Pincay Gains No Ground on Valenzuela

Laffit Pincay rode two winners Thursday at Hollywood Park but couldn’t gain any ground in his bid for the meet riding title because Pat Valenzuela also won two races.

With four days remaining to a season that ends Monday, Valenzuela leads Pincay, 28-26. Winning the second race with Wine With Pride and the third with Road To Slew, Pincay increased his career total to 8,838. He broke Bill Shoemaker’s record of 8,833 with a win last Friday at Hollywood.

Valenzuela, who reached the 3,000-win plateau Dec. 4, won Thursday with Hide The Silver in the fourth race and Snowdoubtaboutit in the eighth.

At Golden Gate Fields, Russell Baze won two races, giving him 16 winners since he returned to action Dec. 8. Baze, who missed more than a month of riding because of a back injury, won three races Wednesday, which moved him past the retired Jorge Velasquez and into seventh place on the career-wins list. Baze has 6,798 wins, three more than Velasquez.