Bailey set for finish

The final chapter will come this afternoon at Gulfstream Park in Florida with the familiar call for all jockeys: ''Riders up." And with that, Jerry Bailey will put the punctuation mark on a Hall of Fame career that began 31 years ago in Texas and will end aboard Silver Tree in the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Turf.

At 48, Bailey said he's ready to move on. His transition will come over the next few months as he moves into the role of racing analyst for ESPN and ABC.

''I really feel it is time," said Bailey in a conference call last week. ''I want to spend more time with my wife, Suzee, and my son, Justin, who have given me unlimited support all these years. And I want to walk away in one piece."

Bailey has ridden 5,893 winners and has career earnings of almost $300 million. He was aboard six Triple Crown winners -- Sea Hero (1993 Kentucky Derby), Grindstone ('96 Kentucky Derby), Hansel ('91 Preakness and Belmont), Red Bullet (2000 Preakness), and Empire Maker ('03 Belmont) -- and has a record 15 wins in the Breeders' Cup worth more than $22 million.

Bailey said he has been pondering retirement the past few years. ''Every year for the last three or four years I've been tired," he said. ''I wanted to take my traditional month off and see if the competitive fires for race-riding was still there. I came back and, to be quite honest, I didn't know or think I'd be up to it for another year."

What made Bailey a cut above his brethren was his competitive nature as much as his riding skills. ''I stated on more than one occasion the reason I got into this game was not really because I loved horses so much -- although I really liked them -- but I enjoyed the thrill of competition more than anything else," said Bailey, who rode Cigar for 15 of his 16 consecutive victories from 1994-96. ''I came to love horses when I got on Cigar. He was the most genuine, charismatic horse I've ever been around."

Bill Mott, Cigar's trainer who was part of a racing daily double that produced more than 725 wins and $145 million in purses, was succinct in his praise. ''I don't know how you couldn't consider him one of the greatest riders of my lifetime, at least," Mott said.

Bailey joins Pat Day and Gary Stevens as Hall of Fame jockeys who have walked away from their profession in the last six months.

Bailey, who had his first win in 1974 at the age of 17 at New Mexico's Sunland Park, won't argue about who was the best. ''How do you know?" he said. ''While I was riding, any rider in the Top 20 with the most confidence was the best, and whoever rode the best horse was the best jockey that day."

Bailey, who grew up in El Paso, battled alcoholism early in his career. ''I don't know what percent of my success came from the mental side," he said. ''It's why I got tired looking at and studying videos, going over The [Daily] Racing Form. It wore me out the last few years.

''It has become apparent to me that what excited me most was the biggest races on the best horses on the biggest days. But to get there you have to go through a lot of routine days, and I didn't feel the passion on those days that I should have felt."

This afternoon, Bailey will feel the passion one final time.

East meets West

The Sunshine Millions Turf will be part of an eight-race, $3.6 million challenge of Florida-bred vs. California-bred horses, with four races at Santa Anita and four at Gulfstream. Four races, including Bailey's race and the $1 million Classic over 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita, will be televised on Channel 7 from 4:30-6 p.m. . . . Saint Liam this week became the second consecutive Breeders' Cup Classic winner to be named Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards. Ghostzapper, last year's Classic winner, was named Horse of the Year in 2004 and was second this year . . . An equine herpes virus that forced two horses at Pimlico to be euthanized has Maryland officials scrambling, especially when another horse at nearby Laurel tested positive for the virus. That prompted a state quarantine at Pimlico, home of the Preakness Stakes.

Material from wire services was used in this report.