Russell Baze

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by Soaring Softly

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.

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.