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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Hernandez Dropped The Mic On ‘Em In New York

Though he's won over 2,200 races since beginning his career in 2006, jockey Colby Hernandez just celebrated his first graded stakes victory last Thursday at Belmont Park. The 31-year-old Louisiana native celebrated the milestone when he piloted Change of Control to a 1 ½-length victory in the Grade 3 Intercontinental Stakes for trainer Michelle Lovell.

“I'd never been to Belmont, even visiting or anything, so when I first walked out on the track I was just like, 'Wow, how do you even ride this?'” Hernandez recalled. “After I got on the horse I just settled right down. In the race all I kept thinking was just be patient, just be patient, just make your move at the right time.”

Initially blocked behind horses at the head of the lane, Hernandez found a seam and sent Change of Control on through. Then, just as he was switching his stick to his left hand to send the mare home, Hernandez accidentally dropped the whip.

“I just thought, 'Oh no,'” he said, laughing good-naturedly. “Then I moved my hands on her and she went on, and I was like, 'Okay, we're safe, we're okay now.'”

It may have been an embarrassing moment for Hernandez, Lovell explained, even though he won the race. She watched the race on television from her base in Louisville.

“Watching it, we were just so excited about the win,” Lovell said. “Then I said, 'I don't think he ever hit her.' We watched the replay, and he drew it to his left hand and then crossed the wire without it.

“After the race, I called him and thanked him for going up to ride her. I told him losing the whip was his 'mic drop' moment, and he laughed so loud, just belly-laughed. Thank goodness he wasn't embarrassed, but he has the best attitude and he's such a genuine person.”

Hernandez is also based in Kentucky now, after moving his family to Louisville last summer. He'd previously ridden the Louisiana circuit, including at the Fair Grounds, Evangeline, Delta Downs, and Louisiana Downs, for the majority of his career, earning multiple leading rider titles.

“I guess it was comfort, because I would do really well there every year, year-in and year-out,” Heranndez said.

Last spring, however, the pandemic's effect on racing in that state forced the young rider's hand.

The Fair Grounds ended its race meet early, and Evangeline was supposed to be the next track to open up, but management continued to delay the decision. Hernandez' older brother, Breeders' Cup Classic and Eclipse Award-winning jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr., encouraged him to come to Kentucky as Churchill Downs was preparing to open for live racing.

“I stayed in an Air BnB in Kentucky, and my wife and kids came up to visit me, and we just liked it here,” Hernandez explained. “We put our house in Louisiana on the market after a month.”

Married to his long-time sweetheart Treva for three years, Hernandez has two children aged six and seven. Both quickly settled into life in Kentucky, although they were frustrated about the lack of things to do during the earliest days of the pandemic.

The kids went to school online, and Hernandez made time to take them to the local park on dark days, but they couldn't attend races. They were able to play with their older cousins, riding horses at the elder Hernandez brother's farm, and made new friends when they moved into a subdivision in September.

His son is especially interested in racing, Hernandez said, reminding him of his own childhood attending the races on weekends and any day there wasn't school in Louisiana. The Hernandez brothers' father, Brian Hernandez Sr., was a jockey for many years, and both Hernandez brothers began galloping Thoroughbreds at a training center when they turned 12 years old.

Colby Hernandez was still in high school when his big brother moved to Kentucky and won an Eclipse Award as leading apprentice jockey in 2004. He thought about following in his brother's footsteps, and did for a short time after acquiring his own jockey's license in 2006, but Colby found himself feeling homesick and went back to Louisiana.

He established a solid business in the state, riding multiple stakes winners, most notably a talented Louisiana-bred mare named Pacific Pink trained by Eddie Johnston. The 2012 daughter of Private Vow earned over $730,000 and won eight restricted stakes over her career, forever endearing herself to Hernandez.

“She had a running style like Zenyatta, you just take her back and make one run,” Hernandez said. “She was very easy to get along with, does whatever you ask her, never gives you any trouble, always gave me everything every time I asked her. She was a lot like Change of Control that way.”

Hernandez began riding horses for Lovell at the Fair Grounds several years ago, and picked up the mount on Change of Control there at the New Orleans in 2019. He also began to ride a Lovell-trained gelding named Just Might, who would go on to provide Hernandez with his first Breeders' Cup mount in last fall's Turf Sprint (finishing ninth).

Lovell was ecstatic when Hernandez made the choice to move up to Kentucky last year, and he's maintained the mount on both of her top horses. In fact, just two days after winning his first graded stakes with Change of Control in New York, Hernandez was back in the winner's circle at Churchill Downs after winning the listed Mighty Beau Stakes with Just Might.

