“He’s the last horse I would have expected to do something like that,” said Jess Taylor as she reflected on the bizarre accident that will keep her out of the saddle until the middle of September.
The talented jockey was referring to a six year old gelding called Tsunami Alert, a former racehorse who quit the track nine months ago after posting only one win in twenty three starts. “I rode him in fourteen of his races including that lone win in a Sapphire Coast Maiden,” said Jess.
“His manners were perfect every time and I actually put in a request to have him as a dressage horse when his racing days were over. I got the shock of my life when he turned on the fireworks last week.”
Jess blames herself to some degree for Tsunami Alert’s surprise misdemeanour. She’d had him in light work for several weeks on the Pheasants Nest property she shares with partner Katie Power, and found him to be his usual agreeable self.
She made the decision to give the gelding a short break while she enjoyed her annual week in the snowfields with a group of racing friends. “He was fed only chaff and hay, so I wasn’t expecting a problem when it was time to work him on my return from Thredbo,” said Jess.
No wonder Jess wanted Tsunami Alert for the dressage ring. Here he is with his flashy white markings scoring his only win 10/06/2018 on The Sapphire Coast track - courtesy Bradley Photographers
Using a dressage saddle and long stirrup leathers, Jess took the son of Harbour Watch into a spacious paddock for his first work session in nine or ten days. “Mindful of the fact that he’d be a little above himself, I just walked and trotted for quite some time,” she recalls. “The moment I got him to roll into a canter all hell broke loose. He got his head down and took off bucking like a rodeo star. Boy did he buck, and I lost an iron in the process.”
Tsunami Alert was heading straight for a boundary fence when he suddenly swerved away and Jess was airborne. “The best way for me to explain my predicament is to say that I was horizontal when I hit a perpendicular timber fence post with a sickening thud,” said the jockey.
Jess took the full impact in the middle of her back and was certain she’d suffered serious injuries. “I was horrified when unable to move my toes for a few moments, and I was completely winded and very distressed,” she said. “My neighbour hadn’t seen the actual accident but heard the commotion and quickly ran to my aid. Before I knew it I was in an Intensive Care Unit at the Liverpool Hospital.”
The jockey was greatly relieved when Dr. David Duckworth identified transverse process fractures to three vertebrae in her lumbar spine which required no surgery. Scans also revealed a slight liver laceration and a minor collapse of one lung. “I couldn’t believe I’d gotten off so lightly,” said Jess. “I’m going to need painkillers for a while, but I should recover pretty quickly.”
“Had it not been for two key factors the accident may not have happened. Firstly, while I was away heavy rain had flooded our enclosed arena, forcing me to work him in the paddock. Secondly, had I not been riding with such long irons I probably would have been able to get his head up the moment he looked like bucking.”
Jess Taylor has been “horse crazy” from childhood. Reared on a property at Ourimbah on the Central Coast, she and elder sister Carissa were introduced to the saddle by their mother Fione (a deviation from the popular name Fiona).
Jess was firmly entrenched in Pony Club by age five, quickly making a name for herself in sports and hacking events, and on the Mounted Games circuit. At twelve years of age she acquired a bomb proof project pony called Miller who took her on a wonderful five year ride. By mid-teens she’d graduated to retired thoroughbreds and had blossomed into a rider of great poise.
That poise is ever present. Jess wins on Belle of Clonmel for Jason Coyle at Gosford 04/12/2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
After leaving school at the end of 2008, Jess began riding trackwork for several Gosford trainers. She took to it like a “duck to water” and spent all of 2009 gaining valuable experience. In January 2010 she landed an apprenticeship with veteran trainer Albert Stapleford, whose landmark Rutherford Lodge stables are situated a stone’s throw from the Gosford track.
A month later the nineteen year old took on the extra workload of a Bachelor Of Psychology Degree at the University of Newcastle’s Ourimbah campus. Jess started with every intention of completing the course, but just one month later decided this was not the life she wanted.
She enjoyed every day of her two and a half years with Albert Stapleford.
The ever astute trainer provided his apprentice’s first race ride at Cessnock, the circumstances of which haunt Jess to this day. “It was a mare called Tipurit, and I got absolutely lost on her,” recalled the jockey. “I was four wide to the turn where I finished up even wider. She finished ninth, only three lengths from the winner. Her performance was pretty good - mine was awful.”
Albert also provided the young jockey’s first metropolitan ride. “This was a bit better than my Cessnock effort,” said Jess. “I ran second on a horse called Make Magic in a 1300m race at Warwick Farm. I was pretty happy with the ride, even though the stewards told me to use more vigour in future.”
The record books show that Taylor’s very first winner was supplied by Gosford trainer Carmen Murnane. The horse was a rising ten year old gelding called Enz Of Time, and Carmen found a suitable BM65 at the newly opened Tuncurry-Forster track. The horse started favourite and the young apprentice gave backers no cause for concern.
Jess has gone on to win 366 races since her maiden victory at Tuncurry-Forster - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Thanks to the efforts of her partner Katie Power, Jess was able to tell me that she had 229 rides for Albert Stapleford for 21 wins and 56 placings. “I was so lucky to start my career with Albert Stapleford,” she said. “He’s a wonderful man who gave me every opportunity to make the grade. He put me on the majority of his runners during the period and was always understanding when I put in an ordinary ride.”
The presence of Warwick Farm trainer Mark De Montfort at a Dubbo meeting in May of 2013, was destined to change apprentice Taylor’s life. “I happened to ride a winning double on the day, and Mark had observed the way I rode both horses,” she said. “A week later he asked me to ride Tori Girl at Canterbury, and although unplaced he was happy with my effort on a long priced runner.”
