Braulio Baeza

Who is Braulio Baeza?

Braulio Baeza 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 Race Course he won the very first race 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.