Veteran jockey Brice Blanc has retired from riding and began work as a racing official at Santa Anita this week. Blanc, 49, rode his final race at Del Mar in late July and had his last win on Evening Sun in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields in April. He will work in Santa Anita’s racing office. Blanc, who returned from a yearlong layoff caused by injury last October, had hoped to ride until his 50th birthday in January, but opted to cut short his riding career. “My number was to get to 50 and I came pretty close to that,” he said on Thursday. “I was honest with myself. Things got very slow. If you’re not in the right barns, it’s hard to keep things afloat.” A native of France, Blanc won 1,053 races in a career that began in 1993, and took off in 1995 with 69 wins. Blanc had his best season in 1996, winning 123 races on mounts that earned more than $5.13 million. :: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF PPs, Clocker Reports, Picks, and more. Shop Now.  Earlier this month, Blanc underwent the 60-hour Racing Officials Accreditation Program held at Los Alamitos. “That was really interesting and I had a good time, learning a little bit about the business,” he said. “As jockey I was my own agent and knew some of the business.” Blanc relinquished his jockey’s license earlier this week for a racing officials’ license. Blanc returned to riding last October after he fractured the C7 vertebra and two ribs, sustained a broken shoulder and a dislocated thumb when his mount clipped heels and fell in a turf race at Del Mar in August 2020. The San Francisco Mile was the third win of Blanc’s comeback.  “It’s nice to finish your career with a win in a [graded] race,” he said. “I pushed through to finish that way. It’s rewarding. I didn’t want to end my career on an injury.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.