Veteran Joe Bravo and apprentice Jessica Pyfer combined to win five of the eight races on Friday's program. Bravo scored with Kuora (1st, $27.80) for Richard Baltas, Gregory's Pride (7th, $5.80) for Phil D'Amato, and Doncic (9th, $8.20) for John Sadler; Pyfer's wins came aboard Illapawnie (2nd, $27.40) for Jonathan Wong and House Limit (3rd, $6.00) for Mark Glatt.
Bravo is fifth in the rider standings with 18 wins from 86 mounts and over $1 million in purse earnings. Pyfer is ninth with 9 wins from 88 mounts and purse earnings of $390,672.
Their situations are different but their smiles were similar in the stable area this morning.
Bravo, who will turn 50 on September 10, left Monmouth Park, where he was an institution referred to as “Jersey Joe,” for a summer at Del Mar. He was asked if he's now “getting the hang” of the new place.
“Good horses make us all look good,” Bravo said. “I'm very happy to be out here riding good horses for really good trainers. I'm pleased with how they've accepted me and trying to do my best for them all.”
Equibase statistics show Bravo with 5,513 wins from 30,540 career mounts. He recently rented a place in Pasadena and intends to ride next winter and spring at Santa Anita. As for Del Mar in the summer of 2022?
“Does anybody know where they're going to be a year from now?” he said. “But it's a great place and I don't see why not.”
Pyfer, 23, recorded 36 wins and finished sixth in the jockey standings for the long Santa Anita meeting. Through Friday, Equibase statistics show her with 64 wins from 536 mounts. She will maintain apprentice status into November with her mounts receiving a five-pound break in weight assignments. She is a prime candidate for an Eclipse Award in the apprentice jockey category.
“Santa Anita was a good meet for me but everybody knows Del Mar is a little bit tougher,” Pyfer said. “I kind of set in my mind a goal of finishing in the top 10 and hopefully I can keep it going and achieve that. I started off really well, then kind of layered out but I'm hoping to finish strong.”
The time when apprentice status ends and journeyman begins is a crossroads for any rider.
“I'm just going to keep doing as well as I can and hopefully the (owners and trainers) who have supported me will continue to stand by me. I think I've shown that I do really well on fillies, they respond really well to me and I believe that will help when the time comes.”
On Eclipse Award possibilities:
“That's the dream, but I try not to think about it. I'm just trying to win as many as I can and hopefully, it happens.”
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