“He's a hard worker, he's always got a great attitude, he never says 'no' when I need him to work one, and I just think he deserves all the opportunities he gets,” Lovell said. “He's just a very natural rider, and he's got the talent to do well here.”

“She's given me a bunch of firsts, and I'm very grateful,” Hernandez said. “I started out better than I thought up here, and when I came back after the winter, business had built up even more. It's home now.”

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Raised In Racing, Jordan Sisters Taking On The World Together

Teammates. Best Friends. Sisters.

When 19-year-old bug rider Kylee Jordan won her first race at her home track on May 29, her older sister, 21-year-old Taelyn, was the first to congratulate her with a giant hug in the Prairie Meadows winner's circle.

The moment brought tears to the eyes of family matriarch Christa, who said watching her daughters' close relationship and unwavering support of one another is the greatest feeling in the world.

“Taelyn is Kylee's biggest fan,” Christa said. “She is a true example of the best big sister; she isn't overshadowed by Kylee's success at all because she's always right beside her, encouraging her and cheering her on.”

“We always grew up riding together, and she's always been so good and made every single horse she's on look amazing,” Taelyn said. “I think I'm the most nervous out of everybody watching her ride, but I'm always just so happy for her and proud of her.”

Kylee went on to win another race the next evening, but the only way that weekend could have been better, all three women agreed, was if the win had come aboard a horse trained by the girls' father, Todd Jordan. So far, Kylee has earned a second and a third for her dad, but she's definitely looking forward to the winner's circle celebration when it's a “family” horse.

This coming Saturday at Prairie Meadows, the horse Monday Confession might be the one to take the Jordan family there. The 7-year-old gelding was given to Kylee last fall, and won his final race of the meet at the Altoona, Iowa racetrack.

After wintering at the family's northern Iowa farm, Monday Confession was ready to run on May 1, but Kylee hadn't yet gotten her jockey's license. Alfredo Triana, Jr. stepped in to ride him to a fourth-place finish. For his second start on May 23, Kylee had procured a license, but she refused to take over the mount from Triana.

“That's just the kind of person she is,” Christa explained. “She said, 'Mom, you just don't do that to somebody,' even though Monday is her heart horse.”

Triana won aboard Monday Confession, and Todd made the executive decision that his youngest daughter would ride the gelding in his next race. This Saturday, that plan will come to fruition in Prairie Meadows' first race on the card.

Monday Confession will run under the Jordan Family Racing banner, and Todd is listed as his trainer. Kylee gallops him every morning, and Taelyn, who is certified in equine bodywork and massage, will have put the finishing touches on the gelding before his race and will likely pony her sister to the gate. Christa will drive down from the family farm on Friday night, as she does every weekend, to cheer them on.

“None of us could do it without my mom, I'll tell you that,” Kylee said. “And Taelyn has been awesome. It's pretty cool to have a sister that doesn't get jealous. She even goes into the jock's room with me and takes videos of me on the equicizer, and she's always supported me, even if she gets more nervous than I do!”

This past weekend, Kylee even had the opportunity to ride millionaire Welder in a rare appearance outside his home state of Oklahoma. Kylee had breezed and ridden a few horses for trainer Teri Luneack at Will Rogers Downs, and her quiet hands, professional demeanor, and unshakeable work ethic earned her a chance on the big gray. They finished third, pleasing the trainer.

“To ride a horse like that this early in my career, just wow,” Kylee said.

Taelyn and Kylee Jordan learning about horse racing

Of course, Christa wasn't surprised. Both of her daughters have had a strong work ethic instilled in them from the start, helping with chores at the family farm in both the heat of the summer and the minus 30-degree weather and giant snow drifts of a northern Iowa winter.

Additionally, ever since their daughters were born, Todd and Christa have been hauling them to racetracks on the weekends. Strapped into their car seats in the back of the truck, with the horses loaded on the trailer, the girls would entertain themselves on the way to small tracks like Fonner Park or the Lincoln County Fair, wherever the horses were running. They learned to read the racing program alongside their schoolwork, and maintained straight A's throughout their educations.

For a while, Christa quietly worried that the constant trips and life around the racetrack would have a negative effect on her daughters. She distinctly remembered asking Todd one Sunday evening, driving back from the races, if he thought they were messing up.

He didn't have an answer for that. Neither Todd nor Christa had grown up on the racetrack, themselves. In fact, each of their parents had tried to keep them away from the track, though both did grow up around horses. Nonetheless, they made their way to Prairie Meadows together, and now racing is the full-time family business.

