This Oct. 8, 2010 file photo shows jockey Michael Baze waiting to ride in the 7th horse race at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Jim Wesley says Baze of Glendora, Calif., was pronounced dead at 4:47 p.m. EDT Tuesday May 10, 2011 in his vehicle parked in the stable area of the track. (AP Photo/Garry Jones, File)LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A 24-year-old jockey who rode this year’s Kentucky Derby second-place finisher to his only win was found dead in his vehicle Tuesday at Churchill Downs.
Michael Baze of Glendora, Calif., was pronounced dead at 4:47 p.m. EDT in his vehicle parked in the stable area of the track, Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Jim Wesley said.
There were no signs of foul play and the case was being treated as a death investigation, Louisville police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said. An autopsy was planned.
Baze was a cousin of Hall of Fame jockey Russell Baze, the all-time leading rider in thoroughbred racing, and son of retired jockey Mike Baze, Churchill Downs spokesman John Asher said. An uncle and another cousin are also riders, Asher said.
“Somebody coming out of that family, it always gets your attention when you see the Baze name,” Asher said.