Edward Baird

Jockey Edward Baird grew up around horses. His father, Bobby Baird, known as R.L., rode in the five runnings of Kentucky Derby, and Edward Baird admired him more than anyone in the world. R.L. placed Edward Baird on a horse when he was just three years old, and it was then that the jockey knew he had found his calling.

Edward Baird took any chance he had to ride and decided he wanted to race for a living, despite his father’s warnings about it being a difficult profession. The pair struck a deal: Edward Baird would ride once for his father and could continue if R.L. thought he had it in him to become a jockey. Clearly, Edward Baird impressed his father during that ride. Two years after R.L. died in 2005 at the age of 82, Edward Baird rode a horse named Recapturetheglory in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished in fifth place. His only regret was that his father was not alive to see it.

Edward Baird’s racing career has spanned 25 years with 2,000 career wins, a mark he reached in 2009 at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois. His mother, Marie, came to see his milestone win on owner John Karakourtis’s horse Bond Street, proudly watching her son follow in his father’s footsteps. Retirement is not an option for Edward Baird, and he plans to keep racing as long as he physically can. In 2011, Edward Baird earned $134,354 in purse money with 72 starts, 4 firsts, 5 seconds, and 6 thirds. During his career, he has won purses totaling $41,139,366, with 16,723 starts, 2,101 firsts, 1,904 seconds, and 1,943 thirds.