For first-time author John Payne of Orange, a desire to see the names of every jockey to die on Australian soil while racing or training turned into an eight-year journey.

Their Last Ride, a book delving into the history of nearly 1000 jockeys who died in racing accidents since the 1880s, has become the most detailed record of their names in the country.

Mr Payne said memorials to fallen jockeys at major racecourses around Australia were not complete, but after eight years of trawling through state libraries across the country he believed his list was "99 per cent right."

"I thought the men and women that lost their lives deserved better than they had," he said.

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"Some of these poor buggers had never won a race, one bloke never rode in a race but that doesn't matter, they're no less a person for having taken on the game."

Mr Payne said the interest in the book, now in its third edition, had surpassed his expectations.

This year it won the 2020 Bill Whittaker Book Prize for the best book on racing published in Australia over the past two years.

Among those who took interest in the book were Wagga mother-daughter duo Louise Clayton and Tegan Ellis, who are racing history enthusiasts in their own right.

The Murrumbidgee Turf Club at Wagga is one of few local racecourses to have their own memorial for the jockeys who lost their lives on the track because of the pair.

Ms Ellis said working at the Gold Cup provoked an interest in the history of racing, and she had been working on re-producing a book on Phar Lap trainer Tommy Woodcock.

Through her research she began looking into the history of five jockeys who died at Wagga from the late 1890s to 1984, reaching out to family and friends of the riders.

Ms Ellis and her mother then donated a plaque to the Murrumbidgee Turf Club in 2017 recognising the five men, which remains there today.

The women were also the masterminds behind a tribute race held for a couple of years where jockeys wore black armbands and paid their respects to those who had died at Wagga.

"I decided that these men should be recognised, because I highly doubt at the end of the day they would have expected they'd lose their life going out to do their job," Ms Ellis said.

"I think it's also important for the racecourses themselves to recognise the jockeys that have died on their courses because if I was a family member or related to the person ... it would feel good that they acknowledged that that happened."

She said her research and the unveiling of the Wagga memorial plaque had also given the families of the riders an opportunity to tell each jockey's story.

"When we unveiled the plaque we had relatives of the deceased jockeys come down for the unveiling as well and a lot of the feedback from them was they really appreciated that their family members were being acknowledged," she said.

The five riders known to have died at Wagga over the years are Alfred Felstead (1895), Ernest Wilson (1897), Allen Sydney "Jack" Hughes (1930), Albert Langley (1968) and Charlie Cepero (1984).

Ms Ellis said through her research she had found Albert Langley's pregnant partner had been with him doing track work that day, and had only just left the track when the accident occurred.

"I think that was a very poignant moment for her that they had that last crossing of each others' paths, you don't realise how quickly things can change," she said.

Mr Payne said the deaths of Albert Langley and Charlie Cepero were relatively recent compared to many of the deaths he had researched, as safety equipment improved through the 20th century.

The most recent tragedy at Wagga came in 1984 when Mr Cepero, a 17-year-old amateur rider from Wollongong fell in a two-horse collision at a picnic race meeting.

The deaths of Alfred Felstead and Ernest Wilson came between 1890 and 1900, the decade Mr Payne said was the worst for jockey safety.

Mr Felstead, 25, was said to have never previously even broken a limb while horse-riding but was killed during a cross-country steeplechase in September 1895.

Just two years later, 22-year-old Ernest Wilson died of serious injuries sustained from a fall at the same jump Mr Felstead had fallen at.

The next fatality was several decades later, with the death of 'Jack Hughes' said to be the first fatal accident to occur during training at the track.

Mr Hughes, an apprentice rider, was schooling for the first time when he sustained fatal injuries in a fall.

Mr Payne said by looking at the stories of so many men through the years, he found the book told a story of Australian history.

"The book's written about Australian racing history, but when you go through it it delves into Australian social history," he said.

"You look through those old newspaper clippings and if a horse died, there was a whole column associated to it in the paper, alluding sympathy to the owner, the horse and the trainer and if you were lucky, the jockey got the last two lines; 'and the jockey boy was killed'.

"I think its part of our social history that that's how we treated people in those days."

He said the sheer number of deaths through the late 1800s and early 1900s was also a reminder of how important the evolution of safety measures had been for those on the track.

"Back in the 1880s they didn't have safety vests, they didn't have safety helmets, they didn't have outside running rails and they very seldom had inside running rails ... it was horrendous and these days you wouldn't get away with that under health and safety regulations," Mr Payne said.

Ms Ellis's mother Ms Clayton said looking at the stories of the fallen jockeys was a reminder of the nature of the sport.

"It should be remembered that being a jockey is a dangerous job, especially with some of the ones back then where they didn't have the proper head protection," she said.

She said by keeping record of those who had died in racing, it allowed those who no longer had strong family connections to be remembered for their contribution to the sport.

Ms Ellis said it was important for the names of the jockeys and horses who had died to remain at the forefront of the minds of racing enthusiasts.

"Most people go to the races, they're there for the thrill of it, to watch the horses but behind the jockey there is an actual person and every day they go on the back of a horse could be their last ride," she said.

Mr Payne said he hoped that was a message people received when reading his book.

"I hope people sit down and think about it a bit, these aren't just people that sit on a horse and take your money off you, they're people who make instant decisions during a race, split second decisions that result in a life or not, despite your 10 bucks on it," he said.

"The bottom line is, take away the horses and take away the jockeys and you've got no racing."