by Jeff Lowe

Brian Long, a jockey for nearly 30 years who led the Les Bois Park standings in 2007, was found dead on January 12 at his apartment in El Paso, Texas. He was 45.

Results of an autopsy were not immediately available, Long’s agent, Mike James, said on Tuesday morning.

James found Long after the jockey missed his scheduled mounts at Sunland Park, where he recorded four wins from 32 mounts this winter.

Long reached 1,000 career wins in July at Les Bois, one of his 68 victories from 248 mounts as the track’s leading rider in 2007. He also earned the most lucrative win of his career on October 7 in the $59,400 Zia Park Distaff Stakes aboard Kin to a Kitty.

“He was a wonderful man. I’d known him since 1985 when I was riding,” James said. “If he had $3 and you needed $3, I swear he’d give it to you. He was a very caring, giving person.”

A native of Burlingame, California, Long began his career at Golden Gate Fields just after his 16th birthday in 1978. He compiled 39 stakes wins at regional racetracks throughout the United States and Canada, winning 1,060 races overall from 7,680 mounts who earned $7,565,522.

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer