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Michael Baze hailed from a family of jockeys -- his dad, cousins including thoroughbred racing's all-time leading rider, an uncle who won the Kentucky Derby.
"To me, he was one of the premier riders in the country, as far as me watching every day," said jockey Gary Stevens, a three-time Derby champion and a relative by marriage. "And there's no bias there; the kid could just flat ride. I think he was just starting to get the notoriety and the respect from the horseman."
On Wednesday, friends and kin were struggling to understand the death of the 24-year-old Baze, found in his car the day before near the stables at Churchill Downs. He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday after being charged with first-degree possession of cocaine. He was also supposed to ride a horse that day in the eighth race at Churchill Downs.
Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=6527702
