Ouzts wins 7,500th race as jockey

Jockey Perry Wayne Ouzts continues to make milestones as he rode his 7,500th career winner on Saturday at Belterra Park.

Ouzts, who turns 71 on July 7, rode a pair of winners Saturday at Belterra Park for trainer Barbara Riley – taking the second race, a maiden special weight, on Calculated Move and then hitting the milestone win in the fourth race, an allowance, aboard Decree.

Ouzts closed May on a hot streak. In the final four days of the month at Belterra, he had four wins, two runner-up finishes, and a third.

Ouzts, an Arkansas native who has been riding professionally for more than a half-century, is the fifth-leading rider by wins in North American history, and last year, just after his 70th birthday, a win at Belterra made him the oldest jockey to win a Thoroughbred race at a recognized track in North America.

The next milestone in Ouzts’s sights is lifetime starts. According to Equibase statistics, Ouzts had ridden in 53,508 races as of May 31, approaching Russell Baze’s all-time record of 53,578.

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