Brian Taylor (jockey)

Brian Taylor (戴萊) was a successful jockey born on 6th July, 1939 in Southend-on-Sea, Great Britain. He rode Snow Knight to victory in the 1974 Epsom Derby.

While racing at the Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on December 8, 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 hospital from the serious neck and head injuries he had received.

Taylor was suffering from shingles that day, and wanted someone else to replace him for that race. 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 turf during morning training on February 13, 1984, in similar fashion. Paquet would suffer a fractured skull, and remain in a coma for more than three months before regaining consciousness.