Russell Baze
 

Going into the Saturday card at Santa Rosa, the next race that Russell Baze wins will be #11,000 for him.

I just don't understand why this seems to be a milestone that nobody cares about. He's 52 years old and won his first race 36 years ago. Any list of suspensions in his career is a short one, and his downtime due to injury in his 36 years of riding is pretty darn small.

The asterisk will always be there. Russell has spent his career as a big fish in a small pond. He was able to create a place for himself where he is a dominant rider on a singular circuit. He has never cared about branching out. His life in this game has been so much different than most other jockeys......he's just wanted to stay home with his family and do his thing.

My dad, God rest his soul, was just like Russell Baze. He brought his lunchpail to work everyday and came home every night. For sure, he didn[t put his life on the line in his job like Russell does every day, but I see a real similarity between the two.

#11,000 is probably going to happen for Russell Baze tomorrow.

If we, as racing fans, can't celebrate that, we have a real problem.

good post..

cue the Zenyatta bashers in 3, 2, 1......

hmmm, not excited about 11,000 wins for the same reason no one has a huge party for the 31st wedding anniversary.

If you bet GG on a regular basis, you quickly realize that Baze is about as OVERRATED as any jock in the country. Put more plainly: HE ABSOLUTELY SUCKS!!!

He collapses more races than Centeno, Ramsammy and Patrick Husbands COMBINED, and these 3 are the preeminent PREMATURE EJACULATOR jocks in North America.

What's ironic here is that a halfway decent jock probably has DOUBLE the number of wins that Baze does.

And it's not all about wins and loses: Baze PUNISHES horses by consistently putting them under pressure early and/or having them wide. In other words, a horse almost always has to be TONS the BEST for Baze to win on it.

^

Obvious Zenyatta basher. His anti-Cal horse racing bias couldn't be more transparent.

Sparky Douglas is going for his 17th consecutive victory in the 25 yard freestyle at the Special Olympics.

Leslie Mawing outrides Baze on a daily basis. With that being said, I do respect the longevity of his career, much like Emmitt Smith.

I laughed

No doubt Baze hasn't seen a speed duel he doesn't like. I can't count how many times I've had money on the guy, sure that he'll get a garden trip sitting 3rd behind a couple gunners...only to see him right on top of them from the gate and wasting any shot the horse has of winning.

Well said.

I like Leslie Mawing, but not sure how many races you've watched over how many years with that comment.

The best card gamblers figure a way to win a high % of the time with the cards they are dealt.


Russell Baze picked his game, and he knows what to do with his cards.

The best of the best, for certain.

I've watched plenty of races. Considering Baze almost always rides the best quality horses stabled in northern Cali, I stand behind my statement 100%.

I am not a huge Baze fan either and hate betting him because the odds are always lower than they should be but why do you think he gest the best mounts? Because he is the best jock

in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king

Sharp post. :p

Speasking of great jocks, where is Freddy Fong these days?