Russell Baze, the winningest jockey in thoroughbred history, added another to his total of over 10,500 victories when he rode Winner in Overtime to first place in the eighth race at The Big Fresno Fair track minutes ago.
Baze has been riding off and on here since 1976, the year he graduated from high school in Granger, Wash. The last time he was here, in 2006, he was aboard Vicarino for a record-victory in the Bulldog Stakes. The time of 1 minute, 7.34 seconds is the track's 6 furlongs record.
Baze, born in Canada, comes from a horse racing family. His dad and little brother both rode, and he has two cousins riding at Santa Anita.
I talked to Baze in the jockey cafeteria where he was resting before starting his day. He was down to race six times today, but the horse in his first race was scratched.
"As long as I came all the way down here, I thought I might as well ride as many horses as I can," he said.
Baze is 51, so I asked him the obvious question of when he might start thinking about retirement. "I have no intention of retiring," he said. "I'm leading the nation (for the 11th time) and I'm having a blast. People always ask me how long I've been doing this instead of how well I'm doing."
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