Juan Hernandez

Getting blinkers off following an uninspired third in her most recent start in the GII Oak Leaf at Santa Anita in October, Baoma Corp.'s Tenma (Nyquist) went to the front and never looked back, rolling to a confident victory in Saturday's GII Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos. Hustled to the front by the new-on-board Juan Hernandez, the 5-2 second choice quickly encountered Look Forward (Bolt d'Oro), a debut winner at Del Mar last month, who pressed her from the inside through an opening quarter in :23.41. With the pair continuing...

For the second year in a row, jockey Juan Hernandez has won both the summer and fall riding titles at Del Mar. However, unlike past title runs, he had to rally from behind late in the season to win the Bing Crosby Season title with 21 wins. Hernandez trailed both Antonio Fresu and Umberto Rispoli through much of the fall. But he got hot in the second-to-last week, winning five races and grabbing the lead. He then secured the title with another eight victories in the final week including five...

2nd-Del Mar, $54,500, Msw, 11-23, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:15.91, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. ROMANESQUE (c, 2, Practical Joke--Mony'slittlegracie, by Alphabet Soup) was the slightly better-fancied half of an uncoupled Bob Baffert-trained entry at 5-2, raced in lockstep with Rodriguez (Authentic) for most of the final half-mile of Saturday's second race at Del Mar and finally gained the upper hand inside the final 100 yards to graduate at first asking. Off perhaps a half-step slowly from the inside gate while Rodriguez clearly won the break, the $60,000 Keeneland November weanling turned...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. This week's rulings include three lengthy suspensions. Trainer Francisco Ramos has been banned for two years and fined $25,000 after his trainee You're a Dandy (Mizzen Mast) who finished second at Hawthorne Feb. 14, tested positive for the bronchodilator Clenbuterol. According to a final decision by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), Ramos apparently requested a B sample analysis but did not pay for it, which meant...

Santa Anita's 16-day Autumn Meet concluded Sunday, Oct. 27 with Juan Hernandez on top of the jockey's standings, Bob Baffert winning the trainer's title and Harris Farms leading all owners in wins. For Hernandez, a 32-year-old native of Veracruz, Mexico, this was his seventh riding title at Santa Anita. He finished the meet with 25 wins from 103 mounts (24%), which was 10 more victories than runner-up Umberto Rispoli. Hernandez also led all jockeys in purse earnings with $1,566,410. His biggest wins came in the GII Oak Leaf Stakes aboard...

With four of the six who went to post in the GII Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita Saturday, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert was guaranteed a placing or two in the 'Win and You're In' race for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 1. He did better than that, saddling the first three home. Even-money favorite and maiden winner Non Compliant (2, f, Tiz the Law--Sensitively, by Street Sense), the most modest auction purchase of the Baffert quartet, bested GIII Sorrento Stakes winner Nooni (Win Win Win) and...

Del Mar concluded its 85th summer racing season Sunday as the seaside track once again recorded strong field sizes and average daily handle as well as the highest daily purses in the state of California. Del Mar averaged 8.6 starters per race and $831,000 per day in total purse distribution. Total wagering for the meet was $502,985,000, a slight decrease from last summer after Del Mar implemented new restrictions on computer-assisted wagering (CAW) players in 2024. Average daily handle was $16,225,000. Track officials indicated that the handle figures were in...

It's the final day of the meet where the 'turf meets the surf' where trainer Bob Baffert will likely finish the afternoon with an unprecedented 18th winner of the GI Del Mar Futurity, the final major contest of the season before the track gets all decked out in purple for the arrival of the Breeders' Cup in early November. The Hall of Famer saddles three of Sunday's seven intended runners, each capable of walking away with the victory on their best. 'TDN Rising Star' Getaway Car (Curlin) is the most...

She did it again. Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (m, 5, Uncle Mo--Brooklynsway, by Giant Gizmo), who was coming off wins in the GI Apple Blossom Handicap and GII Santa Margarita Stakes, made it three straight in winning the GI Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar for the second year in a row. She earned a 'Win and You're In' fees-paid berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, which will be contested over this same surface in three months. Adare Manor broke nicely in the Clement Hirsch, content to...

Sometimes a prohibitive 3-5 favorite doesn't run his or her race, but sometimes one runs just as hoped and adds a cherry on top. Last-out GI Beholder Mile Stakes winner and Pamela C. Ziebarth homebred Sweet Azteca (f, 4, Sharp Azteca--So Sweetitiz, by Grand Slam) not only made it three in a row with a facile win in Saturday's GII Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos, but also set a new track record at Los Al for the distance, getting the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.33. At the Great...

Jockey Juan Hernandez, trainer Phil D'Amato and owner Paul and Zilla Reddam's Reddam Racing emerged victorious in their respective divisions during the 29-day Hollywood Meet at Santa Anita, which closed Sunday, June 16. Hernandez, a native of Veracruz, Mexico, was celebrating a sixth riding title at Santa Anita, having ridden 36 winners from 176 mounts (20.5%), one clear of Antonio Fresu, who joined the local riding colony just over 14 months ago. The Italian had one last chance to dead-heat with Hernandez, but fell just short in Sunday's 12th and...

The third 'Rising Star' to come out of the freshman sire class in just 24 hours, Midland Money (Shancelot--Magnolias In Bloom, by Flatter) became his sire's (by Shanghai Bobby) second overall winner Friday with a gate to wire win at Santa Anita. A $650,000 OBS March buy for CSLR Racing Partners LLC, the colt worked a quick furlong in :9.4 in Ocala to become the most expensive 2-year-old buy from his sire's first crop. He'd already shown his propensity to be quick in the mornings, putting up back to back...