Three-time Brisbane premier jockey and riders' safety pioneer Jim Standfield has died after a long illness, aged 85.

At 29, Standfield lost his left leg after it was crushed against the running rail in a barrier trial incident at Doomben in October 1958.

Standfield took on the then Brisbane Amateur Turf Club and sued it for negligence in causing his fall.

After a drawn-out legal process Standfield won his damages case and the result also brought about improved on-track safety standards.

Standfield won the Brisbane jockeys' premiership three times in the 1950s and rode about 40 feature race winners including the Queensland Oaks on his favourite horse Urgona.

He rode for leading trainer Fred Best and had ridden 335 metropolitan winners when his career ended.

Standfield, who lived at Hendra in the heart of Brisbane racing territory his whole life, was a regular racegoer until the past couple of years.

Fellow premiership rider from the 1950s Noel Best described Standfield as the best lightweight jockey of the Australian post-war era.

Trainer Pat Duff said Standfield retained his love of racing and had been an adviser to many top jockeys during their apprenticeships.