Juan Hernandez pursues 5th straight Del Mar riding title
If there was ever a jockey who was in the proverbial zone right now it would be Juan Hernandez. Of the last seven meets that have been run at Del Mar, dating to the fall of 2021, Hernandez has won the riding title five times, including the last four. Combine that with the six straight titles he’s won at Santa Anita dating to the winter meet in 2023 and he’s riding about as well as anybody not named Prat or Ortiz.
Hernandez is back to defend his crown this fall at Del Mar, and he has no intention of giving it up.
“Looks like everything is working the right way for me,” he said. “At the same time I’m riding for the right people. I’m really thankful to the owners and the trainers for giving me the good horses to ride. I feel real good right now. I feel like I’m in my zone. I love to ride horses, and I work hard to win races.”
It always helps one’s performance if they like where they work, and Hernandez enjoys riding the fall meet.
“I love Del Mar,” Hernandez said. “I like the people of Del Mar. They are horse racing people, so you can feel the energy. And I like the track, both the dirt and the turf. The turf course is really nice.”
Unlike in the summer, Hernandez will commute from Arcadia to Del Mar during the five weeks of the Bing Crosby season.
“I go back and forth,” Hernandez said. “I get there (Del Mar) on Friday and race on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then go back Sunday night after the races because I have to work horses at Santa Anita Monday morning. My family is in LA so they stay and I go by myself. It’s easier. I have two kids and it’s a little bit too much for them.”
Hernandez has been riding at Del Mar full-time since the summer of 2020 and he just finished riding in his sixth Breeders’ Cup.
“It was really good,” Hernandez said, “but I didn’t have enough horses for this Cup. I only rode three Breeders’ Cup races this year but I was happy with my horses. In the Juvenile on Friday Getaway Car ran a good fourth. The next day, in the sprint for the fillies (his mount was Pleasant) I ran third. I was in the front for the entire stretch and they just got me in the last couple of jumps. I had one more, Muth, in the Dirt Mile. He didn’t fire on Saturday. I still think he’s a good horse and I like him a lot.”
Hernandez now will get back to the job at hand, keeping his streak of jockey titles going at Del Mar. You have to go back a long way to find the last time someone won five straight riding titles at Del Mar. That was Bill Shoemaker, who ended up winning six straight between 1949 and 1954. Anytime you’re keeping company with Shoemaker, you’re in a zone.