Stephen Paul Taylor was born on December 28, 1951. He served a five-year apprenticeship with a combination of three trainers, Noel Kusbish, Cliff Boothman and Ifor Lewis. He rode on the Flat for three years as an apprentice but without success. He turned to jumping and joined Haddington, East Lothian trainer Wilf Crawford and rode his first winner for him on novice hurdler Kelly Kos at Ayr on October 9, 1971. He won again on Kelly Kos at Catterick on December 11. Later that season, he won three races on another Crawford-trained novice hurdler called Bridgend, the last of those, at Perth on May 17, 1971, forming the first leg of a double for Steve that day, completed by Dunrobin an hour later.
Ironically, the best horse Steve rode that season was one he didn’t win on, namely Lothian Prince, a decent handicap chaser. Steve rode him four times that term, finishing third twice and fourth once.
Steve’s best season was in 1973/74, during which he rode 13 winners. The highlight of his career came at Kelso on February 28, 1974, when landing a hat-trick in the last three races, all on horses trained by Wilf Crawford. Dunrobin kicked off the treble by winning the Teviot Handicap Chase, then Baltinglass won the Ancrum Novices’ Chase, and Brora completed matters in division two of the Maxton Novices’ Hurdle.
Sadly, Steve was unable to build on that successful season. He had just five winning mounts in the 1974/75 season, finishing his career with a total of 31 winners.
He is not to be confused – nor was he any relation – with fellow jockey Steve A. Taylor, whose career overlapped.