Columnist Ralph Siraco: Jockeys battling for victories mark

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Dec. 10, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday. Reach him c/o Las Vegas Sun, 2275 Corporate Circle Drive, Suite 300, Henderson, NV 89074.

Although most of the Eclipse Awards for 2001 have been all but won -- except for Horse of the Year -- many of the year's statistical leaders are winding up with just three weeks to go before they play "Auld Lang Syne."

One of the most interesting races still playing out on tracks at opposite ends of the country is the mark for most wins by a jockey this year.

Maryland-based jockeys Roger Dominguez and Travis Dunkelberger are in the thick of a race with Russell Baze, who plies his trade almost exclusively on the Northern California round of Golden Gate, Bay Meadows and the region's summer racing fairs.

Through Friday, Dominguez and Baze are deadlocked with 403 winners. Dunkelberger trails the pair by 18 wins at 385. Although Baze may not top Dominguez, who will have more riding opportunities during the final three weeks of the year, Baze has achieved a plateau that is unparalleled in the sport -- or for that matter, any sport.

Baze has reached the 400-win level for the ninth time in his career. Nine times over a span of 10 years. That's an incredible accomplishment of consistency.

Even the world's winningest rider, Laffit Pincay, Jr., with more than 9,200 victories and counting, has won more than 400 races in a year only once. Reaching across five decades over a 35-year American career, Pincay's one 400-plus year came in 1979 when he won 420 races. Many industry observers believe that if any rider can catch the ageless Pincay for most career wins, it could be Baze.

Baze started his streak in 1992 and won at least 400 races each year through 1998. Snapping his seven-year run, Baze finished an abbreviated season in 1999 with 373 victories, then recovered to collect 412 last year. Baze recorded No. 400 this year last Wednesday at Golden Gate Fields and finished with No. 401 to cap off a three-bagger day.

But with $6,897,107, Baze trails the year leader in money won by more than $15 million. That leader, to no one's surprise, is Jerry Bailey with $22,365,830. Dominguez ranks 11th with $9,880,809, while Dunkelberger does not appear among the top 25 money earners. Bailey sits 22nd in races won with 225.

The biggest winner among American riders this year is John Velazquez. Riding primarily in the East on the New York and Florida circuits, Velazquez not only sits second on the money-won list behind Bailey at $14,795,010, he also is fifth in races won with 297. Pincay ranks 12th in money won with $9,784,366, although he's not in the top 25 in race wins.

There is no surprise when it comes to successful trainers this year.

Bob Baffert leads the earnings list with $15,767,186 and is more than $1 million ahead of runner-up Bobby Frankel at $14,578,939. Scott Lake, who races primarily in the Mid-Atlantic circuit with a division in New York this year, leads all trainers in wins 386, followed by Steve Asmussen at 277.

Baffert sits 17th on the win list with 129. Asmussen sits fourth on the money list with $7,626,806. Lake checks in sixth at $7,417,248. D. Wayne Lukas sits right behind Lake in seventh place for money won with $5,846,279 while not in the top 25 in race wins.

As for the equine money earners, Captain Steve, by virtue of a Dubai World Cup win, leads the horses this year with $4,201,200, ahead of another Baffert trainee, Horse of the Year candidate Point Given. The Santa Anita Derby, Preakness, Belmont, Haskell and Travers winner banked $3,350,000 before his retirement.

Tiznow, the repeat Breeders' Cup Classic winner, sits third with $2,981,880, primarily off his Classic score. He is the highest ranked Breeders' Cup winner on the list, just ahead of Breeders' Cup Turf winner Fantastic Light at $2,633,444.

The other Breeders' Cup winners include: Distaff winner Unbridled Elaine, 10th, $1,663,175; Filly & Mare Turf winner Banks Hill, 18th, $1,173,178; Juvenile victor Johannesburg, 24th, $1,004,758; Sprint winner Squirtle Squirt, 34th, $817,720; Mile winner Val Royal, 36th, $792,800; and Juvenile Fillies victor Tempera, 49th, $670,240.

The highest ranked horse on the list that is neither retired nor racing outside the United States is ninth-placed Monarchos. The Florida and Kentucky Derby winner banked $1,711,600 this year and is back training in Florida for a return to the races early next year at Gulfstream Park.