On the record, they're saying the right things
There are a few reasons Russell Baze's pursuit of Laffit Pincay's world record for lifetime victories by a jockey has received less ink than Pincay's chase of Bill Shoemaker's standard did a few years ago. One is that nobody involved is saying anything very interesting, because nobody involved would benefit from a heartfelt discussion.
Baze looks bad and dishonest if he suggests the record is going to prove him superior to -- or even the equal of -- Pincay. Pincay looks bad and a little too honest if he suggests the record is tainted by Baze riding most of his career at the second-rate tracks.
So, both sides stay very polite. Which is bad for the publicity machine.
The record, which Baze could capture as early as Wednesday at Bay Meadows in San Mateo, is going to reflect the 48-year-old's more than decade-long domination of the Bay Area tracks. Nothing less, nothing more.
If you want to know how silly Baze or Pincay admirers sound if they state their man's case too stridently, consider the quote from Baze's father Joe Baze in Bill Dwyre's column in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times. Joe was addressing the complaint that Russell doesn't ride the caliber of horses that Pincay did.
"You talk to any rider,'' Joe said, "and they'll tell you it's a lot tougher riding the cheap horses than the expensive ones."
That's true only in the sense that it's tougher playing tennis on a public park's cracked cement than at Wimbledon. Which doesn't mean beating your neighbor equates to beating Amelie Mauresmo.
The cheap-horses vs. expensive-ones thing misses the point. Nobody doubts Baze is a fine, brave, dedicated jockey.
But a jockey with those qualities gets to 9,000 victories only if he so outclasses his immediate rivals that he constantly receives the horses with the best chances to win. When Baze left a Southern California jocks' room full of Hall of Famers in the early 1990s, he became the far-and-away star of the Northern Cal roster and settled comfortably into a string of 400-win seasons.
Baze begins the racing week Wednesday with six mounts in the eight races at Bay Meadows, including morning-line favorites in races 2, 7 and 8. He needs two victories to tie and three to pass Pincay's record of 9,530 wins.
Baze has reached the top of the all-time jockey standings because he towers over a less-skilled group than Pincay ever faced. Pincay knows he doesn't have to point it out, and Baze is smart not to dispute it.