He’s Not Just a Jockey, He’s a Purse Snatcher

Almost every year--nine of the last 10 years, to be exact--Russell Baze rides 400 or more winners in Northern California, and in recent years the recurring question has been about how he’s put together this remarkable run.

“First of all,” Baze has answered more than once, “you’ve got to keep suiting up.”

You’ve got to be in the saddle every day, avoiding as much as possible the inevitable injuries and suspensions that can derail a career.

Jerry Bailey doesn’t ride as many horses as Baze--this year, he trails him by more than 550 mounts--but that’s not because Bailey hasn’t been Mr. Available. Among the big-name riders, Bailey arguably sidesteps spills and trouble with the stewards more deftly than anybody.

In 2001, racking up impressive numbers at every meet he’s attended and rolling up a record $22.3 million in purses, Bailey hasn’t had one injury or been hit with any suspensions. So what else is new? For more than 15 years, staying penalty-free and in one piece has been the secret to Bailey’s tremendous success.

The 44-year-old rider, assured of his fifth money title in the last seven years, can virtually tick off every serious spill and suspension he’s had, mainly because there are few to remember.

“My last serious spill was a real bad one,” Bailey said. “The Fall Highweight Handicap at Belmont Park in 1985.”

It was a three-horse accident in early October, Bailey suffering a broken left foot and three cracked ribs. He was out for the rest of the year, but since then he’s never missed a day because of injury, in a crapshoot of a game in which peril rides with every step a horse takes.

“I’ve been blessed by God,” said Bailey, once a problem drinker who’s been sober since New Year’s Day 1989.

He’s come from his Florida-New York base to ride in two important races at Hollywood Park this weekend. In today’s $460,750 Hollywood Futurity, he’ll be aboard Siphonic, third-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and one of the leading early candidates for next year’s Kentucky Derby. On Sunday, Bailey’s mount in the Hollywood Starlet is You, who was believed to have been in the early stages of a fever when she ran a dull fourth as the odds-on favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Ron Anderson, the former California agent who moved east to take Bailey’s book early last year, said that his rider was telling him recently that he’d had only three suspensions in 16 years.

“It’s even better than that,” Bailey said. “I’ve only had days five times in my whole career.” That’s a career--starting with a winner aboard his first mount at Sunland Park in New Mexico in 1974--that includes almost 28,000 races, 5,000 wins, 12 Breeders’ Cup wins and five Triple Crown victories.

Bailey’s last suspension came last year, for an infraction at Saratoga, and after an appeal failed he served 10 days just before the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs.

“I came back and rode 10 races [winning two of the eight Breeders’ Cup races] that day,” Bailey said. “I sure slept well that night.”

Providence might have much to do with Bailey’s virtually uninterrupted career, but staying trouble-free in races is more than just that, it’s a reflection of a savvy riding style that usually has his horse in the right place at the right time. Staying out of trouble, and being able to squeeze through tight holes when trouble does occur, are Bailey’s calling cards.

“He has a special knack,” says trainer Todd Pletcher. “When the money’s down, he’s the man.”

This year, Bailey is breaking the money record for the third time. His horses earned $16.3 million in 1995, breaking a record that Mike Smith set the year before. In 1996, Bailey broke his own record with a $19.4-million purse count. That’s the record he’s breaking--no, demolishing--this year.

“This record’s going to be broken again and again,” Bailey said, “because stakes purses continue to go up and more opportunities are there.”

When the year ends, Bailey probably will be a $7 million or more ahead of John Velazquez, the No. 2 jockey on the money list. The previous largest margin was Bailey by $5 million over Chris McCarron in 1995.

“What’s phenomenal about this year is that Jerry’s done it even though he was up against it in the beginning of the year at Gulfstream Park,” Anderson said. “The purses he rides for there, compared to the purses they offer at Santa Anita, are not even close. By comparison, Gulfstream offers no money. The difference between those tracks was almost $2 million in January alone.”

Bailey compensated by riding 13 stakes winners at Gulfstream, breaking the record he set in 1995. At Saratoga this summer, he won a record 55 races, breaking by five the record he set the year before.

Captain Steve was the horse that contributed the most to Bailey’s total, and he rode the colt only three times. The winner’s share was $300,000 when they won the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream in February; the win in March in the Dubai World Cup was worth $3.6 million; and Captain Steve earned $166,200 for finishing second in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in June.

Three races, more than $4 million in purses. Overall, Bailey has averaged $24,863 in purses every time he’s climbed on a horse. His fifth Eclipse award should already be on the way to the engraver.