Hall of Famer Mike Smith Approaches Record for Grade 1s

Jockey Mike Smith, nicknamed "Big Money Mike" for repeatedly winning many of the sport's richest races, heads into the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 1-2 at Santa Anita Park on the brink of an accomplishment worthy of that title.

With 215 victories in grade 1 races earned so far during his Hall of Fame career, he stands a single win away from matching retired jockey Jerry Bailey's record of 216.

Over Friday and Saturday, Smith has six opportunities to either match or surpass that standard, all in Breeders' Cup races. He rides Scabbard in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) on the first day of the Breeders' Cup, followed by five mounts on Saturday, topped by choice mounts Midnight Bisou in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) and Omaha Beach  in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

"It'd be nice to catch (Bailey), maybe go on by him. It would certainly mean a lot," said Smith, 54, who often rode alongside Bailey, a fellow Hall of Famer who retired in 2006.

To do so in the Breeders' Cup would be appropriate. Smith is the winningest jockey in the event's history. His 26 Breeders' Cup victories are 10 more than his closest pursuer, John Velazquez, and his Breeders' Cup mounts have made almost $36 million, nearly $9 million ahead of Velazquez.

"I can remember my very first one with Lure (1992 Breeders' Cup Mile, G1T) and coming back the following year and winning with him here, actually," he said from Santa Anita. "Anytime to win a race of that magnitude, and then for it to be a Breeders' Cup, it's icing on the cake. It's amazing. I sure would like to add to it, I'll tell you that."

Lest one thinks his sizable list of Breeders' Cup victories—as well as a Triple Crown-winning journey on Justify  last year—would have Smith forgetting his achievements of old, think again. Asked about his 215 grade 1 wins, he quickly recalled the first winner: Thirty Six Red. The latter triumphed under Smith in the 1990 Wood Memorial (G1), starting his journey into race-riding history.

Just a few short years later, he picked up his first Eclipse Award as champion jockey in 1993, and he repeated the next year in 1994. Both years he was the national leader in money won.

After his induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003, he won his first of two Kentucky Derbies in 2005 with longshot Giacomo, followed in 2018 by Justify.

Those victories came for two trainers that have long been Smith backers: John Shirreffs and Bob Baffert, respectively. Although both have horses in the Breeders' Cup this year, neither is riding him.

Smith, aboard for every one of Longines' Breeders' Cup Classic favorite McKinzie's 13 prior races, was removed by Baffert for the $6 million Classic after the disappointment of a second-place finish to Mongolian Groom in the Sept. 28 Awesome Again Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita.

"I was just frustrated with the last loss," Baffert said. "He was good about it. We're still friendly. He's picked up a lot of horses that other guys got. He said, 'You can take me off the horse, but just don't take me off the roster.'"

Smith landed on an opposing side Saturday, riding Yoshida  for trainer Bill Mott. He won the 2011 Classic for Mott on 14-1 upsetter Drosselmeyer, and he has ties to Yoshida's owners—China Horse Club International, WinStar Farm, and Head of Plains Partners. They were some of the partners in Justify, and WinStar Farm also owned Drosselmeyer.

Besides Drosselmeyer, Smith sports three other Classic triumphs, first winning with Skip Away in 1997 and later prevailing aboard Zenyatta in 2009 and Arrogate  in 2016. Zenyatta, immortalized with a statue in the Santa Anita paddock, is the only female to have won the Classic in its 35 runnings.

Yoshida is a mid-priced 8-1 morning-line shot for the Classic, not having won in six starts since winning the 2018 Woodward Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course last summer, a performance Smith appreciated in competing against him that afternoon on fourth-place finisher Rally Cry.

"He just freaked that day," he said. "I know it's in there. I just got to see if I can get it out of him."

Other outsiders Smith rides in the Breeders' Cup are Mirth, a 20-1 longhsot in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T), and another 20-1 runner, late-closing Hog Creek Hustle in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1).

His best chances are with two horses he has ridden to multiple victories: 8-5 morning-line shot Omaha Beach and 6-5 Midnight Bisou. He beams with pride speaking about them. 

Omaha Beach is 3-for-3 with Smith aboard, winning a division of the Rebel Stakes (G2) and Arkansas Derby (G2) at Oaklawn Park, and the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1) Oct. 5 in a fall comeback. The War Front  colt was the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), but was scratched due to an entrapped epiglottis, a breathing issue since corrected by surgery.

Midnight Bisou and Smith have been an even more frequent combination, pairing in 14 of her 18 starts, first when she was trained by Bill Spawr in California and then for the last year and a half by Steve Asmussen.

The 4-year-old Midnight Lute  filly is 7-for-7 and a three-time grade 1 winner this year for owners Bloom Racing Stable, Allen Racing, and Madaket Stables. She is widely expected to be crowned champion older mare of 2018 and is a candidate for Horse of the Year, depending on how she and other leading contenders perform in their respective Breeders' Cup races.

"I'm obviously a huge fan of Mike," said Jeff Bloom, founder of Bloom Racing Stable. "The fact that he has been a big part of this ride with us has been that much more rewarding."

That respect extends the other way toward Bloom's filly. Smith marvels at her steadiness and commends Asmussen and his staff for developing her from age 3 to 4. He compares his training of her to what Asmussen accomplished with Gun Runner , who went from running second in the Dirt Mile as a 3-year-old in 2016 to a Classic (G1) winner in 2017 during a Horse of the Year campaign.

"I certainly would like to finish the year off on a winning note," Smith said of Midnight Bisou. "That would be a cool thing."