Rafael Hernandez

When you spend €1,400,000 on a yearling at Arqana Deauville's August Yearling Sale, there are expectations. Safe to say, Earhart (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) met those and then some to become a new 'TDN Rising Star' in her Saturday unveiling over the synthetic surface at Woodbine for LNJ Foxwoods and trainer Josie Carroll. The grey daughter of leading French stallion Siyouni, slammed into the 6-5 favorite's roll in what seemed even on paper to be an overmatched group, never let this field have a shot. Breaking from the middle of the...

Perhaps done in by a two-week turnaround when just beaten in the July 20 Woodbine Oaks, Siena Farm and WinStar Farm's Caitlinhergrtness (Omaha Beach) proved possibly the biggest beneficiary of the six-day postponement of the C$1-million King's Plate, clawing her way past heavily favored My Boy Prince (Cairo Prince) in the final 40 yards. The $375,000 OBS April breezer was off at 9-1 in the King's Plate--a race in which the fillies had more than held their own against their male counterparts--and took up a forward position from between horses...

Never off the board in his four prior career starts, Tyson (Tapit) avenged his sole defeat--a third behind Treason (Constitution) in the GII Eclipse S. June 4--with a win last time out over that rival in the GIII Dominion Day S. July 1. Heavily bet down to 2-5 going for his second straight graded-stakes win, the 4-year-old wasted no time going right for the lead and assumed command a path off the rail ahead of Carrothers (Mshawish). Always under a wrap by jockey Rafael Hernandez, Tyson was briefly headed as...

Dual Canadian Classic winner Mighty Heart (Dramedy), a homebred for Lawrence Cordes, was named Canadian Horse of the Year at the 46th Annual Sovereign Awards ceremony held Thursday evening. It marked the second year in a row Canada's championship awards were held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Trained by Josie Carroll, Mighty Heart began his sophomore campaign in July with a maiden special weight victory at Woodbine, then went on to capture the Sept. 12 Queen's Plate S. and the Sept. 29 Prince of Wales S. The one-eyed...

Mark Casse topped the Woodbine trainers leaderboard for the 12th time with 93 wins during the abbreviated 2020 meet. Beginning June 6, the meet was originally scheduled to conclude Dec. 13, but was forced to end early Nov. 22 due to a government-mandated lockdown for the region of Ontario due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The jockeys' race went right down to the wire with Rafael Hernandez edging out Justin Stein. It was the first riding title at Woodbine for Hernandez, who racked up 129 wins. Barber was the leading money-winning...

Woodbine Entertainment, in conjunction with Kraft-Heinz Canada, have announced the launch of the Heinz Challenge, six-week series during which a Thoroughbred jockey from Woodbine will be paired with a harness driver from Woodbine Mohawk Park to compete for a charitable donation of $5,000 from Woodbine. The series will be broadcast live during 'Racing Night Live' on TSN. The four competing jockeys are Rafael Hernandez, Kazushi Kimura, Justin Stein and Emma-Jayne Wilson, while the participating drivers are Jody Jamieson, Bob McClure, Doug McNair and Louis-Philippe Roy, who replaces the injured James...