Friday, at Golden Gate Fields, Jockey Russell Baze rode Finish Rich in Nyc to a third place finish in Race 6. The race marked mount number 50,000 for the 54 year old rider. It's a milestone that no other North American jockey has reached. It's over a thousand mounts more than the second place jockey on the all-time list, Laffit Pincay, Jr., who had 48,486 lifetime starts.
Some perspective on Russell Baze's career:
Russell Baze has more career thoroughbred wins than any other North American jockey. Baze has over two thousand more wins than the second place jockey, Laffit Pincay, Jr. Baze has approximately three thousand more wins than the third place jockey on the list, Willie Shoemaker. Baze has over five thousand more wins than jockey Johnny Longden, the man who held the all-time record for career wins by a jockey until passed by Shoemaker. Baze has more career wins than Jerry Bailey and Gary Stevens combined.
As reported in this Sports Illustrated article from September of 1996, Russell Baze got his first victory Sept. 16,1974, aboard Oregon Warrior at Yakima Meadows. At the time of Baze's first win, Gerald Ford was President of the United States, Richard Nixon having resigned about five weeks earlier. William O. Douglas, Potter Stewart, and Lewis Powell were all Supreme Court Justices. Carl Albert was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Current Speaker of the House John Boehner was twenty-four. Current Chief Justice John Roberts was nineteen. Current US President Barack Obama was thirteen. Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan was four.
When Russell Baze got his first victory, Hank Aaron was still playing for the Atlanta Braves, George Blanda was still playing for the Oakland Raiders, and Terry Bradshaw had not yet won his first Super Bowl. Walter Alston and Al Dark would manage against each other in that year's World Series. The Designated Hitter had yet to be used in a World Series game. Major League Baseball had six fewer teams, as did the NFL. The NBA and ABA had not yet merged; nor had the NHL and the WHA. Wayne Gretzky was thirteen. Barry Bonds was ten. Alex Rodriguez had not yet been born.
When Russell Baze got his first victory, the Number One song on the Billboard Chart was "I Shot the Sheriff", performed by Eric Clapton. Number Two was "(You're) Having My Baby", by Paul Anka; Number Three was "Rock Me Gently", by Andy Kim. The Academy Award for Best Picture of 1974 went to The Godfather Part II. Art Carney won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Gunsmoke, Adam 12, Ironside, and Streets of San Francisco were airing first-run episodes in Prime Time. The first Star Wars movie had not yet been released. Tom Cruise was twelve. Adam Sandler was eight. Cameron Diaz was two. HBO would not be two for another couple of months. Leonardo DiCaprio had not yet been born.
When Russell Baze got his first victory, according to this site, a box of Kellogs Corn Flakes (18 ounces) cost forty-three cents. Six twelve-ounce cans of Pepsi cost eighty-eight cents. A Hershey chocolate bar (1.4 ounces) cost fifteen cents. According to this other site, the average cost of a new house in the U.S. was $34,900. The average cost of a new car was $3,750. The price of a gallon of gasoline was fifty-five cents.
Peace and Love,
Jimbo
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