Long one of the most respected racers of his generation, New Jersey-born Joe Bravo won Santa Anita . ParkThe 2022 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Awards are voted on by jockey players across the country.
Bravo will be included in a winners’ circle ceremony on March 27. There he will be joined by family, close friends and the Santa Anita horse-drawn carriage colony as he accepts the trophy. The Woolf Prize, is a life-size replica of the legend’s life-size statue. George Woolf decorates the car park area of the track.
Presented annually since 1950 by Santa Anita and one of the most coveted prizes in motorsport, the Woolf Prize can only be won once. Named for the late Walk of Fame jockey, who gained national fame as an estimated 40 million spectators watched as he rode the Seabiscuit to victory over the Triple Crown Champion War Admiral in a head-to-head race at Pimlico racetrack On November 1, 1938, the Woolf Awards recognized racers whose careers and personalities garner respect for the individual and the Purebred sport.
“It’s truly an honor to be a part of this circle of riders, to join all the people I grew up or matured under, I will say,” Bravo said as was announced earlier in the week that he had won. “I was lucky enough to win the East Coast edition Woolf Award, the Mike Venezia Award in 2018, and now being honored here on the West Coast, wow, you don’t know what an honor this is.
“My dad’s coming out and this makes all the hard days, the mornings that we work, it makes it worthwhile. Maybe there’s only one award above this that I’d like to have, and that’s the Hall of Fame.”
Born in Long Branch, NJ, on September 10, 1971, “Jersey Joe” Bravo was the dominant force in the Mid-Atlantic and especially in Monmouth Park dating from the early 1990s to early 2021. Last summer, Bravo announced that due to a change in riding restriction rules established by the New Jersey Racing Commission, he would be moving his engine. base his operations to Southern California on a full-time basis, after which he soon traded with local agent Matt Nakatani.
Joe Bravo celebrates winning from the Blue Prize in Breeder’s Cup Distaff in 2019 at Santa Anita Park
A superb judge of speed and particularly known for his prowess on the pitch, Bravo, 50, has won 13 equestrian titles at Monmouth and nine at Monmouth. Meadow. Bravo is closing on 5,600 career wins since his debut at the age of 17 in 1988. As a third-generation racer, Bravo’s biggest career win comes at Santa Anita on ship Blue Award in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) 2019.
Won last year by Deshawn Parker, Bravo topped the list of 2022 Werewolf Awards finalists that included Glenn Corbett, Julien Leparoux, Rodney Prescott and Tim Thornton.
