Trainer James Bracken Dead

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(From an edited Calder Race Course release)

Veteran South Florida trainer James Bracken died unexpectedly April 19.  He was 90.

Bracken was born in Charleston, Mo., and began his racetrack career galloping horses at 18 at Jefferson Park in New Orleans. After a brief career as a jockey, he then worked as an outrider, assistant starter, and jockey agent.

As an agent, his clients included Hall of Famers Johnny Adams, Bill Hartack, Bill Shoemaker, Walter Blum, and Jacinto Vasquez.

Bracken started training in 1976 and made South Florida his home. His top runners in the mid to late-1980s included Early Lunch, Billie Osage, and Primal, who won the 1990 Donn Handicap (gr. I) at Gulfstream Park.

Bracken, who conditioned a total of 37 stakes winners, trained for a time for the famed Tartan Stable. His charges for the prominent stable included Ponche, for whom a stakes at Calder is named. Ponche won 16 races for Bracken, including several stakes.

Among the top all-time trainers at Calder, Bracken led the standings for four seasons: the 1984 and 1985 Calder meets and 1984/85 and 1989/90 Tropical meets. He is fifth on the all-time races won list for Calder, with 793 victories. His 231 wins at Tropical place him eighth on that all-time list.Bracken was inducted into the Calder Hall of Fame in 2000.

Bracken is survived by his wife of 46 years, Micki, and daughters Candace, Lynn, and Darlene. Services will be held April 24 at Boyd Funeral Home, 1600 N. University Dr., Pembroke Pines, Fla., 33024.  

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Florida Farm Division, located at the Marion Correctional Facility in Ocala, Fla.

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