The father of jockey Megan Taylor, who was killed in a racing fall, has said the tragedy was “something I can never erase from my mind.”
Kevin Taylor revealed he and wife Jane were watching the race live on TV when their 26-year-old daughter came down during a race at Ashburton in New Zealand in December.
The admission came in a statement to a judicial hearing at which apprentice jockey Denby-Rose Tait was charged with careless riding in the race, which she denied.
Taylor's mount was one of four horses that fell on the bend. She was struck by another runner as she lay on the ground and was pronounced dead shortly after.
Kevin Taylor said he was only taking part in the Racing Integrity Board hearing because Tait had pleaded not guilty in a case that did not directly relate to Taylor’s death.
According to the Stuff website, he told the hearing, “Our loving, caring family unit has been shattered."
He said he and "Megan's mum watched Megan get thrown off the horse”.
It was “something I could never erase from my mind, along with the pain and the grief”.
Taylor was in her third season of riding and had won 16 of her 236 starts in the saddle. Born in Canterbury on New Zealand’s south island, she spent two years working in Britain with New Zealand Olympians Tim and Jonelle Price.
Tait was found guilty and suspended from race riding for six weeks, effective from March 10 to until April 20.
Her legal counsel Phillip Cornegé acknowledged the tragic consequences of the race and said Tait was “going to have to live with this for the rest of her racing career.
“This has had a huge impact on her”.
