Russell Baze Approaching his 50,000th Mount

[Vince P]

Does the 50,000 milestone refer to thoroughbred-only mounts or all-breed mounts?

Only Tbreds. Through the years he's ridden a few Top Appys but that's it as far as mixed breeds...I think. Can't ever recall him riding a Mule or .25 horse, unless in his early years in WA.

VInce P

[Joel]

The best way to see how good or bad a jockey is is to see what his ROI is.

What was Baze's ROI this year? His past 3 years? His career?

[Vince P]

The best way to see how good or bad a jockey is is to see what his ROI is.

Theoretically you are correct and that's why Vince will do anything Joy Scott wants me to do for her.

On the other hand, you can take the Top 7 winning jocks in the country and NONE - I guarantee you, NONE of them will have an ROI > $2.00.

I hardly ever wager on a Baze nag because 99.717% of the time his horse is an underlay. And I think there’s a lot of people who do the same, but that shouldn’t detract from Baze’s accomplishments.

[MikeFromGardena]

Russell Baze reads the Form. Russell looks at videos of past races. He sizes up his horse and the competition in each race and puts his horse where it has the best chance to win. He is sharp jockey and would make a great trainer. I don't have any numbers, but it seems to me his horses survive an high percentage of speed duels. He is good guy and good for horse racing. He would win on anybody's horses.

Jockey ROI is not a sufficient or necessary measure of jockey talent. Some jockey/trainer ROIs are interesting, but that's about it. Check out these numbers compiled in October 2011 for the previous 36 months at Santa Anita:

Jockey %ROI Win/%ROI Place/%ROI Place

Sprints
Bejarano 89/87/88
Garrett 94/85/89
Talamo 57/74/88
Agapito 101/95/74
Court 24/46/72

Routes
Bejarano 79/80/86
Garrett 96/88/87
Jon Court 13/38/46
Kayla Stra 273/87/84

All have losing ROIs except Kayla (56 starts/4wins) and Agapito. Agapito would only have to lose another race or two to go into the red. Kayla the kind of jockey you'll have to play to make this angle work -- hope she brings home a big longshot once a year or so. Court must not get the horses. Garrett is a bit worse than a slot machine: it will take longer than most jockeys to lose your money betting him every race.

More here:
http://www.thoroughbredanalytics.com/pd ... report.pdf

[Vince P]

Russell Baze reads the Form. Russell looks at videos of past races. He sizes up his horse and the competition in each race and puts his horse where it has the best chance to win. He is sharp jockey and would make a great trainer. I don't have any numbers, but it seems to me his horses survive an high percentage of speed duels. He is good guy and good for horse racing. He would win on anybody's horses.

Jockey ROI is not a sufficient or necessary measure of jockey talent. Some jockey/trainer ROIs are interesting, but that's about it. Check out these numbers compiled in October 2011 for the previous 36 months at Santa Anita:

Jockey %ROI Win/%ROI Place/%ROI Place

Sprints
Bejarano 89/87/88
Garrett 94/85/89
Talamo 57/74/88
Agapito 101/95/74
Court 24/46/72

Routes
Bejarano 79/80/86
Garrett 96/88/87
Jon Court 13/38/46
Kayla Stra 273/87/84

All have losing ROIs except Kayla (56 starts/4wins) and Agapito. Agapito would only have to lose another race or two to go into the red. Kayla the kind of jockey you'll have to play to make this angle work -- hope she brings home a big longshot once a year or so. Court must not get the horses. Garrett is a bit worse than a slot machine: it will take longer than most jockeys to lose your money betting him every race.

More here:
http://www.thoroughbredanalytics.com/pd ... report.pdf

Excellent report. I love stuff like this.

Vince P

[Hollywoodmike]

Will be a great ambassador for horse racing after he retires. I never made any real money on him but that's just me.
I respect his career accomplishments and longevity and dedication to the sport.

[Crazykid]

The best way to see how good or bad a jockey is is to see what his ROI is.

What was Baze's ROI this year? His past 3 years? His career?

huh? dont the best jockies get bet? the jockies with the best roi's are gonna be jocks who dont ride many and only ride longshots