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Rafael Manuel Hernandez (born 1984 or 1985) is a Puerto Rican thoroughbred racing jockey. During his career, he led in wins at Fairmount Park from 2005 to 2014 except for 2009. At graded stakes races, Hernandez has won 24 Grade III, 17 Grade II and 3 Grade I events. He also finished in thirteenth at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in 2015.
At the Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing from 2015 onward, Hernandez had three first places each at the King's Plate and Breeders' Stakes. He finished second at the Prince of Wales Stakes four times. As a Canadian Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing competitor, Hernandez won the 2020 Wonder Where Stakes and 2022 Woodbine Oaks. He was also second at the 2020 Bison City Stakes. Hernandez has won more than 3,100 races and accumulated over $70 million in prize winnings. He received the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Jockey during 2020.
Hernandez was born during the mid-1980s in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico.[1] He became interested in horse racing as a teenager.[2] Until the early 2000s, Hernandez attended the Vocational Equestrian School of Puerto Rico.[3]
Racecourses
For his apprentice jockey career, Hernandez went to Tampa Bay Downs in 2004 and had his first victory there.[4][5] He had the most victories at Ellis Park Race Course that year for apprentice riders.[6] Hernandez started competing at Fairmount Park after the apprenticeship ended in the mid-2000s.[4] While at Fairmount from 2005 to 2014, he led in wins each year except for 2009.[2][7]
In February 2016, Hernandez was injured during a Gulfstream Park race.[8] This resulted in "a broken collarbone, fractured ribs and ... one of his kidneys removed".[9] During June 2016, he resumed his career before moving to Woodbine Racetrack.[10] Hernandez led in victories while there during 2020.[11]
Major races
At the 2014 Grey Stakes, Hernandez became a graded stakes race winner.[12] As part of his wins, Hernandez has won the Marine Stakes four times as a Grade III competitor. He has been in first place at 24 Grade III, 17 Grade II and 3 Grade I races.[13] During this time period, he finished in thirteenth at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf during 2015.[14]
At Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing events, Hernandez had first places at the Queen's Plate during 2015 with Shaman Ghost and 2022 with Moira.[15][16] After the event was renamed to the King's Plate, he re-won the event in 2024.[17] In the Prince of Wales Stakes, Hernandez was second during 2015 and 2017.[18][19] Additional second places by him were in 2020 and 2024.[20][21] Hernandez was also third at the 2021 edition.[22] From 2016 to 2019, he was the Breeders' Stakes champion three times and runner-up once.[23][24] At other editions, Herndandez was second during 2024.[25]
In Canadian Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing events, Hernandez was third at the 2017 Bison City Stakes.[26][27] During 2020, he finished in third place.[28] Additional top three finishes at the event were second in 2022 and third during 2024.[29][30] During 2020, he was third at the Woodbine Oaks.[31] He was first in the 2022 edition and second in 2024.[32][33] At the Wonder Where Stakes, he won the 2020 event.[34]
Overall performance and personal life
Hernandez received the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Jockey in 2020.[35] In Equibase rankings for North American thoroughbred jockeys, his best performances were eighth place in 2011 wins and twenty-seventh place in 2020 earnings.[36] By 2024, Hernandez had won over 3,100 races and accumulated more than $70 million in prize winnings.[37] He is married and has three children.[38]
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