Carava dispersing stable to become Baze's agent

Jockey Tyler Baze is returning to California after an eight-month absence for the start of the autumn meeting at Santa Anita on Sept. 19 and will have a new agent in former trainer Jack Carava.

Carava said Wednesday that he is in the final stages of dispersing his 15-horse stable, with some runners going to trainers Bill Spawr and Mark Glatt and others going to Golden Gate Fields or to local farms.

Carava, 54, has trained since 1987, and will work as a jockey’s agent for the first time with Baze. Carava said he finalized his decision earlier this month and took advantage of a 12-day break between the end of the Del Mar summer meeting on Sept. 7 and the start of Santa Anita’s autumn meeting to finalize the transition.

“I’ve been thinking about doing something,” he said. “The landscape is a grind. The opportunity came up to do that and that expedited my decision.

“I want to give it a shot and I thought Tyler would be a good rider. He’ll help you up with his work ethic.”

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Carava won 1,107 races, including with Harper’s Gallop at Del Mar on Monday. This year, Carava won 9 races with 73 starters. He won the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Handicap with Pure as Gold in 2006 at Del Mar and four other graded stakes.

Carava said the difficult economic climate for trainers in Southern California was a factor in his decision.

“I’ve wanted to do things first class,” he said. “I probably kept more help around than what I needed. Everything has gone up. Salaries, feed prices – everything has gone up. Purses have not followed at the same percentage rate. It’s been a hard deal.

“I hope this will open some doors for me.”

Baze, 37, has ridden most of his career in Southern California. He ranked seventh in the standings at Oaklawn Park earlier this year with 29 wins. Baze won six races at the Ellis Park summer meeting and rode Barrister Tom to victory in Monday’s $498,000 More Than Ready Juvenile Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Baze plans to arrive in California this weekend to begin preparation for the Santa Anita meeting, Carava said.