The return of jockey Tyler Baze from a near-fatal health scare this spring was made complete Oct. 9 at Santa Anita Park when the veteran reinsman won his first race in nearly six months.
Tyler Baze is with @DStenchever to talk about his win in race 4 at Santa Anita aboard #3 LONESOME STEW ($25.20).
Watch more on @FanDuelTV and wager at https://t.co/nBYFHiPrdh. pic.twitter.com/vV6lW15tG7
— TVG (@TVG) October 9, 2023
In the fourth race, a $50,000 maiden claimer going six furlongs on dirt, Baze guided longshot Lonesome Stew ($25.20) to a front-running victory for trainer Mark Glatt. It was Baze’s first win since April 14 at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
“I needed it,” Baze said Friday morning at Clocker’s Corner. “It took a lot for me to get to this point after being in the hospital and almost dying.”
Baze, 40, was riding at Oaklawn Park this winter when he first started to feel periods of discomfort. In response, he visited an urgent care facility in Hot Springs.
“The doctors couldn’t find anything, so they prescribed me medication. But things didn’t really get any better,” Baze said.
Then one morning, a friend asked Baze if he was up for going fishing.
“I woke up and felt fine. So we went. When I got back to my house about noon, I had a sandwich, and it was just instant pain,” Baze said. “I can’t even describe it. I’ve broken a lot of bones, but I’ve never felt pain like that.”
Baze managed to drive himself to a hospital despite the severe discomfort.
“As soon as I opened the door to get out of my car, I threw up the sandwich. I don’t remember walking into the hospital or anything after that for five days,” he said.
Baze remained hospitalized for about two weeks. Doctors were still struggling to diagnose the problem.
“On May 1, I told my nurse I need to see a doctor now. They took me in for another CT scan and by the time I got back to my room the doctor was in there waiting for me. Two minutes later the surgeon walked in. They said, ‘If we don’t do surgery right now, you’re going to die.'”
Doctors determined Baze had a bowel obstruction.
“It was my intestine. I literally was colicking like a horse,” Baze said. “They didn’t have to cut any out. They untangled it basically. The doctor’s words were ‘We had to remold it.'”
Baze spent 10 days in the hospital post-surgery, then rode with his mother from Hot Springs back to his home in Monrovia, Calif., near Santa Anita.
Doctors told Baze he would need eight to 10 months to recover.
“I was back in the gym in eight weeks,” he said.
Baze rode his first race back at Del Mar on Sept. 9. At the current Santa Anita autumn meet, he has the one win on Lonesome Stew from seven mounts.
“It’s no longer going through the motions. You realize how precious life is,” Baze said. “Instead of just getting through your morning or through the day, you need to enjoy every minute of it. I get to be out here and look at these beautiful mountains and watch the sun come up every morning. It’s an amazing gift from God.”
Baze is scheduled to ride a combined seven races at Santa Anita Saturday and Sunday.
“Now with the winner, hopefully things will pick up and I’ll get on better horses,” Baze said. “But this whole ordeal has given me a whole new perspective. I’m only here for a minute. I’m going to enjoy it.”
Baze won the 2000 Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey. He enters this week’s action with 2,889 wins and more than $132 million in purse earnings.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
