Awful news in horse racing ... jockey Taiki Yanagida -- known as "Tiger" -- has passed away days after he fell and was trampled during a race in New Zealand.
Taiki was only 28.
The accident occurred last Wednesday during the last race at Cambridge Jockey Club ... when the Japanese jockey fell off his horse, Te Atatu Pash, about 250 meters from the post, where the race begins, according to the NZ Herald.
Yanagida -- who lost his helmet in the fall -- was rolled on by his own horse and then trampled by another following closely behind.