Brian Taylor (戴萊) (6 July 1939 – 10 December 1984) was a successful jockey in

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

horse racing best known for riding Snow Knight to victory in the 1974

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey ...

. Taylor was born in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

, in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Among his other career wins were the Princess Margaret Stakes (1971), Cherry Hinton Stakes (1971), Cork and Orrery Stakes (1973), Earl of Sefton Stakes (1977),

Sandown Classic Trial The Sandown Classic Trial is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 1 furlong and 209 yards ...

(1978),

July Cup The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metre ...

(1971), Derby Stakes (1974, on Snow Knight), John Porter Stakes (1981), Ormonde Stakes (1981), Craven Stakes (1983), and in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, the

Prix Gontaut-Biron The Prix Gontaut-Biron is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is scheduled ...

(1984). While racing at the Sha Tin Racecourse in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

on 8 December 1984, his mount, Silver Star (銀星一號), stumbled, throwing him off his saddle while crossing the finish line. Taylor would succumb two days later in Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital from the serious neck and head injuries he had received. Taylor had suffered from shingles however had recovered, his friend Bill Burnett wanted him to find someone else to replace him for that race in fact English Wally Hood offered to take the ride. At the last minute, however, he decided to do the race himself which turned out to be his last. Less than 10 months before Taylor's fall, Silver Star also ended the career of another top jockey at the time, Frenchman Philippe Paquet, by throwing the jockey onto the sand track during morning training on 13 February 1984, in similar fashion. Paquet suffered a fractured skull and remained in a coma for more than three months before regaining consciousness.

References

1939 births 1984 deaths English jockeys Jockeys who died while racing Sport deaths in Hong Kong Sportspeople from Southend-on-Sea {{England-horseracing-bio-stub