Noah Berger / AP

Russell Baze ranks with the greatest jockeys of all-time, writes MSNBC's Mike Brunker.

He is possessed of great physical talents — a keen sense of timing and a hard-riding style that earned him the nickname “Russell the Muscle.”

He has the light frame that is standard issue to members of the “old Baze network” — an extended clan of racetrackers that extends back through his jockey father, Joe, to his grandparents, Bert and Mabel, both of whom trained and rode on “bush” tracks in the Northwest and Midwest starting in the early 1920s. That has enabled him to avoid the worst deprivations that many jockeys endure to maintain riding weight and has undoubtedly contributed to his consistently positive outlook.

He has managed to stay relatively healthy for most of his career, which began in 1974 at Washington state’s defunct Yakima Meadows racetrack. (Even so, he has suffered five compression fractures, a torn disc and broken vertebrae in his back, a broken bone in his neck, a broken pelvis, three broken collarbones, numerous cracked and broken ribs, a broken leg, a broken wrist, a broken hand, and concussions during his career.)

And he has surrounded himself with winners, enjoying a long association with Northern California’s training kingpin, Jerry Hollendorfer, and a symbiotic relationship with longtime agent Ray Harris.

Baze, who despite his fierce competitive streak is as modest and unassuming as they come, isn’t arguing that ownership of the record automatically catapults him to the top rung of racing history.

"I don't expect anyone to think of me as the greatest rider," he told the Contra Costa Times recently. “. . . I could win 20,000 races and it wouldn't eclipse what Laffit did, what Shoemaker did."

But as someone who was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch him ride on a regular basis when I first began covering racing in the late 1980s, I can unapologetically make the case that Baze, at the very least, deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as those great riders.

And whether or not you consider him the best ever to sit astride a thoroughbred, he should be appreciated today and during however many years he has left in the saddle.

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Patrick Mcdermott / Getty Images

California board suspends O'Neill

Despite vigorously denying he gave one of his horses an illegal performance-enhancing mixture, trainer Doug O'Neill was suspended 45 days — a ban that won't take effect until after his superstar colt, I'll Have Another, tries to win the Triple Crown.

Mike Stewart / AP

Chasing the Crown

  Slideshow: I'll Have Another one win away from becoming the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.

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