Consistency is a hallmark of all great athletes, and the jockeys atop Thoroughbred Times's list of the continent's leading riders certainly have been consistent, especially so at the top.

For the third consecutive year, Thoroughbred Times has utilized standards that measure the entirety of a rider's season: percentage of winners from mounts, total victories, and average earnings per mount. The statistics cover a 12-month period from April 1, 1999, through March 31, 2000.

For the third straight year, Racing Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey is atop the Thoroughbred Times standings. Pat Day, another Racing Hall of Fame member, is second-for the third straight year. And Russell Baze, inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame last year, is third for a third consecutive time. That is consistency.

Making a big move up the ladder was Jorge Chavez, winner of the 1999 Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey. He ranked fourth in the period covered, after ranking 12th and 14th, respectively, in the preceding two years.

Each year the list enrages some fans whose favorite jockeys do not make the top of the list. To be sure, the parameters may work to the disadvantage of great riders who have chosen to limit their mounts. Chris McCarron, for instance, won with a highly respectable 14.2% of his mounts, but that added up to 90 wins-less than a third of Edgar Prado's industry-leading total.

Still, despite some criticisms, the parameters have proved as consistent as the jockeys who reach the top of the list each year.
-Don Clippinger

Jerry D. Bailey

It is hardly surprising that Jerry Bailey stands atop Thoroughbred Times's annual list of leading jockeys for the third straight year. Although narrowly deprived of a fourth consecutive Eclipse Award by Jorge Chavez, Bailey had another stellar season over the last 12 months. After Cigar and Skip Away, the only upset was that Bailey was not the regular rider of the Horse of the Year for the third time in four years.

Bailey did ride Charismatic to victory in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G2) but gave up the future champion's saddle to ride Worldly Manner in the Kentucky Derby (G1). The eventual Horse of the Year was one of 36 individual stakes winners ridden by Bailey over the last year, and he was the regular rider of champion three-year-old filly Silverbulletday and champion older male Victory Gallop.

Bailey also picked up the ride late in the year on Breeders' Cup winners Cash Run and Soaring Softly (also an Eclipse winner), pushing his total of Breeders' Cup wins to nine, second only to Pat Day. Bailey also partnered Grade 1 winners Banshee Breeze, Catinca, High Yield, Real Quiet, Royal Anthem, Three Ring, Yagli, and Yes It's True.

He also ranked second behind Day by money won in 1999, and second among leading jockeys (to Russell Baze's amazing 21.9%) by percentage of winners from mounts (18.3%), and second (to Gary Stevens) by average earnings per mount, $17,971. For Bailey, finishing second in two categories added up to a win.

At 42, Bailey has become something of an elder statesman among leading jockeys and recognizes the changes in outlook that age brings.

"I've always tried to concentrate on quality rather than quantity, so I don't think my attitude has changed there. But I'm more conscious now of putting something back in the game. When you first come up, you're just scrambling to make a name for yourself. When you get older you try to do something in the business to give back a bit."
-John P. Sparkman

Jerry D. Bailey
Birthdate: August 29, 1957
Birthplace: Dallas, Texas
Main circuit: New York, Florida
1999-2000 stakes winners: African Dancer, Air Rocket, Banshee Breeze, Beckon the King, Cash Run, Catinca, Charismatic, Dancing Guy, Dat You Miz Blue, Dominique's Joy, Forestry, Formal Tango, Garbu, Gaviola, High Yield, Idle Rich, Jena Jena, King Cugat, Marquette, Midnight Line, On a Soapbox, Outrigger, Pleasant Temper, Positive Gal, Real Quiet, Rock and Roll, Royal Anthem, Sahara Gold, Silverbulletday, Soaring Softly, Three Ring, Trippi, Victory Gallop, Wolf Alert, Yagli, Yes It's True

Pat Day

Ask Pat Day what happened in a race, and he will give you a stride-by-stride analysis of how the race unfolded for him in easy-to-understand language. It will not be a short discussion. Day can analyze a race as well as anyone in the sport, and one can envision him moving into color commentary for TV when his riding days are over.

This gift that Day has-the ability to easily analyze a race-has helped make him one of the best riders in the nation. The fact that he has 28 years of experience does not hurt, either. More importantly, horses run for him. He is patient, has a light touch, a steady seat, a knack for getting horses to relax, and he always saves something for the stretch run.

Traits like those add up to wins. Lots of them. Day has more than 7,000 career wins-one of just five jockeys to reach that milestone.

Day is the winningest rider at both Churchill Downs and Keeneland Race Course. On April 19, he won his 717th race at Keeneland, surpassing long-time fixture and Kentucky native Don Brumfield.

A native of Colorado, Day rides on the Kentucky circuit most of the year, starting with Keeneland in April, and then goes to Saratoga Race Course for the summer months. He is back in Kentucky in the fall, through the Churchill Downs meeting, before heading to Florida for the winter. A regular rider for trainers such as D. Wayne Lukas and Neil Howard, Day usually finds himself in a major stakes race or two every weekend.

Day culminated 1999 with an upset win with Cat Thief in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). He also won graded stakes on High Yield, Menifee, Surfside, Comic Strip, and Sister Act, to name a few.

He began riding in 1973 at Prescott Downs in Arizona, winning with his first mount. Day has won eight Triple Crown races, three Breeders' Cup Classics, and the Eclipse Award four times as outstanding jockey, and he was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame in 1991.
-Mark Simon

Pat Day
Birthdate: October 13, 1953
Birthplace: Brush, Colorado
Main circuit: Kentucky, Florida
1999-2000 stakes winners: Anguilla, Cat Thief, Comic Strip, Could Be, Dreamy Maiden, Gander, Gateman (GB), Golden Missile, High Yield, Hurricane Bertie, Jazz Club, Jokerman, L. B. On Tour, Lydia Jane, Magicalmysterycat, Menifee, Middlesex Drive, Millencolin, My Sweet Westly, Mycatcandance, Outrigger, Perfect Sting, Pleasant Temper, Rock and Roll, Royal Strand (Ire), Run Johnny, Sapphire n' Silk, Secret Status, Sister Act, Solvig, St Clair Ridge (Ire), Surfside, Swept Away, Tap to Music

Russell Baze

Big news-Russell Baze did not win 400 or more races in 1999.

Not surprisingly, it was probably only a late-season injury that prevented Baze from reaching the 400-winner milestone for the eighth consecutive year. Baze still kept another streak alive, winning the Isaac Murphy Award for highest winning percentage among jockeys in the United States for the fifth consecutive year. He is the only jockey ever to win the National Turf Writers Association award.

But Baze can no longer claim to be Northern California's best-kept secret. The 41-year-old rider's consistency was rewarded in August when he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York. Pohla Smith, the Turf Writers president who presented Baze with his plaque during the Racing Hall of Fame ceremony noted: "Russell Baze is the $2 bettor's best friend, the jockey who gets to the winner's circle most consistently."

Indeed, he won 21.9% of his starts from April 1, 1999, to March 31, 2000.

Despite not reaching the 400-win plateau, the last