Braulio Baeza

Horseracing personalities infobox


name = Braulio Baeza
|caption =
occupation = Jockey
birthplace = Panama City, Panama
birth date = March 26, 1940
death date =
career wins = 3,140
race = Kentucky Oaks (1961, 1976)
Blue Grass Stakes (1961, 1963, 1976)
Wood Memorial Stakes (1962)
Kentucky Derby (1963)
Belmont Stakes (1961, 1963, 1969)
Jockey Club Gold Cup (1965, 1966, 1969)
Travers Stakes (1966, 1969, 1972, 1975)
Whitney Handicap (1968, 1972)
Washington, D.C. International (1972)
Canadian International Stakes (1972)
Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (1967, 1973)International race wins:
Benson & Hedges Gold Cup (1972)
awards= George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1968)
U.S. Leading Jockey in earnings
(1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969)
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey (1972, 1975)
honours = United States Racing Hall of Fame (1976)
horses = Buckpasser, Graustark, Dr. Fager, Ack Ack
Chateaugay, Arts and Letters, Droll Role
Roberto, Foolish Pleasure
updated = January 29, 2007

Braulio Baeza (born March 26, 1940 in Panama City, Panama) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He began racing in 1955 and in 1960, at the urging of agent Camilo Marin, moved to compete in the United States where at the Keeneland Racecourse he won the very first he competed in.

Braulio Baeza's success in America was instantaneous. He was the leading money winner in American racing from 1965 to 1969, the 1968 winner of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, and the 1972 and 1975 winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. During his career, he rode a number of Thoroughbred greats including Buckpasser, Graustark, Dr. Fager, and Ack Ack. In 1961 he won his first Belmont Stakes. Two years later he rode to his first Kentucky Derby victory on Chateaugay as well as for his second Belmont Stakes win. In 1969 he won the Belmont for the third time onboard future Hall of Famer, Arts and Letters.

In 1972 Baeza travelled to York Racecourse in England where he rode Roberto to victory over the previously unbeaten Brigadier Gerard in the inaugural Benson & Hedges Gold Cup. That same year he went to Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Canada where he won the prestigious Canadian International Stakes. Baeza was the jockey aboard Foolish Pleasure in the tragic 1975 match race against the great 3-year-old filly Ruffian, who had to be euthanized after she pulled up during the race with a broken front ankle.

Braulio Baeza retired in 1976 after having won 3140 races in the United States. He was inducted that same year into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

References

* [http://www.brauliobaeza.com/index.html Braulio Baeza website]
* [http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/jockey.asp?ID=163 Braulio Baeza at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame]