Kentucky Derby Winner Brian Hernandez Jr. Suffers Serious Injuries at Churchill Downs

Horse racing is a dangerous game. Brian Hernandez Jr. is one of the best in the sport. Not even he can avoid harm’s way on the racetrack.

On a sloppy Sunday at Churchill Downs, Hernandez was thrown from his mount, Sgt. Garcia, in a $30,000 maiden claiming race. The horse was taken off the track in an equine ambulance, and its health remains unclear. The jockey was transported to University of Louisville Hospital, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

Hernandez suffered seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a lacerated liver, the latter of which required surgery. He is still in the ICU as of Monday morning as doctors monitor the situation.

“Jockey life isn’t for the faint of heart,” Jamie Hernandez shared on social media. “(It’s) Physically and mentally draining. Hug your loved ones tight. Please say extra prayers for Brian.”

A Louisiana native, Hernandez first began riding horses in 2003. Last year was his most lucrative year in the business, winning 795 races worth more than $20 million in purses, thanks in large part to a historic weekend in May.

Hernandez rode Thorpedo Anna to a victory in the 2024 Kentucky Oaks. One day later, he guided Mystik Dan along the rail for a shocking victory in Kentucky Derby 150. Hernandez is only the ninth jockey to win the Oaks-Derby Double, and was the first since Calvin Borel in 2009.

A staple in the Kentucky horse racing scene as Kenny McPeek’s top rider, Hernandez was gearing up for another big race with Mystik Dan. The 2024 Derby winner is in the field for Saturday’s Lukas Classic, a $500,000 Grade II Stakes that serves as Churchill Downs’ premiere race in the September meet. Mystik Dan has won only once since that Kentucky Derby victory, and it was a race at Churchill Downs that looked eerily similar to his Derby triumph.

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