Breeders' Cup Weekend - The King of Monmouth Aims to Ride

You can't keep a good jockey down, especially when he's Jersey Joe Bravo, the King of Monmouth.

Bravo has suffered more than his share of injuries in the past half-dozen years during a 19-year career that began in 1988 when he rode his first winner at Calder Race Course. Ironically, the horse's name was Daffy Doc.

In 2001, he broke a leg in a spill at Monmouth and was sidelined for the remainder of the year. Eight days into the '02 Monmouth meeting, he fractured a wrist and didn't ride again until the following year. In '05, the New Jersey native broke his collarbone and was idle six weeks.

On Gulfstream Park's opening day last year, Bravo broke his back in a spill."I thought there was no shot I could come back,"he said."Doctors were talking about surgery, putting rods in my back."

However, Bravo recovered after opting for physical therapy and won his 12th Monmouth riding title. Before his 36th birthday on Sept. 10, he captured No. 13 for his fifth in a row, one less than the record six straight at Monmouth he recorded ending in '96. On July 4, he won his 4,000th race.On Sept. 7, it was déjà vu all over again when he fractured his collarbone in a spill on opening day at Belmont Park after his mount broke down in the stretch. More physical therapy is paying off.

The third generation jockey expects to start galloping horses more than two weeks before the Breeders' Cup is staged Oct. 26-27, according to his agent, Drew Mollica.

Bravo doesn't intend to miss the 24th BC renewal because"it's like having the Super Bowl right in your backyard."

Since he has been riding for top trainers like Christophe Clement, Bill Mott and Patrick Biancone,"I hope as we get closer, they give me a call."

It's odds-on that the King of Monmouth won't have to wait too long for his phone to ring.