Juan Hernandez keeps making his mark on the racetracks at Santa Anita and Del Mar, proving himself an especially smart and dependable jockey.
But he’s finding his fortune on the road.
The leading jockey in the “Classic Meet” portion of Santa Anita’s season, Hernandez flew to Arkansas twice in the past three weekends to win million-dollar races with Bob Baffert-trained Muth in the Arkansas Derby and Adare Manor in the Apple Blossom Handicap.
As Santa Anita’s “Hollywood Meet” starts Friday, Hernandez is away in Arkansas again to ride two more horses for Baffert on Saturday: Reincarnate in the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap and the filly Miss Rockette in a $115,000 maiden race.
He hopes displaying his talents to trainers and owners beyond California will pay off in the long run with more big-race mounts, and in the short run with a ride in the May 4 Kentucky Derby. Hernandez nearly rode in the Derby for the first time last year, but Skinner got sick and was scratched. His Derby chances are tricky this year because Baffert horses are barred from Churchill Downs, so Muth can’t jump into the Triple Crown series until the May 18 Preakness.
“It means a lot,” Hernandez said of leading all Santa Anita jockeys in wins for the third winter-spring meet in a row, a streak achieved most recently by Rafael Bejarano in 2013-16 and earlier by Hall of Famers Laffit Pincay, Bill Shoemaker and Johnny Longden. “But after a couple of times doing that, I think the next step is to win the big races.”
None is bigger than the Kentucky Derby.
“It’s a dream as a jockey, not just to get a mount – winning the Kentucky Derby. Hopefully one trainer or owner will hire me to ride in the race,” Hernandez said.
Craig O’Bryan, Hernandez’s agent, tells him not to worry, because mounts are open on several Derby horses.
“His time is coming,” O’Bryan said of Hernandez.
There is plenty to worry about in California racing. Golden Gate Fields is scheduled to close for good in June, sad for Hernandez because that’s the San Francisco Bay Area track where the native of Veracruz, Mexico, started winning U.S. races in bunches in 2010. Santa Anita has made 12% cuts in purses, affecting everyday races and some stakes, in the face of declines in wagering.
Hernandez, 32, said the shrinking rewards for winning California races “probably” will make out-of-state races more attractive for him and O’Bryan.
“Before, maybe you had to stay (at Santa Anita or Del Mar) because the purses were good,” Hernandez said in an interview Wednesday. “But now, if I have the chance to go out of town, we will take it because we’re probably going to make more money to go out of town to ride one day than we would here to ride all weekend.”
It’s natural to ask if Hernandez is considering a permanent move to a more lucrative circuit in another part of the country, or something like what Flavien Prat does in leaving Santa Anita to ride at Keeneland each spring.
“It’s not on my mind right now,” Hernandez said. “Probably in the future, I would say yes, I would try to go to another track back east. Of course you get a little curious, because they have big horses there and they have more days of racing.
“Right now there’s no reason to think of a move somewhere else because I’m doing really good here. But in the future, probably in a couple of years, if they keep the same purses or even worse, probably you have to think of going somewhere else.”
Hernandez said he, his wife Melissa and their sons Juan, 9, and Emilio, 6, are happy in California. The boys play Little League and travel-team baseball, and Emilio talks about becoming a jockey. (Hernandez, son of Mexican quarter-horse jockey Jose Trinidad, has mixed emotions about his own son wanting to pursue a difficult and dangerous line or work.)
But their house in Glendora doesn’t pay for itself, and an athlete with Hernandez’s skills has to think about how and where he can maximize his earning potential.
In part because he rides regularly for Baffert, who recognized his talent soon after he moved from Northern to Southern California in 2020, Hernandez has climbed the national earnings ladder, ranking 24th in 2020, 13th in 2021, ninth in 2022, 11th last year, and sixth so far this year.
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Of his horses’ $4.6 million in purses in 2024, more than $1.4 million was earned by Muth and Adare Manor in two races at Oaklawn Park.
Hernandez said he hopes to keep piling up victories at Santa Anita while also chasing richer races – and his Kentucky Derby dream – out of state.
“I’m really focused to keep winning races,” he said, “but hopefully I can get the bigger races down the road.”
Follow Kevin Modesti on Twitter (formerly X) @Kevin Modesti.