Friday at Golden Gates Fields was very special. Russell Baze won his 10,000th race aboard Two Step Cat in a mile long $4,000 claiming race. He has become the first jockey in North America to accomplish this amazing feat. As part of the celebration ceremonies, they gave $10,000 to his favorite track charities. This jockey is amazing. He said of his accomplishment, "This is a milestone, but not the final milestone."He is the second rider in the world to hit this mark. Jorge Ricardo in Argentina his 10,000 wins on January 9th this year!
Russell beat Bill Shoemaker's 8,839 wins in January 2005 and then passed Laffit Pincay, Jr.s' record with a 9,531st win aboard Butterfly Belle on December 2nd, 2006! He has led the nation in victories 9 times. He has earned more than 400 wins in 11 years, and missed a 12th year by a single victory last year. No other jockey has reached 400 wins more than 3 times. He earned a special Eclipse Award in 1995 and was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1999. He won the Isaac Murphy Award given to the rider with the highest winning percentage. He won this award 12 times in the 13 years of the history of this award!
In a New York Times article last year, I think a trainer said it best. Greg Gilchrist said, "Russell has so many good qualities, but the first think that sticks out is how much he loves to be a jockey. There are incredible demands on one's time in this industry, but Russell is so dedicated. I remember watching him one night in the dead of winter. The days were growing short. It was around 5pm and getting dark. The rain was coming down sideways, the mud was a foot deep and Russell stuck around for the last race to ride an $8,000 maiden. I looked at him on a television monitor and he was entering the gate and he was smiling. That's Russell."
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/jockey.asp?ID=342