Kylee and Taelyn Jordan

It was a few months after that late Sunday night question, when the girls were in third grade, that a parent-teacher conference finally validated all the choices the Jordans were making.

“(The teacher) had had both Taelyn and Kylee in her class,” Christa remembered. “She said they were both the kindest, most inclusive kids in the group, and that their decision-making skills were well above that of their peers. Todd and I walked out of there, and just kind of looked at each other. He said, 'I guess we're not messing them up too bad!'”

From starting ponies and breaking babies on the family farm in their youth to arriving at Prairie Meadows at 5:30 every morning like clockwork to gallop horses for their dad, the Jordan sisters are incredibly dedicated to the sport of racing.

Kylee envisions herself spending another four to five years in the saddle, but is already taking classes online to pursue a college degree in accounting. Taelyn dreams of training her own horses one day, and especially loves seeing the difference she can make in them when she performs the bodywork she went to school for.

Taelyn and Kylee Jordan racing ponies

Above all, though, the sisters plan to stick together. Their relationship has always been close, and neither wants to travel too far away from the other in the future.

Earlier this year, when Kylee was preparing to ride her first ever race at Will Rogers Downs on May 3, she believed that none of her family members would be able to make the trip to the Claremore, Okla. track, since they had horses in Iowa preparing to run. To Kylee's surprise, Taelyn was there outside the paddock, sitting on a pony and waiting to accompany her to the starting gate.

“Nobody told Taelyn to do that, she just wanted to do it for her sister,” Christa said. “These girls, they just make me so proud.”

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Dempsey Aiming To Become First Known Female Starter In The States

The crews working on the starting gate at a racetrack will tell you their job is often a study of opposites: it requires strength and the wisdom to know when a gentle hand will work better; it requires you to be agile and move quickly, but also to know when to stand your ground; it requires fearlessness and an instinct for when to get out of the way.

Working on the gate also takes a good dose of horse sense, the ability to get along with all kinds of people (and their egos), and above all, a keen sense of timing.

In the primarily male-dominated racing industry, working on the gate crew is often considered a man's job. Cassie Dempsey is breaking that mold. She aims not just to continue to work on the gate, but to one day lead a gate crew of her own.

“It's kind of an adrenaline rush,” said Dempsey, 30. “I was always comfortable in the gate as an exercise rider, and something always drew me to it. I love the horses, the jockeys, and the whole crew. It's just a fun, cool job.”

Dempsey has spent the past several months working under the tutelage of head starter Nick Corbisello at Thistledown Racino in North Randall, Ohio.

“Cassie worked for me a year or two ago at Presque Isle, and she's as good an assistant starter as any man I know, which to me is big,” said Corbisello, 62. “When I got to Thistle this year, I needed an assistant and I knew who the best was. She's even better than I thought she was.

“She schools [the horses] in the morning, and she knows them better than I do. She puts everything on the computer, talks to the trainers for me. She knows them all. The girl is as good as they come.”

Dempsey grew up around horses, and began galloping racehorses at a training center when she was just 14 years old. She began galloping at Mountaineer as soon as she turned 16, and worked at a handful of different racetracks in various positions over the ensuing years. Dempsey stepped away from galloping when her back started to bother her, but waiting tables and working retail just wasn't the same.

Returning to the track in 2014, Dempsey got a job on the starting gate at Mahoning Valley.

“I knew very quickly that this is something I wanted to pursue,” she said.

Earlier this year she got the call from Corbisello to come work for him at Thistle, and neither has looked back since.

“She told me, 'I want to be a starter,'” recalled Corbisello. “Now, I never knew any woman to start a horse race, but I said, 'I'll do everything I can to help you.'”

So far, Dempsey has been pushing the button to open the gates for one race per afternoon at Thistle, learning to read the entire lineup of horses, jockeys, and the crew at the same time, to anticipate all their moves.

“She has all of them's respect, the crew, the trainers, everybody,” said Corbisello. “The administration was all on board when I threw the idea at them. She's as good as they come in every aspect. One big word is she cares. She really cares about everything, in particular the horses.”

Based on incomplete records, it appears there has never been a female head starter in North America. Dempsey plans to be the first.

“I'm loving every second of it,” she said.

Corbisello plans to support her every step of the way.

“I've only got, at best, a couple years left in my illustrious career,” he said genially. “I'm going to do all I can to have her step into my position here, but if not, I know lots of starters and I'm going to do everything I can to get her a starter position.

“She's the daughter I never had — fearless, just good in every aspect.”

