Tragic fate of Australia's TALLEST jockey: Six-foot-three rider who 'abused his body' to strip weight from his gangly frame dies aged 43

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Australia's tallest jockey, Stuart Brown, died last Monday just seven months after being diagnosed with lung cancer and his mother fears what he lived for may have ultimately killed him.

In a highly successful 20-year career, Brown, 43, towered over his riding colleagues standing at 187 centimetres (more than 6ft 2in), but the many wins came at a cost.

'Stuart abused his body something shocking and had to starve himself to ride, he absolutely lived for it,' said his mother Helen Brown.

'He had such a hard time getting his weight down, all the hot baths, saunas, starvation just to get a couple of kilos off.'

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Standing alongside a thoroughbred ahead of another race it's clear Stuart Brown was a very tall jockey

Australia's tallest licensed jockey Stuart Brown stands out among the line-up of riding colleagues in this photo taken earlier this year at Tulligibeal. He died last Monday aged just 43 after battling cancer

Even sitting atop a camel at the Forbes races it was clear how much taller Stuart Brown was than other riders

Stuart Brown married Airene Comique last September and they had a baby boy John this year

One of the last photos of Stuart Brown taken with his new-born son John. The jockey died last week aged 43

Brown, from Bedgerabong 30 kilometres west of Forbes in the central west of New South Wales, often rode at just 62 kilograms despite his height.

An image from the Tullibigeal races earlier this year shows how much taller he was than the other jockeys. 

He won more than 200 races in a 20 year career and his biggest thrill came in winning his first Bedgerabong Cups in 2004 on Thuntastique.

He went on to collect two more.

'Up until Airene (his wife) came along it was his first love, he was actually doing trackwork in his final year of high school, he didn't really study at all,' she added.

'It [his death] was devastating for all of us, pretty hard to fathom.'

One of his three brothers, David, remembers when they found out of his illness earlier this year.

'We just knew, he had trouble riding the camels at Easter time, had a sore arm and had to give away rides,' he said.

'He loved horses from when he was born, by the time they had done the full body scan the found it in the prostate and by then it had got into the pelvis.'

More than 500 people travelled to his home town for the funeral, including good mate Shannon Noll.

At 187 centimetres Stuart Brown towered above his riding colleagues. He rode more than 200 winners 

Stuart Brown was often forced to 'starve himself' just to continue riding, which he did with great success in the picnic races across New South Wales for 20 years winning several cups and premierships

Stuart travelled far and wide to ride in races during his 20-year career, notching more than 200 wins

Stuart Brown collected most of the Picnic Cups on offer across regional and country New South Wales

Stuart Brown (purple silks) was also a successful camel jockey, winning several races and being asked to take part in the lucrative camel racing circuit in Queensland 

Being so tall sometimes had its disadvantages for Stuart Brown, even after winning a camel race he had to be careful of the reaction from his trusty steed

'Yes Shannon was there and all the girls went gaga, Stuart rode for quite a while down in Condobolin and they were good friends,' Helen Brown added.

'He was a good boy, he raised Danielle (his teenage daughter) all on his own too.'

Stuart Brown married Airene last year and survived long enough to see his second child born, a boy named John.

'A leading trainer told me that "Stuart is a great horseman and a great jockey and you very rarely get the two together", his height never hindered him,' added his mother.

'He sort of used to fold himself up, put his bum up in the air and used his length to do that, it was a modern streamlined look.

'He became a mentor to young jockeys, he was a father figure they all had and when the girls started racing he made sure he kept the others in line, he'd say "alright fellas get out and let the girls get changed".

'Sometimes young jockeys would go on with a bit of language and he'd pull them into line.'

He was not just a dab hand at horse-riding, Stuart Brown even conquered camel racing, taking out the Forbes Jockey Club event in 2013 and was invited by the winning trainer to join him on the lucrative camel racing circuit in Queensland.

'He always looked remarkably good on a horse, despite his height and was always amongst our top three or four riders,' said Central West NSW racing identity Col Hodges.

Head and shoulders above them: Stuart Brown (second right) was the tallest licensed jockey in Australia

Stuart Brown would trade horse riding for camel races at times during the season to great success

'Start was the tallest licensed jockey in Australia, and he was probably 80 kilos when he decided he wanted to ride, his riding weight was between 62 and 64.

'He had an old horse his grandfather gave him, an old quarter horse called Cindy and one day we were putting cattle through and they broke away and took off up the paddock just as the school bus was arriving,' recalled Helen Brown.

'Well Stuart saw it, jumped off, dropped his bag, took his shirt off and ran down to Cindy and jumped up and rounded up the cattle for us - he was about 9 years old.'

His last major win was the Condobolin Cup on Aaroo, trained by Rodney Robb from Nyngan, who coincidentally gave him his first ever winning ride 20 years earlier on Ozwool in Wamboyne.

Stuart won several NSW Approved Rider Premierships and would compete anywhere from Mungindi in the north, Bourke in the west and Lockhart to the south. 

He last rode at Grenfell in April this year where he scored on Had Your Chance in the Class B Handicap.

'Stuart was highly respected in the racing industry and his passing is a big loss,' said Mr Peter V’landys AM, Racing NSW’s CEO.

'He travelled all around New South Wales to ply his trade and was quite successful on the picnic circuit. To lose Stuart at such a young age is heart-breaking.'

Stuart Brown is survived by his wife, Airene, daughter Danielle, son John, brothers David, Michael and Tim, and parents John and Helen.

Stuart Brown pictured with his daughter Danielle and wife Airene at one of his last race meetings in April