Baze has 50,000 races!

Baze has 50,000 races! Jan 25, 2013 18:22:10 GMT -5

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Post by cait on Jan 25, 2013 18:22:10 GMT -5

Today- R7 # 2 Finish Rich in NYC
ran third @3/2

Baze Scheduled To Ride 50,000th Race Friday At Golden Gate Fields

Provided none of his scheduled mounts are scratched, jockey Russell Baze will ride in his 50,000th thoroughbred race Friday afternoon at Golden Gate Fields.

Baze, who has had 49,994 thoroughbred mounts and won 11,836 races in his Hall of Fame career, is slated to ride in races one through six. That means Finish Rich in Nyc, the 7-5 morning-line favorite in race six, will be milestone mount No. 50,000 for Baze.

First post is 12:45 p.m. and post time for the sixth race is 3:15 p.m.

Baze’s totals for mounts and wins are both North American racing records. The great Laffit Pincay, Jr., who retired in 2003 due to injuries, is second to Baze in both categories as Pincay rode in 48,486 races and recorded 9,530 victories.

Only six other jockeys have ridden in 40,000 or more races and they are: Perry Wayne Ouzts (45,166), Earlie Fires (45,029), David Gall (41,775), Jorge Velasquez (40,852), Bill Shoemaker (40,350), and Pat Day (40,299). Ouzts, who rides the Kentucky and Ohio circuit, is the only one of aforementioned riders still competing.

Baze, as is usually the case, is loaded with strong contenders Friday as five of his six mounts are favored on the morning line.

Baze is scheduled to ride Supercilious (even money on the morning line) in the first race, Street Consensus (7-5) in the second, Ma Mel (2-1) in the third, Run The Blues Away (8-5) in the fourth, Bi Tomorrow (2-1) in the fifth, and Finish Rich in Nyc in the sixth. Street Consensus, the second choice in race two behind 6-5 Flammability, is the only Baze mount not favored on the morning line.

Baze, age 54 and still going strong, led the nation’s jockeys in victories in 2012 with 374 wins. It was the 12th national races won title for Baze, who has won 44 riding championships at Golden Gate Fields and had 40 riding crowns at now defunct Bay Meadows.
www.goldengatefields.com/race-info/news/baze-scheduled-ride-50000th-race-friday-golden-gate-fields

Baze has 50,000 races! Jan 25, 2013 21:02:45 GMT -5

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Post by Jon on Jan 25, 2013 21:02:45 GMT -5

Photo: Vassar Photography
Russell Baze celebrates his 50,000th ride.

Baze First Jockey to Reach 50,000 Mounts
By Jack Shinar
Updated: Friday, January 25, 2013 7:42 PM

Russell Baze, North America's all-time leading jockey by victories, reached another major milestone Jan. 25 at Golden Gate Fields by becoming the first to ride 50,000 races (VIDEO) .

The 54-year-old Baze could manage only a third on 3-2 favorite Finish Rich in Nyc in his 50,000th start, a $12,500 claiming race for older fillies and mares at six furlongs. Baze, who is closing in on 12,000 career victories with 11,839, won the first three races on the Golden Gate card.

"I was thinking I was going to go right through the whole card, but it was not to be," joked racing's all-time blue-collar rider afterward.

Of the milestone, he added, "I don't think it's any big thing just going out there that many times, but going out there and really being successful at it, that's what is important."

Speaking of his conditioning, Baze said, "I'm pretty fit. I've got a lot of miles under me. I don't think my physical skills have diminished any at all. I get the odd ache and pain here and there but it's manageable."

Laffit Pincay Jr., who was forced to retire due to injuries in 2003, is second on the North American rider list with 48,486 starts. The closest active jockey to Baze is Edgar Prado, who ranked ninth overall through Jan. 24 with 35,797 mounts.

Baze said he is giving no thought to retirement, adding, "Well, I think I've got a couple years left in me, anyway."

But he said that four years ago. Baze noted that he still enjoys the game while he has remained healthy, and he continues to have the support of owners and trainers.

"Right now, I'm having a blast and have no intention of quitting," he said.

He later added: "I figure in 2016 I'll have 40 years in, and so, that might be enough. But I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

And, he said, he hates being asked about it. "The other day I had to get a part for a door knob and the guy I bought it from says, 'Hey, I know you, are you still riding?' That's always the first thing they ask me."

A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Baze was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame on Aug. 9, 1999.

Baze has won 44 riding championships at Golden Gate Fields, and also led the jockey standings 40 times at defunct Bay Meadows Race Course. Has led the nation in victories 12 times, including last year, while maintaining a remarkable 24% strike rate.

Baze was honored with a special Eclipse Award in 1995 for being the first jockey ever to win 400 or more races in a year for four consecutive years. He has won 400 races in a year 13 times; no other jockey has won 400 races in a year more than three times.

He overtook the great Pincay as the winningest jockey in North American Thoroughbred racing history when he recorded career victory No. 9,531 aboard Butterfly Belle in the fourth race at Bay Meadows Dec. 1, 2006.

Baze's main rival these days is South American rider Jorge Ricardo, who had 11,885 wins through Jan. 24.

www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/75847/baze-first-jockey-to-reach-50000-mounts