3 minute read
For some two decades, veteran hoop Jason Taylor had been ‘missing in action’ in central Queensland until he re-joined the FIFO jockeys earlier this and success has followed.
It was in April when the 50-year-old started appearing at Rockhampton and Mackay TAB mid-week race meetings.
About 20 years previously he was, more or less, a regular at those tracks for feature dates, being best remembered for winning the 2001 Rockhampton Cup on John Wigginton's Skymaker.
But in the ensuing years, he cut his cloth in the deep south of the state until an accident on the Gold Coast in 2021 forced him out of the saddle and consequently out of trainer's minds.
Rather than lament the opportunities that had dried up in Southeast Queensland following an injury, Taylor answered the call to head north where he was a jockey in demand.
He said that "basically he was sitting around watching midweek races" on TV.
"I got badly injured in an accident at the Gold Coast behind the barriers (February 2021) and I was out for about six months from race riding," Taylor said.
"After I decided on a comeback, I found I still really loved race riding and enjoying being a jockey.
"Trouble was I wasn't getting the opportunities of many rides down around here (Gold Coast). I was getting a few of a Saturday but that was about it.
"I was getting sick of it and when my manager Melissa Shields told me in March, she had been getting phone calls with riding offers from northern trainers I decided to get right back into it."
It was a fortuitous decision as he has not looked back.
It all started when he flew in to ride at Rockhampton on April 8 and ensured trainers, that he was not going to be a "one-day wonder''.
The phone then never stopped ringing.
Since that bold decision in April to return to Rockhampton, Taylor has tallied-up 11 winners up in that neck of the woods, including the feature $75K Mackay Newmarket (1300m) on Cabalo Escuro and the $50K MM Mackay Guineas (1560m) on Mississippi Prince.
Then on Monday at Callaghan Park racecourse Taylor scored a winning double, courtesy of Kerrod Smyth's Frazzled ($10) and Nick Walsh's Villa Villekulla ($7).
"It's all been a little incredible really. The reception from the trainers and officials and everyone in Rocky and further north has been fantastic'', he said.
Always well-liked and the bearer of an infectious cheeky grin, Taylor's popularity will escalate even further once his next statement is taken on board by local racing administrators.
"The tracks up your way (Rocky, Mackay and Townsville) are absolutely perfect. I love riding them'', he proclaimed.
High praise indeed, as Taylor has ridden extensively throughout Australia. The twice Group 1 winning rider has also applied his skills in New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa.
On Thursday, he flies to Townsville for seven mounts before riding Cabalo Escuro in the Cleveland Bay and Mississippi Prince in the Guineas on Saturday Townsville Cup meeting.
Endorsement indeed for the philosophy of never knocking an opportunity when it comes knocking, or in Taylor's case, calling.
