Hollendorfer shares thoughts on recently retired jockey Russell Baze

Koufax and Drysdale, Montana and Clark, Cousy and Russell, great tandems in the annals of sports, all etched in the history of yesteryear.

Now they are joined by Baze and Hollendorfer.

With a retirement announcement Monday that bordered on being clandestine, Russell Baze, the winningest jockey in North American Thoroughbred history, hung up his tack, ending a 42-year reign that saw him win 12,842 Thoroughbred races from a record 53,578 mounts.

Most of those victories came in the Bay Area where Baze won 54 riding titles at Golden Gate Fields and 40 at defunct Bay Meadows.

According to Equibase, 2,893 of Baze’s 12,842 wins were for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who gave the 57-year-old Baze a leg up on 9,185 horses.

Together, they won at a 31 percent clip. Baze also finished second 3,149 times on Hollendorfer-trained horses, good for 34 percent.

Life goes on, but it won’t be the same without Baze for Hollendorfer, the ubiquitous Hall of Fame conditioner who turns 70 on Saturday. Hollendorfer ranks third all-time in career wins among trainers with 7,108, behind Dale Baird (9,445) and Steve Asmussen (7,320).

“I’ve done so much work with him and he’s been my go-to man for so long, it’s a little bit difficult for me,” Hollendorfer said from his customary workout-viewing perch in Santa Anita’s grandstand Thursday morning.

“But being a horseman anywhere in this country, you have to be flexible and overcome a lot of things, so for me, I have to find somebody I can count on, and I’ll find riders I can use and count on to win races.

“As for Russell, first of all, nobody can win that many races if they don’t have the ability. But if you combine your ability and apply a hard work ethic, you can be one of the best, and that’s a lesson young riders should learn.