Tyler Baze makes visit to Lone Star

Jockey Tyler Baze will make a rare appearance at Lone Star Park on Monday. He has mounts in the co-featured allowance races, aboard Lykan in the fourth and Zabette in the ninth. Baze is invading from his current base of Kentucky.

Lykan goes in a second-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs. He has brought Baze to town, as the rider regularly teamed with Lykan at Oaklawn Park. The pair won a first-level allowance in February, then finished third in both the $90,000 Gazebo in March and the $100,000 Bachelor in April.

Baze’s local appearance is one of the first moves his new agent, Vic Stauffer, has coordinated for the rider. Stauffer is the Oaklawn announcer, but this is his offseason and he was recently asked to reunite with Baze. Stauffer represented the rider in Southern California in 2009 and 2010, and last summer had his book in Kentucky.

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“I just got Tyler about a week ago,” Stauffer said Friday. “The first thing I did was think about, ‘Who are some of his best horses?’ I thought about Lykan.”

Stauffer called Lykan’s co-owner and trainer, Ingrid Mason, and she agreed to name Baze on the horse. The rider also will be aboard horses Tuesday at Lone Star before returning to Kentucky to battle for the title at Ellis Park.

“Tyler finished second at Ellis last year, got beat by one,” Stauffer said. “We’re going to try to win it this year.”

Lykan on Monday faces six others, including the Grade 2-placed Restoring Hope and last-out allowance winners Leroy, New Colossus, and Violent Ridge. Lykan will be meeting older rivals for the first time. The son of Congrats also races for Muddy Waters Stables and will be coupled with their Impressed, who will be ridden by Roberto Morales.

Zabette is part of an 11-horse field for a first-level allowance for fillies and mares at five furlongs on the grass. She is a three-time winner facing some less-experienced rivals, among them leading contenders Lady Gwen and Lookin Sharp.

“Scott Hare, the agent for Stewart Elliott, helped me find Zabette,” Stauffer said.

Mindy Willis owns and trains the horse and has named Baze to ride another of her charges Tuesday at Lone Star. Baze also has a Tuesday call for Mason.

“We’re certainly willing to come on the off days to Lone Star if there’s live horses to ride,” Stauffer said. “And actually, there were a couple that didn’t get in on Monday or Tuesday, so we might have been on three or four each day. The response from horsemen has been terrific.”

Baze has won 2,712 Thoroughbred races in North America through Thursday, according to statistics from Daily Racing Form. He’s had 103 graded stakes victories and has won Grade 1 races with such horses as Blind Luck, Kela, Mea Domina, Midshipman, and Mast Track.

Stauffer has represented about 30 riders through the years, including Joel Rosario and Martin Garcia.