Taylor Powell, Former Jockey and Guild Manager, Dies

Taylor Powell, a former jockey and Jockeys' Guild manager whose son Lonny is president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, died April 10. He was 72.

Born in Inglewood, Calif., Powell began riding in Quarter Horse match races in Mexico at the age of 15. He moved on to pari-mutuel competition in 1949 at Agua Caliente. In 1950, he moved his tack to Santa Anita.

Throughout the remainder of his riding career, Powell would devote most of his time to the California tracks. He also successfully competed in stakes at tracks such as Arlington, Hialeah, Tropical Park, Sportsman's, Washington, Longacres, Turf Paradise, and Ak-Sar-Ben.

Powell won with 2,041 of his 16,946 mounts for a 12.1 win percentage. His mounts earned $5,251,859.

Upon retiring as a jockey in 1967, Powell became western regional manager of the Jockeys' Guild where he served through 1996. He represented jockeys' interests in nine western states as well as those in Mexico and western Canada. Upon his retirement from the Guild, Powell continued to work seasonally as an association and then state steward at Les Bois Park in Boise, Idaho, where he had spent the past 34 years.

In addition to Lonny, Powell is survived by his wife, Gloria, and daughters Kim, Cheryl, and Brenda.