Russell Baze

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Russell Baze
Russell Baze Winningest jockey in North American flat racing history
Occupation:	Jockey
Birthplace:	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Birth date:	August 7, 1958
Career wins:	9,665 (thru 4-8-07)
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
California Derby (1981) Golden Gate Handicap (1982, 2000) Bay Meadows Handicap (1982, 1995, 2005) Oak Tree Invitational (1984,1989) El Camino Real Derby (1984, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2007) Del Mar Debutante (1986) Longacres Mile (1988, 2004) San Carlos Handicap (1990) San Gorgonio Handicap (1990) Oak Leaf Stakes (1990) Jim Beam Stakes (1998) Bay Meadows Breeders’ Cup Sprint Handicap (2002) King's Bishop Stakes (2005) Churchill Downs Handicap (2006) Aristides Breeders' Cup Handicap (2006)
Racing Awards
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (2002) Isaac Murphy Award (1995-2003, 2005-2006) Eclipse Special Award (1995) U.S. Leading Jockey in wins (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2005)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1999)
Significant Horses
Lost in the Fog
Infobox last updated on: January 31, 2007.

Russell Baze (born August 7, 1958 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is the winningest jockey in the history of Thoroughbred horse racing) and a member of the United States Racing Hall of Fame.^[1]

Born to an American family, Russell 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.

Russell Baze began his racing career in Walla Walla, Washington in 1973 and won his first race the following year at the Yakima racetrack. By the early 1980s he was making a name for himself, winning racing titles at northern California racetracks including a victory in the 1981 California Derby. Baze went on to lead United States thoroughbred horse racing in victories seven times. He has won 36 riding titles at Bay Meadows racetrack in San Mateo, California and 26 titles at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, California.^{[citation needed]}

After winning 400 or more races in a year for four consecutive years, Baze was honored with a special Eclipse Award 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, Russell Baze was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and in 2002, he was voted the recipient of the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award by his peers. From its inauguration in 1995 until 2004, Baze won the Isaac Murphy Award every year as the U.S. jockey with the highest winning percentage.

Baze holds the Santa Anita Park track record for 1 1/2 miles on turf set on October 14, 1989 aboard the 3-year-old colt, Hawkster.

In the fourth race at Bay Meadows on December 1, 2006, Baze set the world's all-time record for most career victories, passing jockey Laffit Pincay Jr, by winning race 9,531 aboard Butterfly Belle. At his current winning pace, Baze could reach 10,000 wins by his 50th birthday, in the Summer of 2008.^{[citation needed]}

On February 5, 2007, Brazilian jockey Jorge Ricardo earned the 9,591st victory of his career to surpass the injured Russell Baze as the all-time leader in racing wins.

Baze and his wife Tami have three daughters, Trinity, Brandi and Cassie, and one son, Gable.