Down the stretch

Laffit Pincay has heard the hoofbeats drawing closer for months, and now he will pack a bag and go to Bay Meadows in San Mateo to wait to pass the baton to jockey Russell Baze, just as Bill Shoemaker passed it to him in 1999.

Baze, a mainstay of the Northern California racing scene whose reputation is built more on his workmanlike dedication than the names of famous horses he has ridden, is seven victories from breaking Pincay’s record of 9,530 wins.

“This is about winning races,” said Pincay, who has been gracious about relinquishing the record he has held for seven years after Shoemaker held it for 29. “I would have been very proud if I won the title in Panama or riding camels over there in Iraq. This is something Russell should be very proud of.

“When I think about him, I think about a very dedicated rider, one of the best. He’s very strong. He loves what he’s doing. He shows up every day and works very hard and deserves to break the record.”

Baze, 48, comes from a racing family and likes to say he has “lots of uncles and cousins working on gates, shoeing horses, training horses.”

His parents met at a backside kitchen run by his maternal grandmother, and his father, Joe, won riding titles at Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields and Longacres in Washington state before becoming a trainer. A younger brother, Dale, is a retired jockey. And Tyler Baze, a widely known young Southern California rider, is a second cousin, as is Michael Baze, an up-and-coming rider on the East Coast.

Born in Vancouver, Canada, when his father was riding there, Baze began riding at 16 in Washington in 1974. His first winner, Oregon Warrior, was trained by his dad.

Though Baze rode for three years on the more prestigious Southern California circuit, he returned to his base in Northern California, where he and his wife, Tami, had built a life where the family could be together and their four children could go to the same schools year-round.

It wasn’t until Pincay retired at 56 in 2003, after he was seriously injured in a spill at Santa Anita, that Baze knew he could reach the record.

“Before that, he was a moving target, still winning races,” Baze said. “It became a very real possibility with Laffit’s unfortunate accident.”

If not for the injury, Pincay probably would have put more distance between his record and the riders chasing it.

“There’s no doubt in my mind if doctors gave him clearance, he’d be riding tomorrow,” Baze said.

For all his victories, Baze has never won a Triple Crown race or a Breeders’ Cup race.

Pincay, in contrast, won the Kentucky Derby with Swale in 1984 and claimed three Belmonts and seven Breeders’ Cup races.

Baze rode a favorite, Lost In The Fog, in the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, but the Northern California darling, who went on to win an Eclipse Award, finished seventh. He was euthanized this year after he was found to have inoperable cancer.

“He was on the lead turning for home, but unfortunately he was unable to hold that position. It was disappointing,” Baze said, recalling a conversation with trainer Greg Gilchrist before the race.

“Greg told me when I walked into the paddock that day, ‘This horse is not acting right.’ That’s not really what I wanted to hear. I was not the first to lose a Breeders’ Cup race, and I won’t be the last.

“I have had quite a few horses that were going to the Kentucky Derby and things happened along the way and they didn’t make it to the final day. Who’s to say if I had stayed in Southern California or gone another place I would have? I don’t have any regrets. I think I’ve had a fantastic career. I don’t regret a darn thing.”

Trainers praise Baze for the commitment that keeps him going to the racetrack five days a week to ride in races, and six days a week before dawn to work horses.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who has called on Baze to ride his horses for 25 years, has said the rider has “a work ethic like nobody else’s,” but that the talent that comes with it is what led to Baze’s induction to thoroughbred racing’s Hall of Fame in 1999.

Baze has won 29 riding championships at Golden Gate Fields and 36 riding titles at Bay Meadows. He has led the nation in victories eight times, and won 400 races a year in 11 of the last 14 years. In 1995, he was honored with a special Eclipse Award for being the first jockey to win 400 or more races for four consecutive years.

Accomplishments such as those take hard work, and a resilient body. Although Baze has broken his neck, back and pelvis, he remains fit to ride, without much of the creakiness others associate with aging. He has given up running because of tender joints, but still runs the stairs inside his Woodside home.

Over the years, he has been able to balance the boldness sometimes needed to win races with the caution needed to keep riding.

“I think one thing, you have to be able to stay out of trouble in a race -- you’ve got to be able to give your horse the best opportunity he can have to run to his full potential,” he said. “While you’re doing that, most likely you’re staying out of positions where you could compromise your health as well as your chances.”

Barring a terrible injury, Pincay’s record will soon belong to Baze. Pincay said he knew it would be broken one day, either by Pat Day, who retired last year, or by Baze.

One day, someone might break Baze’s record, though he plans to ride into his 50s and has 10,000 victories in his sights.

“There are a lot of new prospects out there,” Pincay said. “It depends how many years they are going to be riding, and see if they can take the pressure of being there every day. There are a lot of guys that could do it if they really made up their minds to do it.”

So far, only Baze has proved ready.

robyn.norwood@latimes.com