“Not long after I got the shock of my life when he asked if I would consider making the move from Gosford to Warwick Farm. The thought of leaving the Central Coast didn’t appeal, but Katie insisted I should grasp the opportunity.”
The fact that she still had a 3kg metropolitan claim, enabled Jess to gain an extension of 12 months on her apprenticeship . She spent two and a half years with the former outstanding jockey, and greatly valued his input. “He would never criticise an ordinary ride on the day, but preferred to bring up the replay of the race in the office and point out quietly and calmly where I’d gone wrong, said Jess. “He always made perfect sense. His way of doing things helped me enormously.”
Jess wins on Chief Kidder for her former boss Mark De Montfort at Muswellbrook 04/05/2018 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Few ex-jockeys are better qualified for a tutorial role than Mark De Montfort. Despite battling weight problems for most of his career, Mark won 1200 races including 13 at Gr 1 level. He won iconic races like the Golden Slipper (Catbird), Doncaster (Row Of Waves) and AJC Derby (Myocard).
“Jess was very apprehensive about leaving the Central Coast, but she and partner Katie found a house at Casula and quickly settled in,” recalled Mark.
“Her first win for me was on Ready Set Sing, and she never stopped improving. I used to ride work alongside her most mornings and she would listen intently to every piece of advice I offered. She’s now in her ninth year of race riding and ticks all boxes. She has a sharp tactical brain, is an excellent judge of pace and can read a race in running. She’s also very strong in a tight finish.”
Mark De Montfort wasn’t the only Warwick Farm trainer using the services of the talented young jockey. Others included Gary Portelli, Mark Conners and Jason Coyle who provided Jess’s first stakes winner. The race was the listed Winter Stakes at Rosehill in 2017, and Jess brought Slightly Sweet from well back in the field to scramble home in a blanket finish from her friend Kathy O’Hara on Man Of His Word and Glyn Schofield on Elle Lou.
Jess and Slightly Sweet (tartan colours) scramble home in the listed Winter Stakes at Rosehill from Man Of His Word (Kathy O'Hara outside) and Elle Lou (Glyn Schofield) - courtesy Bradley Photographers
Jess has consolidated a strong association with Kembla Grange trainer Teresa Bateup, who produced a healthy winning strike rate with her thirty horse team last season. She rides work for Teresa one morning each week and is available for trials and jump outs when required.
Jess and Teresa Bateup had a strong association during the 2019/2020 season. Here they are after a Sapphire Coast win with Jarrett 09/06/2019. Jess has won 6 races on Jarrett - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Other favourites from the Taylor scrapbook include Forbidden Jewel (her first city winner), Better Not Blue, Burden Of Proof, Caccini, Mandylion, More Energy, Lofeil, Weekend Affair and Girls Are Ready.
One long running source of frustration for the jockey was the fact that she didn’t win a race at Randwick for the duration of her apprenticeship. Just when she was about to remove that ambition from her bucket list, great supporter Jason Coyle put her on Takewing in a 1200m race at headquarters on New Year’s Day 2017. A perfect ride got the gelding home narrowly from Rachel King’s mount Napoleon.
Twelve days later, again courtesy Jason Coyle, Jess put in another faultless ride to win on Kawaikini in a fillies and mares race on the historic course. The fact that the stable had backed Kawaikini into favouritism, didn’t fluster the cool headed jockey.
A vigorous Jess Taylor lands Kawaikini a narrow winner from Machinegun Jubs (Blaike McDougall) Randwick 13/01/2018 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Jess showed the same composure in her only three Gr 1 rides to date. All three started at bolter’s odds and finished out of a place. Le Juge ($200) in the 2019 Epsom, Girls Are Ready ($31.00) in the 2019 Flight Stakes and Cambage ($101.00) in the 2018 ATC Australian Oaks. She’s hoping her next ride at the elite level will figure in form discussions.
The jockey savours the success she’s had in just nine years in the professional ranks. Her current injury layoff is frustrating enough, but certainly no more frustrating than the bizarre “double” she encountered in 2016. Jess was barely out of her time when involved in a most unusual incident in the Hawkesbury mounting yard. She was legged onto a horse which moved at the wrong moment. The momentum saw her sail straight over the other side - result was a broken wrist and three long months on the sidelines.
She’d been back only a few weeks when lady luck snubbed her again! Her mount crashed through the inside fence 100m after the start at Gosford, giving the hapless jockey a very heavy tumble. Jess knew instantly the same wrist had shattered a second time. By the time she completed another three months on the sidelines her morale had plummeted.
Jess is grateful that time will quickly repair her current injuries and very aware that it could have been so much worse. Her message to all horse people is simply be wary of a young, healthy horse who’s been underworked and overfed. “Keep them in a round yard or an arena until that excess energy has been worked off on the lunging lead,” she said.
In the meantime, Jess will get the opportunity to spend time with Katie and their young family of two - Evelyn who’s two and Noah just five months. Her absence from the track also gives Katie a break from her management role.
“Katie has no racing background at all but has quickly learned the basics of racing,” said Jess. “She does a great job coordinating my rides and sends me to the meetings most likely to generate the best results.”
Apart from truckloads of natural talent, this gifted twenty nine year old enjoys a luxury most jockeys would die for. Today’s escalating weight scale makes little difference to Jess Taylor. She could ride at 50kgs without notice. If somebody wants her for a three year old in the Cox Plate one day, she’d need a week’s notice to make 48kgs.
Five weeks to go Jess. if you fancy a chocolate or two go right ahead!
(Banner image - At last! Jess wins her first race at Royal Randwick 01/01/2018. She gets Takewing home narrowly over Napoleon for trainer Jason Coyle - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)