Veteran jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. has been chosen because the 2024 Mike Venezia Memorial Award recipient, the New York Racing Affiliation introduced Aug. 7.
Hernandez, who gave Mystik Dan a rail-skimming experience to prevail within the Kentucky Derby Introduced by Woodford Reserve, was chosen by a committee comprised of members of the Venezia household, representatives of The Jockeys’ Guild, and retired Eclipse Award-winning jockey Richard Migliore. Hernandez might be acknowledged at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 23.
“As a rider, I attempt to win races on the observe and characterize the game as greatest I can off the observe,” Hernandez mentioned. “To be acknowledged with the Venezia Memorial Award is an honor. My household and I sit up for celebrating this award and thanking the Venezia household right here at Saratoga Race Course.”
The Mike Venezia Memorial Award is offered yearly to a jockey who shows the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the results of accidents suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a local of Brooklyn, N.Y., gained greater than 2,300 races throughout his 25-year profession.
“From the outset of his profession, Brian has been a real consultant for horse racing and an expert in each method,” mentioned Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of The Jockeys’ Guild. “Because the winner of the Venezia Award, he joins a gaggle of elite riders who’ve distinguished themselves as position fashions and pillars of the racing group. We thank NYRA for persevering with this custom, and congratulate Brian on his accomplishments.”
Hernandez’s triumph on this 12 months’s Kentucky Derby passed off the day after his commanding wire-to-wire win aboard Thorpedo Anna within the one hundred and fiftieth Longines Kentucky Oaks, making him one among solely eight riders to seize these races in the identical 12 months and the primary in 15 years. Each wins got here for coach Kenny McPeek.
Since these main races in early Could, the 38-year-old rider gained the DK Horse Acorn Stakes and Teaching Membership American Oaks on Thorpedo Anna.
A local of Lafayette, La., Hernandez hails from a racing household. His father, Brian Hernandez Sr., is a former jockey and his brother Colby and sister Courtney are Louisiana-based jockeys. He rode his first winner in 2003 at Louisiana’s Delta Downs Racetrack. In 2004, Hernandez was honored with the Eclipse Award for excellent apprentice jockey and within the years since has constructed a profession on the pinnacle of the game. He gained the 2012 Whitney Invitational Handicap and Breeders’ Cup Traditional on Fort Larned in different profession achievements.
He has greater than 2,590 wins total and purse earnings in extra of $134.9 million.
The Venezia Memorial Award is a 13-inch bronze sculpture with a title that reads, “The Jockey, A Champion.” Hernandez joins a legendary group of riders who’ve gained the award beforehand, led by Venezia, who posthumously earned the inaugural award in 1989.
“I took so many classes from Mike Venezia each in the best way to experience to the perfect of my capability and in the best way to carry myself as an expert,” mentioned Migliore. “I congratulate Brian on this genuinely-earned honor. He’s turning into a part of a particular group of riders.”
Different winners embrace Invoice Shoemaker, Chris McCarron, Angel Cordero Jr., Jerry Bailey, Mike Smith, Pat Day, Laffit Pincay Jr., Robbie Davis, Eddie Maple, Gary Stevens, Jorge Chavez, Mike Luzzi, Dean Kutz, Richard Migliore, Patti Cooksey, Edgar Prado, Ramon Dominguez, John Velazquez, Jon Court docket, Mario Pino, Kendrick Carmouche, Joe Bravo, Javier Castellano, DeShawn Parker, Julien Leparoux, and the 2023 winner Junior Alvarado.