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Memorial service for Michael C.
Baze set for May 24 at Emerald Downs
May 17, 2011 - A memorial service for jockey Michael
C. Baze will be held at the Morris J. Alhadeff Sales
Pavilion adjacent to Emerald Downs at 1 p.m.
Tuesday, May 24.
A native of Renton, Baze was found dead May 10 in
his SUV near Gate 5 at Churchill Downs, the
Louisville, Ky., track where he had planned to begin
riding this week. The Jefferson County coroner's
office is awaiting toxicology tests conducted after
an autopsy revealed no cause of death.
Baze, 24, rode 918 winners with purses of $32.4
million, and at age 20 in 2007 became the youngest
jockey since the legendary Bill Shoemaker to win the
spring/summer riding title at Hollywood Park. Baze
also won the 2007 Del Mar riding title. His only
visit to Emerald Downs was in 2009 when he finished
11th aboard Trumpet Player Jay in the Longacres
Mile.
A memorial ceremony was held in the Winner's Circle
at Churchill Downs last Friday.
Baze's mother, Teri Gibson, worked several years at
Emerald Downs on the track maintenance crew, and she
told Daily Racing Form that her son would be
cremated in Kentucky with the ashes transported to
Washington for the memorial service. Baze's father,
Michael B. Baze, was the leading rider at Longacres
in 1978 and now resides in New Mexico.
Michael C. Baze was the latest in a long line of
premier riders to emerge from the Baze family tree.
His uncle, Gary Baze, was the all-time leading rider
at Longacres, while second cousin Russell Baze is
Thoroughbred racing's all-time leading rider with
over 11,500 wins. And Tyler Baze, a first cousin,
won the 2000 Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice
jockey.
Auburn Reporter
