Sport: Horse Racing
Born: September 10, 1971
Town: Long Branch, New Jersey
Joseph Bravo was born September 10, 1971 in Long Branch, NJ. The Bravos were a racing family—both Joe’s father, George, and grandfather, Bartolo, were jockeys and trainers. They followed the racing season from the NY/Metro area down south in the winters and back again. Joe first started competing on quarter horses when he was a wispy 60-pound 13-year-old. He got his first thoroughbred mounts at age 17 in Miami Gardens.
In 1991, Joe became the first jockey to win titles at Monmouth Park, Garden State Park and the Meadowlands in the same year. Soon, Joe was one of the most revered jockeys at Monmouth Park. In the years that followed, it was whispered around the paddocks that not only did Joe talk the horses, but that sometimes they talked to him. He would win more than a dozen track titles at Monmouth over the next 20 years, as well as 9 Meadowlands track titles.
Joe did so with plenty of help from doctors and surgeons, who put him back together after countless violent spills.
In 1997, at age 25, Joe won his first Grade 1 race, at Gulfstream, aboard Formal Gold in the Donn Handicap. He also won the prestigious Haskell Invitational at Monmouth in 2004 aboard Lion Heart. Joe’s first Kentucky Derby mount came in 2005. He rode longshot Spanish Chestnut out to an early lead, but could not keep up the blistering pace. In 2007, Joe won his 4,000th race.
In 2013, Joe returned to the Kentucky Derby hoping to ride Black Onyx. He had previously piloted the horse to a win in the Spiral Stakes at Churchill Downs. However, Black Onyx was a late scratch.
In 2014, Joe made headlines when he rode Danza to victory in the Arkansas Derby. The horse went off at 41–1. The victory got Danza into the Kentucky Derby, where he finished third. Joe rode Matterhorn in the 2014 Belmont Stakes, finishing a distant eighth.
“Jersey Joe” capitalized on his impressive showings in early 2014 and began riding regularly at New York tracks. He captured the Fort Marcy Handicap, Westchester Handicap and Sheepshead Bay Stakes in 2015—all major New York races. One of Joe’s career goals was to win the Breeders Cup Distaff. He did so in 2019 aboard Blue Prize after more than a decade trying. In 2020, he won the United Nations Stakes at Monmouth for the fifth time.