SAN MATEO, Calif. – This one was for the grizzled railbirds who remember when Seabiscuit used to pack them in 30,000 strong. This one was for the small-time owners and breeders who still live paycheck to paycheck. This one was for Bay Meadows and other race tracks across the country fighting for survival.
This one was for the record books.
Far from the glitz of Churchill Downs and the glamour of Santa Anita, at a one-mile track without pretense or luxury boxes, Russell Baze tied the record for victories by a jockey with this 9,530th win on Thursday. He still needs one victory to pass Laffit Pincay, and it's likely to come Friday when Baze has seven mounts. But the celebration started early for a 48-year-old jockey whose grandmother rode horses when she was pregnant and whose family made a living riding and training horses at small tracks across the northwest.