Joe Bravo aboard Pura Vida Princesa © Benoit Photo
One of the new faces in the Del Mar jockey room this summer is actually a rider who tried California a few years ago before deciding to return to his east coast roots in Florida.
That was in 2023. Now Joe Bravo is back and, so far, he’s putting together a nice meet. Through Saturday’s racing Jersey Joe has six wins from 45 mounts. He also has four seconds, one of which came a week ago when he got rundown in the lane by a 50-1 shot.
“I’m loving it,” Bravo states. “With the limited mounts we have they’ve been running great. I’m really impressed with how my agent Riley Shapiro has started out. He’s a young kid who’s really hungry but really knows what he’s talking about. He’s impressed me for the short time we’ve been together.”
The two can be found most mornings walking the backside barn area, pitching trainers for mounts.
“We were figuring out what to do during the summer,” Bravo explains about his return. “I spend most of my time on the east coast but after spending a couple years being here in California it’s hard not to resist coming back to Del Mar. Not just because of the weather but it’s a great lead into the fall. We have Kentucky Downs and the Breeders’ Cup and a lot of those types of horses are sitting here at Del Mar more than at any of the other bases I’ve been in. Sort of a little pre-game for two great events.”
Bravo is quick to note that having been at Del Mar, like he was in 2021 and 2022, has helped make the adjustment in California go much smoother.
“Oh, a hundred percent a big difference,” Bravo contends. “First couple of times I came here I was like a lost pup not knowing the people you’re dealing with day in and day out. You know the Bob Baffert name or the Mark Glatt name or Phil D’Amato and now you can put a face to the names. Having been here in the past helps a lot. Being there for the morning workouts talking to people and knowing your clientele and knowing who they are is a big advantage.”
It’s not like Joe Bravo is not a recognizable name in horse racing. He’s won 5,758 races and 118 graded stakes. He ruled the New Jersey jockey colony in the 1990’s and 2000’s, winning 22 riding titles between Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands.
“On the day that I hang up my pants, I want to be recognized,” Bravo admits. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve been lucky enough to win the Mike Venezia Award and the George Woolf Award. The one award I would really love is the Hall of Fame and the only way you can do that is to put a staple in racing. Good horses can do that for you. I think it’s going to be a good story when I finally do decide to hang it up.”
If the 55-year-old jockey is giving any serious thought to retiring, he doesn’t mention it. He’s too busy trying to drum up new business on the backside.
“Success is easy,” Bravo points out. “It’s when you’re in the lulls and suffer the injuries that put you on the sidelines. It’s always fun coming back from them. It’s always easy to ride the best horse. Trying to get noticed on not the best is what makes it more fulfilling.”
Bravo has ridden some talented horses in his time. Big Blue Kitten; Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner, Blue Prize; Sheer Drama and A.P. Indian. But ask him who his favorite is and he’s likely not going to tell you.
“The next horse I throw my leg over is my favorite,” Bravo states. “If I tell you about a couple, I’ll be disrespecting other good ones. Every horse has been amazing.”
He has equal respect for his fellow jockeys, especially the ones he rides with at Del Mar these days.
“My next door neighbor is Juan Hernandez,” Bravo says. “I love to see the new generation coming up. Living in Florida you see these young new faces coming up through the gateway. South American riders that come into America. Here you have a lot of European riders that you don’t have at other tracks.”
Bravo says it’s nice to be riding with more experienced riders, riders who have been around a while. But not many have been able to pull off the kind of feat that Bravo accomplished one June weekend in 2016. He won three different stakes races at three different tracks in three different states.
“I didn’t want to lose any of those horses,” Bravo recalls, “and I knew I had to be there for all of them. Another person I have to thank in this horse racing game that makes stuff like that happen is a fellow named ‘Stretch,’ from Walter J.J. Travel. He put me in places. I don’t know how I got in and out of a racetrack so quickly.”
That’s one of the things he likes most about riding in California. You don’t have to do all the traveling jockeys on the east coast have to do to make a good living.
“I remember I had one agent named Cory Moran,” Bravo adds. “Between him and Stretch I won 13 graded stakes races 13 weekends in a row. You can only do that with good people around you.”