Perry Ouzts at age 69 passes David Gall to become fifth leading rider of all time
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Jockey Perry Wayne Ouzts became the fifth-leading rider in North American history with a victory Tuesday at Belterra Park in Cincinnati.
Ouzts, 69, piloted Lanalikeschoochoos to a 5 3/4-length win in a six-furlong claiming race at Belterra for his 7,397th career victory. That moved him one ahead of David Gall - who retired in 1999, and died in 2021 at age 79 - on the North American wins list.
Lanalikeschoochoos is trained by Larry Smith, a longtime friend of Ouzts who frequently partners with the rider.
"To have him set that milestone on one of my runners just makes it all that much better," Smith said.
Belterra held a winner’s circle ceremony to recognize the milestone win, including a video tribute featuring Hall of Fame riders and others.
Russell Baze is North America's all-time leading rider by wins, with 12,842, according to Equibase statistics. Next on the list are Laffit Pincay Jr. with 9,530; Bill Shoemaker with 8,833; Pat Day with 8,803; and now Ouzts, the only active rider in the top 10.
The next active rider on the list is John Velazquez, who ranks 12th with 6,525 wins entering Wednesday. He is more than 200 wins behind Jorge Velasquez, who is 11th with 6,795.
Ouzts, a native of Lepanto, Ark., grew up around racing, as the cousin of Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires. He earned his first career win in 1973 at Beulah Park and has been a consistent leader on the Ohio circuit ever since, while also riding in Kentucky and throughout the Midwest.
Ouzts has won 86 stakes races since 1976, according to Equineline statistics. Although he does not have any graded stakes wins, he has scored victories in some of Ohio's signature events. In 2002, he won the John W. Galbreath Memorial aboard Whitewater Way; the race for 2-year-old fillies is part of the fall Best of Ohio state showcase program.
In 2007, he won the $200,000 Cradle Stakes aboard Old Man Buck. The Cradle was a significant race for a number of years, and will be resurrected at Belterra next month.
Ouzts was the subject of the 2016 Eclipse Award-winning documentary "Ironman," detailing his blue-collar career and return from a number of injuries that could have been career-ending. In the documentary, he indicated that he had no plans to retire.
"I'm gonna ride this train til they throw me off," Ouzts said.
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