A NEW PERSONAL BEST FOR ONE OF RACING'S NICE GUYS

By Graham Potter | Sunday, August 27, 2023

While the Cairns Cup went the way of the John Manzelmann trained The Driller on Saturday, no one would dispute the fact that the overall day’s proceedings were dominated by Jason Taylor, who rode half of the ten-race card ... from only eight rides.

Taylor was understandably chuffed with his effort as the five-timer trumped his previous best winning return in the saddle on any single day.

“It was the best day I’ve had in terms of the number of winners,” confirmed Taylor.

“I have ridden four in a day previously ... once in Singapore and once in Mauritius ... but never in Australia, so when I got to four, I was quite excited at having the four in Australia ... and then popping up on the last one brought the tally to five.

“It was awesome.”
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Always known as a ‘value’ jockey, it wouldn’t quite have been a Jason Taylor script if there wasn’t a $26 winner and a $15 winner in there somewhere, and they duly arrived in the form of the aptly named Lady Of Fortune and Game Theory ... but there was one horse in particular on which Taylor fancied his chances going into race-day.

“I was quietly confident with Gulf Of Lion in the Guineas,” said Taylor. “I’d run second on him in the Townsville Guineas and I just thought with a decent barrier he probably could have nearly won that race.

“When the barriers came out for the Cairns Guineas and he had a good draw, I thought I was in with a genuine winning chance although I knew the top-weight, the favourite Cocobrew Express, would be hard to beat.”

Gulf Of Lion and Cocobrew Express did fight out the finish with Gulf Of Lion vindicating Taylor’s opinion of his chances by claiming victory by half-a-length.
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Gulf Of Lion was Taylor’s third win on the day ... behind Counter Command in the first race and Lady Of Fortune in race five, and two races later he was at it again taking out the Lightning aboard Prime Ruler ... which edged him up to that four winner mark for the first time in Australia.

“Winning the first race aboard Counter Command really kick-started the day for me,” said Taylor. “Winning early ... if you can start the day on a positive it is always a massive confidence booster.

“It kinda takes the pressure off and puts you in a really good frame of mind for the rest of the day ... and obviously getting all the way up to four winners was great.”

That was already a magical moment for Taylor. But there was more to come.

“When I got to five winners with Game Theory in the last, it was kind of a mix of emotions when I crossed the line.

“The immediate reaction when you hit the line is not really focussed on anything other than the job at hand. You are not really aware of what you have just done in that moment, you just think I got that done, it was good ... but then, a few strides past the post you start to total them up in your head and you think ... oh my God, hold on a minute, that’s five for the day ... and then it starts to sink in.

“A few of the boys screamed past me after the winning post, ‘Well done Tubby, that’s five.

“It was a great feeling.”
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Looking back, it would be fair to say that Taylor’s journey to this landmark day started a little over two years ago shortly after he resumed riding following an accident at the Gold Coast in which he suffered punctured lungs, broken ribs and facial injurie when his mount reared and fell back on top of him behind the gates.

Taylor believed he had dodged a bullet but, while grateful for that, he was still in a dark place there for a while ... but his time away from the action also allowed time for reflection.

“It kind of changed my whole outlook,” admitted Taylor.

“The accident put a few perspectives into place and made me think hard about ... why am I doing it? Why do I want to keep doing this? When you are in a bad place physically, it can lead to you being in a bad place mentally. You do learn a lot about yourself.

“I sort of sat on the couch and dwelled on the whole process for a while. I even contemplated what it might be like to do something else, but doing that and being out for a while just made me realise what I missed about it and so I stepped back into it again with a different perspective, coming into it with more of a sense of enjoyment ... doing it for the love of it and not for the need of it.

“You get that mindset back into racing mode ... get it where it needs to be ... get fit again and then go again.”
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“When I started getting back into it again after my accident, the offers were getting a bit limited (in South- East Queensland) and I needed to build up the numbers during the week to add to the few rides I was getting on the Saturdays, so I decided to start travelling north,” explained Taylor.

“I used to do the northern circuit many years ago and my manager was saying there could be quite a few opportunities up there ... so I started going north again.

“Last year I had a really good season up north. I won the Amateur Cup on Star Status and one of the feature Sprint races on Prime Ruler. I had a really good run up there. I was getting good support and everything was very positive ... so I just sort of stuck with it.”

And the rewards, fittingly, have followed.
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Never one to want to grab attention, Taylor was quick to point out that he didn’t want his five-winner haul to overshadow fellow jockey Adam Sewell’s success in the Cairns Cup aboard The Driller.

“I’d feel bad if it takes a bit of the spotlight away from Adam Sewell,” said Taylor. “It’s a huge win for him ... and, you know, as one of the riders who travels a lot with all of the riders who come up here, you do get a bit of excitement when you see one of your travelling mates win a feature race.

“You kind of think, if I can’t, I hope he can ... and when one of us boys win, or do good things up there, you do get a bit of a buzz out of it.”

Now you know why they call Taylor one of the nice guys in racing!

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