Ouzts breaks North America record Saturday for career starts

Seventy-one-year-old Perry Ouzts set a North America record for most starts by a Thoroughbred jockey, riding in the 53,579th race of his career Saturday at Belterra Park in Cincinnati. In an era when there are fewer racing days and the rarity of a jockey lasting through a 52-year career in the saddle, it is hard to imagine this accomplishment being surpassed.

In a winners' circle ceremony after the race, Ouzts made it clear this wasn't the end of his story.

"I tell everyone I'm going to retire one day," he said. "But not today."

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Riding 4-year-old filly So Far So Good to a third-place finish in the sixth race Saturday, Ouzts passed the number established by retired California rider Russell Baze. He originally was expected to pass the record in the eighth race with Leave It to Kitten, who wound up being scratched. Ouzts picked up the mount on So Far So Good on Saturday morning.

There were brief nervous moments when the horse next to So Far So Good, Chic N Da Wadda, acted up in the gate and was scratched. However, Ouzts and his mount remained calm, and he made his record-breaking start. One race earlier he tied the North America record for starts in Saturday's fifth race when he rode Blazing Tony to victory.

Ouzts sports a record of 53,579 starts, 7,515 wins, 7,013 seconds and 6,698 thirds for earnings of $53,075,203 through Saturday, according to Equibase. T.D. Houghton is the active rider with the next most starts at 39,648 before Saturday followed by Hall of Famer John Velázquez with 37,368.

Growing up in Arkansas, Ouzts was very close to his cousins, the Fires. Most of the Fires family ended up in racing in some capacity, most notably Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires and well-known trainer Jinks Fires. Ouzts’s cousin Jackie was a jockey who became permanently disabled in a morning workout accident at River Downs, now Belterra Park.

After graduating from high school, Ouzts had the option of working in a local factory or joining Fires family members who were working in various capacities at tracks in the Chicago area. He opted for the latter.

Earlie Fires, noted as one of the great gate riders in the country, taught Ouzts the nuances of race riding. Other cousins helped hone Ouzts’s galloping skills, an important key to opening doors with trainers at the tracks.

In Ohio, Ouzts found W.J. Danner, a trainer who welcomed apprentices on his starters to benefit from the weight allowance they get during their first year of riding. In his third lifetime start on April 2, 1973, over a muddy track, Ouzts got his first win aboard Rablue for Danner. The rest, as they say, is history.

The 1973-74 year of apprentice riders was significant. Hall of Fame jockeys Pat Day and Chris McCarron and the all-time wins leader Baze emerged from that group. Reflecting on that legendary era, Ouzts said, “I guess I’m the last man standing or riding.”

Loyalty has been a key factor in Ouzts’s success. He credits the support of trainers Danner, Larry Holt, Joe Woodard, Bill Connelly, Matt Kordenbrock, Barb Riley and Larry Smith for the many winners on whom they have put him.

Ouzts has had the same agent, Jamie Fowler, for 38 years. Fowler contracted throat cancer in February 2023 and has undergone 50 radiation treatments, several surgeries and 10 months of physical therapy. Just this week he was declared cancer-free.

“I asked if he could still do the job from home when it was discovered,” Ouzts said, “and with texting, video replays and other on-line features, he hasn’t missed a beat.”