Hernandez Jr. Takes Two Stakes, Earning Him Jockey Of The Week Title Sponsored by:
Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.
After two stakes victories at Fair Grounds on “The Road to the Derby Kickoff Day,” Brian Hernandez Jr. was voted Jockey of the Week for January 11 through January 17. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.
Trainer Chris Block gave Hernandez, Jr. a leg up on Charlie s Penny in the Silverbulletday Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Dismissed at odds of 9.20-1, Charlie s Penny sat a clear stalking trip behind the pacesetter Littlestitious, then rallied on the turn for home and went on score an authoritative 3-1/4-length win.
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Mandaloun wins an allowance race at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28
Catch him if you can. From New Orleans to Hot Springs to Boynton Beach, trainer Brad Cox is logging plenty of frequent flier miles this winter while overseeing a stable that has him in contention to not only win him his first career Eclipse Award as Outstanding Trainer, but raise the bar even higher in 2021.
Front and center at Fair Grounds where he is the four-time defending training champion, Cox has Mandaloun and Divine Comedy pointing to a pair of stakes on the Jan. 16 “Road to the Derby Kickoff Day,” for what he hopes will be the start of the path to the April 30 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) and May 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) later this spring at Churchill Downs.