Apprentice jockey Bray to sit out rest of year

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – While her fellow apprentices will be preparing for the apprentice jockey challenge on Wednesday at Woodbine, Jenna Bray will not be participating. Bray, who has won four races this season, will sit out the rest of the season to retain her 10-pound weight allowance into next year. Bray’s fifth career victory would see her weight allowance drop to five pounds.

Bray rode in her first race last November. Her first winner came on Bare Is Best on June 29 at Fort Erie. In all, Bray won four of her 60 starts between Woodbine and Fort Erie, including 15 in-the-money finishes.

“I loved it,” she said. “I thought I learned a lot. It was a great year from the perspective that I came out of it injury-free. I had some good horses that I got on. There were a couple of experiences that I dealt with horses that had some issues throughout the race, so I learned a lot about myself and what horses are capable of. That’s stuff that you can’t figure out when you’re galloping in the morning.”

Bray will spend the rest of the season galloping horses for trainer Reade Baker before resuming her career as a jockey next April.