Monmouth Park 2024: The return of 'Jersey Joe' Bravo, plus opening day info

OCEANPORT – The words were pointed, as jockey Joe Bravo emerged as an outspoken critic in 2021 when the New Jersey Racing Commission imposed the toughest restrictions on whip use in the country.

Caught in the middle was Monmouth Park, where he won 13 riding titles and was suddenly part of a boycott by some top riders, with the fracture between “Jersey Joe” and the Jersey Shore racetrack he became synonymous with remaining even after national standards on whip use went into effect.

The 52-year-old Bravo relocated to the Southern California circuit for three years. But he spent the winter in Florida at Gulfstream Park, setting the stage for his return to Monmouth Park full-time this summer, beginning with Saturday’s opening day card, when a crowd of 7.686 came out for the 10-race card.

“I never really had a problem with Monmouth Park during the whole conflict, it was more the New Jersey Racing Commission,” Bravo said. “I don’t know how they feel about me here but I’m glad to be home."

And next week he’ll ride longshot Mugatu in the Preakness for trainer Jeff Engler, looking for his first win in a Triple Crown race in a career that’s spanned 36 years, with his mounts winning 5,659 times and earning over $200 million on the track.

More: Behind-the-scenes changes at Monmouth Park come at critical time for NJ horse racing

“I rode him at Gulfstream when he broke his maiden down there and you could see a lot of potential. You could see he was just a baby trying to grow up and getting better and better,” said Bravo, with Mugatu running fifth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes last time out.

Stakes specialist

In his past life as a local, Bravo was the go-to guy on some really good horses, winning 58 graded stakes between 2015-18, including 14 Grade 1 races, and won his first Breeders’ Cup race in 2019. He won the Grade 1 United Nations and Grade 3 Molly Pitcher on Haskell Day 2020.

Now Bravo parachutes back into a room deep with talent, including 10-time riding champion Paco Lopez, who battled Irad and Jose Ortiz at the top of the Gulfstream jockey standings over the winter. Bravo rode 15 races at Monmouth Park in 2022 between the Santa Anita and Del Mar meets, but that’s it since 2020.

Jairo Rendon, who finished third in the rider's standings last summer, won the opening race of the meet, guiding Little Ni to an allowance victory for trainer Eddie Owens Jr.

“That was then, and now we have to collect horses, and it’s going to be challenging because there are a lot of riders,” said Cory Moran, the agent for both Bravo and Lopez.

“Joe is more selective these days. He likes to ride for the big outfits, the allowance and stakes races and has done well.”

Building business

Bravo has two mounts on Saturday, and is aboard the Michael Pino-trained colt Evening News in the $100,000 Long Branch Stakes, his first race at Monmouth Park since Fourth of July 2022.

“This is a last-minute thing,” said Bravo. “Remember that you still have Oaklawn finishing up and Tampa horses that still haven’t been on the grounds yet. I think you are going to see the entries get stronger as the summer goes along.

“I was in California and it came down to did I want to spend another winter racing in California. It’s lovely racing, but four days a week there’s really no other racetracks to go to and so the racing is limited. So I took the opportunity to call my old agent (Cory Moran) and I went to Gulfstream this year. And when it comes to summertime, where do you go? Monmouth Park. It’s pretty cool.”

As for his chances in the Preakness, Bravo points to Mugatu’s last race in the Blue Grass, finishing fifth behind Sierra Leone, who lost the Kentucky Derby by a nose to Mystik Dan, with Joe Talamo in the saddle.

“I fell in love with him,” Bravo said. “Just look at Blue Grass. A couple things could have gone differently for him, and he was only beaten 7 ½ lengths. That puts us in the game, and if some things work out who knows. You have to be in it to win it.”

Sea Streak wins $100,000 Long Branch Stakes

As trainer Eddie Owens Jr. was being congratulated trackside in the immediate aftermath of Sea Streak’s impressive victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Long Branch Stakes, he declared to no one in particular, “don’t let the N.J. fool you.”

And while becoming the second Jersey-bred ever to win the Haskell Stakes – Thanks to Tony won it in 1981 - is still a long way off, the Holly Crest Farm homebred does get free admission to the $1 million Grade 1 fixture with the victory.

Owens indicated Sea Streak, who came in off a second in a Gulfstream Park allowance race on March 29, would be pointed towards the $150,000 NYRA Bets Pegasus Stakes on Haskell Preview Day on June 15.

Ridden by Jairo Rendon, Sea Streak stalked the pace through a half-mile and then took charge, pulling away to beat favorite Heartened by 7 ½ lengths in the mile and 70-yard test.

Sea Streak had been on the Triple Crown trail until a seventh-place finish in the grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream.

“I got too big with him early and he was green, running green. Today he put it all together,” Owens said. “He’s for real - It was a perfect trip. We had a little speed on the outside of us.

“After that allowance race I talked to Jose Ortiz and he said to run him two turns.”

IF YOU GO ...

Where: 175 Oceanport Ave., Oceanport N.J.

When: 12:50 p.m. post time for the first race, with 10 races in all.

Parking: Free

Admission: $6 grandstand and clubhouse

The meet: Monmouth Park will race 51 days through Sept. 15, running Saturdays, Sundays and Memorial Day in May, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in June, July and August, and two days a week, plus Labor Day, in September.

Festival Calendar

May 25-27 – Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival

June 9 – NJ Irish Festival

June 29-20 – Win & Wine Weekend

June 7 – Classic Car & Oldies Day

July 20: Haskell Day

July 27-28 – Italian Festival & Wine Tasting

Aug. 4 Latin Festival: Tacos & Tequila

Aug. 10: Bags, Banks & Beer: Cornhole Tournament

Aug. 17-18: Surf & Turf Seafood Festival

Aug. 31-Sept. 2 – BBQ & Craft Beer Festival

Sept. 7 – Food Trucktemberfest

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: 'Jersey Joe' Bravo returns as 2024 Monmouth Park meet opens