Brian Hernandez Jr. is seriously injured in fall at Churchill
Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. was seriously injured in a fall Sunday at Churchill Downs.
His wife, Jamie Hernandez, said in an X post Sunday evening that he was taken to University of Louisville Hospital and had seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, a lacerated liver that was repaired with a procedure, and bleeding that was being monitored.
Hernandez's agent, Frank Bernis, told Horse Racing Nation that "everything went smooth" with the procedure to Hernandez's liver. "That's the main thing that they'll be kind of keeping up with for the next day or so. After that, it'll just be a healing process as far as his ribs go."
He said it's too soon to predict when Hernandez might return to racing. "The only thing they were really focusing on was making sure they got to the laceration on his liver. And then everything else was kind of put to the side until that was taken care of. He'll obviously be out a little while.
"We don't know exactly how long. It'll depend for sure on the liver and if that goes smooth, then it's just going to be how long it takes his ribs to heal."
Bernis said Monday morning that he had seen Hernandez Sunday evening and was preparing to return Monday. "At first, he was in a lot of pain," he said. "But he was definitely in better spirits last night when I left the hospital."
Hernandez was thrown by Sgt. Garcia, a 2-year-old colt trained by Kenny McPeek, in Sunday's third race going six furlongs on dirt. According to the Equibase chart, the colt "hopped and was brushed by an inner rival at the start" and dislodged Hernandez at the five-sixteenths pole. The colt was transported off the track by an equine ambulance, according to the report.
No information was available on the horse's condition, according to media reports.
Bernis said Hernandez told him that "he didn't know if it was his horse or a horse behind it stepped on him."
Hernandez was scheduled to ride Mystik Dan in the Lukas Classic (G2) at Churchill Downs on Saturday for McPeek. Last year, he rode Mystik Dan to victory in the Kentucky Derby the day after riding Thorpedo Anna to a win in the Kentucky Oaks (G1).