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Contact: Jim Mulvihill, Communications and Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager, 504.948.1233, james.mulvihill@fgno.com
Contact: Graham Ross, Staff Writer, 504.948.1255,
COLBY HERNANDEZ TO RIDE FULL TIME AT FG
· FG-based Jockey Miguel Mena Sweeps Churchill Stakes Saturday
· Memorial Service for Alice Stevenson Set for Thursday
By
That might have been the old adage running through jockey Colby Hernandez’s mind last Friday on the second day of racing at the
In Friday’s first race, the 24-year-old Hernandez, a native of
In the second race, it was pretty much the same story. Riding Dawn Ladner’s My Friend Tag, trained by Delbert Cuevas, Hernandez dueled for the lead until the upper stretch, was no match for the winner when challenged but was able to save the runner-up spot with the rider’s continuous perseverance.
Then, in Friday’s third race, Hernandez finally got the job done. Riding Steve and Pat Roe’s Envoy’s Production, trained by Alfonso Balderas, Hernandez stalked the early leaders, took command well inside the furlong grounds and then took off for a 3 3/4-length tally, giving the young Louisianan his first Fair Grounds win of the meeting.
“Yeah, those were all some good races,” said Hernandez when reminded of that three-race series. “All those horses ran some good races for me. They gave me everything they had.”
Also, they got Hernandez off to a flying start at the meeting, giving a lot of local horsemen someone to consider when searching for an available rider. Although he’s ridden at Fair Grounds before when shipping in from
The youngest member of a riding family – all of whom are still very active – he is the son of the veteran Louisiana jockey Brian Hernandez and also the less-familiar younger brother of Fair Grounds regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr., who catapulted his own name into national prominence with a win aboard Janis Whitham’s Fort Larned in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita earlier this month.
On the day of his brother’s career-changing victory on
“I think all of us in the Delta jockeys’ room were jumping up and down throughout the whole race,” said Hernandez. “In fact, I think the whole place was jumping. I talked to my brother later that night. It was also his birthday that day. He was one very happy boy. The whole thing was very exciting for all of us.”
While his brother Brian passed the 1,000-win milestone a couple of months ago, Colby, who didn’t begin his own career until the end of 2006, has already ridden more than 800 winners. Last Friday, when Colby rode his first winner of the local season, his brother won a race at Churchill Downs and his father won one at Delta.
“We’ve all ridden winners on the same day before,” said Hernandez, “but I don’t know that we’ve ever done it at three different tracks before.”
The biggest win of Colby’s career, he was asked?
“That came at Delta Downs in a stakes race ($125,000 Premier Princess) two years ago on a horse named Two Nickel Bud,” Hernandez said. “I beat my brother by a nose in that race.”
FAIR GROUNDS-BASED MENA SWEEPS CHURCHILL STAKES SATURDAY – Veteran jockey Miguel Mena, a Fair Grounds regular during the winter months, rode at Fair Grounds on Opening Day but then journeyed to Louisville, Ky., to sweep Saturday’s two big stakes at Churchill Downs.
Following his upset win in the Grade II Golden Rod Stakes aboard Naveed Chowhan’s Seaneen Girl, Mena returned to the winner’s circle at the Twin Spires oval later in the day astride John Oxley’s Uncaptured in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club.
Mena will return to
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR ALICE STEVENSON SET FOR THURSDAY – A memorial service for longtime Fair Grounds gardener Alice Stevenson, who died earlier this month, will be held Thursday from 9 to 9:30 a.m. at the small garden along the apron where the paddock pathway meets the racetrack.
About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the nation’s third-oldest racetrack, has been in operation since 1872. Located in
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James J. Mulvihill
Communications & Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
A Churchill Downs Incorporated Company
1751 Gentilly Boulevard,
504.948.1233 [office]
504.481.8770 [cell]
141st Thoroughbred Racing Season Opens Nov. 22
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