You can tell by my avatar the track that I am a fan of
and I think Russell Baze is a great rider -- but only at Bay Meadows/Golden Gate Fields. He can only win outside of NorCal when he has the superior horse (in other words, the HORSE wins the race, not the jock). When So Cal jocks come up north for stakes races, they blow by Russell, they simply know how to ride better. There was one season at Bay Meadows where you could watch Russell's riding plan in action in the small 5-6 horse fields - he sat off the pace and as they came around the turn, he ducked into the rail (since all the other horses were three wide past the apex of the turn) and rode the rail home for the win. He did this so consistantly I got pissed at the other jocks - why the h*ll weren't they doing this? Russell does fine in the small fields in NorCal but he gets eaten alive anywhere else. And I bet Russell knows that, and that's why he stays home in Woodside with his family.
p.s. No way Russell Baze is a better jock than Prado - and any list that says he is can't be trusted... just my two cents.