WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 NO COOLING OFF 'JERSEY JOE' NO MORE, BRAVO TO RIDE PERMANENTLY IN CALIFORNIA SUB-ZERO'S JIM BAKKE by Bill Finley When Joe Bravo decided to leave New Jersey because of new regulations banning the use of the whip, his future was unclear. Bravo, 49, needed a place to ride, but leaving the comfortable confines of Monmouth Park might be difficult. He had been riding at the Jersey Shore track since the late 1980s and has been leading rider there 13 times. But rather than struggling outside of the Garden State, Bravo is having a meet to remember at his new home, Del Mar. With a week to go in the meet, Bravo has 20 wins, good for fifth in the standings. His winning percentage (20%) trails only Flavien Prat (27%). Cont. p5 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Jim Bakke | Subzero-Wolf BUNGLEJUNGLEPARTY THE STAR AT by Bill Finley TATTERSALLS AUGUST Owner Jim Bakke=s experience in horse racing has been fairly Bunglejungleparty (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}), who is typical. He started off with a small stable, didn=t have much stakes-placed in France, topped the first day of trade at the success and waited for his day to come. It looks like he=s not Tattersalls August Sale at 125,000gns. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. going to have to wait any longer. Along with Gerald Isbister, Bakke is the co-owner of 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings), a Chad Brown-trained colt who brought down the house Saturday with an 8 3/4-length maiden win at Saratoga. Jack Christopher, who is named for Bakke=s six-month-old grandson, will head to the GI Champagne S., which could be a springboard to the GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile. Bakke is also the owner of Girl With a Dream (Practical Joke). She broke her maiden impressively on July 24 at Ellis Park and will make her next start in Sunday=s GI Spinaway S. for trainer Brad Cox. The hope is that she will earn her way to the GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile Fillies. Jack Christopher earned a 92 Beyer figure, just one point less than the leader among 2-year-olds, Big City Lights (Mr. Big). Bakke is the president and CEO of Sub-Zero, a luxury refrigeration company based in Madison, Wisconsin that has been in the Bakke family since 1945. A longtime racing fan who attended many a running of the GI Kentucky Derby, he decided to get involved in ownership in the late nineties, but did so on a small scale. Cont. p3 They are electric. First yearlings by Find yours at Keeneland. 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Chief Financial Officer Ray Villa [email protected] TODAY’S GRADED STAKES [email protected] ET Race Click for TV 9:40a Renate and Albrecht Woeste Zukunftsrennen-G3, BAD -------------- ------- WORLDWIDE INFORMATION 5:39p With Anticipation S.-GIII, SAR TJCIS PPs FS2 International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 11 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 Jim Bakke cont. from p1 AThis has been about my love of the game,@ he said. AI was AI started out really small with my brother-in-law, Fred hoping to have a little more luck and the way you do that in Schwartz,@ Bakke explained. AHe=s the one who introduced me horse racing is to increase your numbers, the amount of horses to ownership back then. We had been going to the Derby you buy every year and who you have buying them for you.@ forever and then we decided to Bloodstock advisor Bradley buy some horses about 1998, Weisbord signed on to work for 1999. We were buying just one or Bakke and was told to go find two a year, very modest horses. more horses like Mr Freeze. They were all claimers.@ AI have picked really great Bakke enjoyed his first taste of partners,@ said Bakke, whose real success when Mr Freeze (To stable at this time of year usually Honor and Serve) came around in numbers from 10 to 12. AChad 2018. Trained by Dale Romans, he Brown is the trainer of Jack earned $1,595,000 and won the Christopher and Bradley Weisbord 2018 GIII West Virginia Derby, the and his team did a tremendous GIII 2019 Ack Ack S., the 2020 job finding Jack Christopher.@ GII Gulfstream Park Mile S. and Bakke said he offers little, if any, the 2020 Hagyard Fayette S. He input on picking out the horses, was also second in the 2020 but there is a budget. Liz Crow Jack Christopher | Sarah Andrew GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational. chose Jack Christopher for Mr. Freeze, a $75,000 Keeneland September purchase, was $135,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall yearling sale, and Girl part of a plan. Bakke was ready to spend a bit more on horses, With a Dream for $115,000 at Keeneland September. That=s his building up quantity and quality. Mr Freeze is also co-owned by price range. Isbister, who is a distributor for Sub-Zero. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 11 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 APotentially, I could buy more expensive horses,@ he said. AOver the years, I have bought a few in the 300 to 350 range. But when those horses don=t turn out so well, it hurts. Buying them where I=m at right now, if they don=t work out we can reload and try again. I have had tremendous luck buying horses in that price range, starting with Mr Freeze, who I got for $75,000. If you employ people who know what they are looking for and are good at it, I think you can buy a little bit down market and be successful. Let=s face it, you need a lot of luck in this game. And even if you do have a successful horse, keeping them sound is another issue. They are so fragile. When you start buying in those upper-price ranges and if your horse doesn=t do well or does well and gets hurt, that=s just a big bite out of you.@ Bakke is so hands off that he never once spoke to Brown prior to Jack Christopher=s debut. AI think they also appreciate that I don=t micro-manage things,A he said. AI don=t call them up and ask them how a horse is doing even on a weekly basis. I might call them before a big race or every once in a while. But I don=t keep track of the horses on a daily basis. I still have my job back in Madison, so I=ve got plenty to do on a daily basis.@ Yet, he knew the colt had potential. AWith Jack Christopher, I think Chad was going to wait for the horse to run and let Jack Christopher do the talking,@ he said. AI knew he was enthused about the horse because I was getting positive reports.@ While he is optimistic about Jack Christopher=s future, Bakke says he tries not to get too carried away with his young horses. With Jack Christopher and Girl With a Dream, that may be hard to do. AIt=s great to have these kind of quality 2-year-olds,@ he said. AOnce in a while, I=ve hit on a few, but probably nothing like this. Both of them will be running in Grade I=s over the next 30 days. We=ll see where it goes. It=s been a great ride and I'm looking forward to the ride continuing in the future.@ The Critical Way (Tizway) narrowly holds on in the GIII Parx Dash (click to watch) TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 11 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 Joe Bravo Moves to California Permanently cont. from p1 here for the end of the Santa Anita meet and I was Having proven that he can compete against the best at a top- overwhelmed by the welcome I got from trainers and owners,@ tier track like Del Mar, Bravo has decided to make Southern he said.