Bravo Returns After Missing Summer With Broken Finger

Joe Bravo turned 54 during the three months he was sidelined with a broken right pinky finger, giving the journeyman rider with more than 5,700 career victories a brief glimpse into retirement. Suffice it to say, it wasn't for him. At least not yet. Bravo is named on Fausto Gutierrez-trained 3-year-old colt Rashid in the seventh race Sept. 19 at Gulfstream Park, a claiming event for 3-year-olds and older scheduled for one mile on the turf. His mount, a homebred son of Kitten's Joy for St. George Stable, is 4-1 on the morning line, third choice in a field of seven. Then Sept. 20, Bravo is named to ride stakes winner Big Data for trainer Michael Lerman in the $70,000 Duke of Mischief Overnight Handicap and Gutierrez's Show Off in the $75,000 Ginger Punch Handicap on the undercard of the $200,000 Princess Rooney Stakes (G3), a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). Bravo said his only question heading into his return is how comfortable using the riding crop will be for him. "It seems like, 'It's just a pinky,' but that little pinky kept me out all summer," he said. Bravo, whose 5,719th and latest victory came June 6 at Churchill Downs, has not ridden since June 13 at Gulfstream when he was hurt following Special Aviator's fourth-place finish as the favorite in a one-mile optional claiming allowance on the grass. A seemingly minor incident turned into an unplanned summer holiday. "They ended up having to do surgery," he said. He said he missed the track and made summer visits to Saratoga Race Course, Del Mar, and Monmouth Park. "I was born 5'2" for a reason. I was born for this stuff. I'm a jockey," he said. Though diligent in his recovery, Bravo got a quick reminder of the demands riders face on a daily basis once he returned to the irons to gallop during morning workouts. The son and grandson of jockeys, Bravo rode his first race March 6, 1988 at Calder, where his first winner came 11 days later. A 13-time meet leader at Monmouth, mere miles from where he was born in Long Branch, N.J., "Jersey Joe" ranks ninth among active riders in victories and 26th overall. He has earned more than $204 million in purses from 32,035 mounts. During his downtime this summer, when not working out or rehabbing, Bravo did some television analysis during the Haskell Stakes program at Monmouth and also attended Fasig-Tipton's prestigous sale known as The Saratoga Sale in Upstate New York. "Having the summer off, it gave me the chance to think, 'What am I going to do the day that I can't ride any races?' I did dabble in a little bit of commentating and stuff like that, but another kind of passion that I thought about and I would love to try to get into is bloodstock," Bravo said. "I went to all the sales at Saratoga and everything. Looking at horses and how they develop, it's kind of what I've been doing every day for 30 plus years. "When I look at a horse I kind of look at what they could kind of develop into. It's something I'd like to dabble with," he added. "If I could kind of mingle that in with commentary and do some bloodstock... I don't think I could ever walk away from horse racing. Horse racing's pretty fun. Every day you don't know what to expect."