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Giving Is The Most Selfish Thing We Do’

After nearly a year of his trips to the racetracks becoming few and far between, Alex Campbell Jr. wasn't going to let anything stop him from attending Preakness day at Pimlico. The nonagenarian had fallen at his home in Florida the night before, however, and was in the hospital past two o'clock in the morning with a head injury.

Doctors used staples to close the wound and cleared Campbell to fly to Baltimore, where the long-time Thoroughbred enthusiast was delighted to watch his homebred filly Mean Mary win the Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes by a half-length.

Thanks to vigilant efforts from Pimlico staff, Campbell even made his way to the winner's circle to congratulate jockey Luis Saez and trainer Graham Motion on the victory.

“It was the nicest thing in the world,” Campbell said. “The management of the track got me through traffic, got me good seats, and just couldn't have been nicer to me. It's good to know that there are still people like that in our business.”

He wouldn't bestow the same praise on himself, but the evidence couldn't be more clear: Campbell is also one of the good guys. Not only has he been breeding and owning racehorses for more than six decades, but he dedicates himself to supporting trainers with integrity.

“It's a tremendous sport and a tremendous challenge to do it properly,” Campbell explained. “I've been with Motion for five or six years, and he's the best trainer I've ever had, by far. I think he treats horses like they ought to be treated.

“I went out after him because I wanted him for a trainer; I thought he met all of the qualifications that I like, not only around the racetrack, but anywhere. He's a fine young man and he thinks right about most things. I don't know of a better living trainer today.”

Campbell also serves as a member of The Jockey Club, a position he credits the late “Dinny” Phipps with inspiring.

“Dinny Phipps did a wonderful job as president, and it operates as a business,” Campbell said. “For example, there was a girl who broke her neck and was frozen from the neck down for life. I called to see what they could do about getting something for her to get around in, and in about two days she had a brand new car that she could wheel her wheelchair into. It was so impressive not only because of the money it cost, but the performance on getting it there.

“They do that all over the country, and they've helped a lot of people over the years.”

Learn more about the Jockey Club's Safety Net Foundation in this story from our archives.

A native of Lexington, Ky., Campbell has also quietly become one of the city's greatest philanthropists. He launched the Triangle Foundation in 1980, and chaired the creation of Triangle Park in downtown Lexington. Over the years, the Triangle Foundation has completed a number of other projects in the city, including the Equestrian Park at Blue Grass Airport, Thoroughbred Park, and Woodland Skateboard Park.

Perhaps Campbell's most visible addition to Lexington is the statue of Secretariat located in the center of a traffic circle at the intersection of Alexandria Drive and Old Frankfort Pike.

“There are ten people on the executive committee of the Triangle Foundation, and I said, 'How about each one of you all say who you think is the greatest racehorse who ever lived,'” Campbell recalled. “Out of ten men, only three votes were for Secretariat. That was 50 years ago when he was running, so he just wasn't in these people's minds.

“You know that Secretariat holds the track record at the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont, and those guys had no conception of that thought. I just thought we ought to do something about Secretariat.”

Secretariat and Ron Turcotte monument is unveiled at Keeneland

Washington sculptor Jocelyn Russell made the Secretariat statue in Oklahoma, and it was transported to Lexington. The 3,800-pound Secretariat, 21 feet long and over 11 feet high, was installed October 14, 2019.

“I have a funny saying, and fortunately all of my children have adopted it, that 'giving is the most selfish thing we do,'” Campbell said. “The reason for that is that the receiver always gets more than the giver. In proportion it means very little to you, when they come to thank you you get your investment back. My son has the job of putting my little saying on my tombstone. It's true, just think what you've done for somebody and how happy it makes you.”

In a similar vein, naming a successful racehorse for his longtime assistant Mary Venezie has been a thrill for Campbell, even though the name, Mean Mary, doesn't match her personality at all.

“She's the complete opposite of that, one of the sweetest, nicest, best people I know,” Campbell said, laughing. “She got a big kick out of it and she's enjoyed every minute of it.”

So has Campbell, from attending the races to visiting his band of broodmares at Gainesway Farm.

“Whenever I'm in Lexington, I'll go out there and look at the horses,” he said. “I could do nothing else if I didn't have other interests that I have to look after.”

From attending the races as a young boy and convincing older patrons to bet on his behalf, to owning his first racehorse with a couple partners at the age of 20, to celebrating last Saturday at Pimlico, Campbell remains exceptionally grateful to the horse industry for the friendships and passion it has brought to his life.

“What really holds you in the horse business is love of the horses,” he said. “And of course, talking to the trainers and going to the sales, and talking to all the people. It's a tremendous sport.”

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