilo claim and I hope to do that as quickly as possible," he said.

"After that I'll see how things are going but I'd like to concentrate on winning the jockeys' premiership in my first season if it's achievable."