Calder Asks Lifetime Ban for Former Apprentice

Jesus Bracho, winner of the 1992 Eclipse Award as the nation’s top apprentice jockey, provided phony documentation and should be barred from racing for life, according to a recommendation by Calder Race Course stewards.

If the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering follows the recommendation, the ban would apply at every recognized race track in the world, ending Bracho’s career.

Bracho wasn’t the inexperienced rookie he claimed to be when he wemt to South Florida from Venezuela in 1991, and was ineligible to ride as an apprentice or win the Eclipse, stewards said.

The 25-year-old Bracho was suspended for 60 days pending a decision on the stewards’ recommendation. Bracho, who can appeal, wouldn’t comment.

Bracho, one of seven South Florida jockeys suspended recently by stewards in a probe of Venezuelan racing records, could be stripped of his Eclipse Award. Such a decision would be unprecedented.

Bracho won 236 races in 1,186 mounts, with more than $2 million in purses in 1992.