Russell Avery Baze (born 7 August 1958 ) is a retired

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. He holds the record for the most race wins in North American horse racing history, and is a member of the United States Racing Hall of Fame and the

State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Family background

Born to an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

family, Baze's father, Joe Baze, is a former jockey and trainer who was competing at Exhibition Park in Vancouver at the time of his birth giving him dual Canadian/American citizenship.

Riding career

Baze began his racing career in

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...

in 1974 and won his first race that fall at the

Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...

racetrack. By the early 1980s he was making a name for himself, winning racing titles at northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

racetracks including a victory in the 1981

California Derby The California Derby is a race for Thoroughbred horses held early in the year at Golden Gate Fields. An ungraded stakes, it is open to three-year-olds at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on a Tapeta surface. The Derby offers a purs ...

. Baze went on to lead United States

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

in victories ten times. He has won 36 riding titles at

Bay Meadows Bay Meadows was a horse racing Race track, track in San Mateo, California from 1934 until 2008, in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States of America, United States. History Built on the site of an old airfield, Bay Meadows Racecourse w ...

racetrack in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

and 27 titles at

Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields is an American horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the closing of t ...

Albany, California Albany ( ) is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northwestern Alameda County, California. The population was 20,271 at the 2020 census. History In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping of Berkeley garbage in their ...

. After winning 400 or more races in a year for four consecutive years, Baze got his big break by being honored with a special

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

in 1995. Since then he has won 400 or more races in a year seven additional times; no other jockey has accomplished that feat more than three times. In 1999, Baze was inducted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

and in 2002, he was voted the recipient of the prestigious

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional condu ...

by his peers. Since the inauguration of the

Isaac Murphy Award The Isaac Murphy Award is an American honor presented annually since 1995 by the National Turf Writers Association of the United States to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey with the highest winning percentage who has ridden in a minimum of 500 ...

in 1995, presented annually by the

National Turf Writers Association The National Turf Writers Association (NTWA) is an American association of journalists, columnists and other writers involved with reporting on the horse racing industry. The organization was founded by prominent sports writer Joe Hirsch who served ...

to the jockey with the highest winning percentage in North America, Baze has won it 13 of 14 years, coming in second in 2004.

Achievements

On October 14, 1989, Baze was aboard Hawkster when that three-year-old colt set the

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

track record for 1 miles on

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultu ...

. Baze gained a lot more fame in the fourth race at Bay Meadows on December 1, 2006, by setting the world's all-time record for most career victories, passing jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., by winning career race 9,531 aboard Butterfly Belle, owned by Jim Pitzer Sr. of Washington. Among other noteworthy accomplishments, during the two days of October 17 and 18, 2007, Baze won eleven races. Although he had won every other stakes race at

, Russell had never won the track's most prestigious race: the San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile. That changed on April 24, 2010 when he took the race on Bold Chieftain from the pacesetter, Monterey Jazz.

Milestones

On February 1, 2008, at

, Baze rode Two Step Cat to a photo finish victory in the third race to become the first North American rider to win 10,000 races. On August 14, 2010, in the fourth race at the

Sonoma County Fairgrounds The Sonoma County Fairgrounds is a fairground and exhibition center located in Santa Rosa, California. It is where the annual Sonoma County fair takes place and other events throughout the year. History Historically, the fairgrounds has held hor ...

in Santa Rosa, California, Baze rode Separate Forest, a first-time starter, to his 11,000th win. On July 7, 2013, in Pleasanton, California, riding Handful of Pearls, Baze won the final race on the last day of the Alameda County Fair, making it his 12,000th win and his 4th win of the day.

Personal life

Baze and his wife Tami have four children. Their daughter Trinity is married to former jockey Kyle Kaenel, whose father, Jack Kaenel, won the

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

at age 16.

Year-end charts

References

External links

- World statistics jockeys - Russell Baze - Jorge Ricardo

DRF : Russel Baze

Russell Baze at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baze, Russell 1958 births Living people Baze family American jockeys American Champion jockeys Eclipse Award winners United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Vancouver Canadian jockeys Canadian emigrants to the United States Latter Day Saints from Washington (state) Canadian Latter Day Saints