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Taiki Yanagida, a popular Japanese jockey known as “Tiger,” has died due to injuries suffered in a horrific accident at Cambridge Jockey Club in New Zealand.
Yanagida was just 28 years old.
According to the New Zealand Herald, Yanagida fell off of his horse and lost his helmet as he hit the track. Yanagida was then rolled on by his own horse, Te Atatu Pash, and trambled by another that was close behind.
Yanagida suffered serious injuries to his brain and spine and was placed into a medically induced coma. The accident happened last Wednesday, and he passed away on Tuesday after he was unable to overcome the injuries.
Very sad to hear the news Taiki Yanagida passed away at Waikato Hospital from a race fall at Cambridge last Wed.
Here are photos I took of Taiki winning earlier on the day.
So sad 💔 RIP Taiki. pic.twitter.com/3OODjJJyqn— Mark Nowell Racing (@MarkANowell) August 9, 2022
“He was such a wonderful young man,” Yanagida’s racing manager, Ted McLachlan, said in a statement to the publication. “It really is a tragedy and so hard to watch what his mother and sister here have had to go through.
“This will really hurt the other people in the industry because Taiki was so popular.”
Yanagida is survived by his mother Kayano, sisters Chiaki and Ayano, and his grandmother.
Our deepest condolences go out to Yanagida’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult and tragic time.
