Golden Gate Jockey Russell Baze Tops 50,000 Rides

Baze is just shy of 12,000 victories in his 37-year Thoroughbred riding career. At 54, he is the darling of Golden Gate Fields racetrack at San Francisco, California, where most of his wins have been achieved.

A Thoroughbred racehorse most often weighs in at 1,000 pounds plus, while a normally diminutive jockey is required to keep his own weight very low, close to a tenth of his mount's weight, to meet racing standards and allow his racehorse to carry as light a load as possible while flying through a race at an accelerating speed.     

Of the 50,000 mounts mark, the modest Baze told interviewers he didn't think "it's any big thing just going out there that many times". Baze said going out and "really being successful" at riding the Thoroughbreds assigned to him is "what is important".

On the day before riding his 50,000th mount, Baze had won 11,839 races. He triumphed in his first three rides on the January 25 Golden Gate Fields race card.

On August 9, 1999, Baze was honored with membership in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as a native of Vancouver, British Columbia. Over his many years of performing in one of the most dangerous sports, Baze has enjoyed good health as he continues his profession. He believes his skill set is undiminished and the support of trainers and owners for whom he rides seems to confirm it.  

Thirteen times, Baze has won 400 races in one season. He also accomplished the 400-victory plateau in four consecutive years and was presented a Special Eclipse Award in 1995 that recognized his unique record. No other jockey in history has achieved 400 victories in one year in more than three seasons.

At Golden Gate Fields, Baze has won 44 annual riding championships. In addition, he lead his fellow riders at the old Bay Meadows Racecourse in San Mateo, California, 40 times. In twelve different years, he has led American riders in number of victories. Overall, his riding career shows an astonishing 24 percent strike rate.

When he surpassed Pincay, who was forced to the sidelines because of injuries in 2003, for most wins ever in North American Thoroughbred racing history, Baze rode to career victory No. 9,531 on Butterfly Belle at Bay Meadows on December 1, 2006.

The active jockey nearest to Baze's number of mounts taken to the starting gate is Hall of Famer Edgar Prado, who had 35,797 race starts through January 24 this year. 

"...I'm having a blast," Baze said, adding that consideration of quitting the sport is no where in sight down the racetrack.

The thumbnail photo is a reduced scanned copy courtesy of Wikipedia. It was taken from a display photo of an original Currier and Ives creation used on Wikipedia.