Brian Hernandez Jr. sustained rib fractures and multiple internal injuries in a fall Sunday at Churchill Downs, putting his fall season in jeopardy.
Hernandez was aboard Sgt. Garcia in Sunday’s third race, a maiden claimer for 2-year-olds. The Kenny McPeek trainee suffered a foreleg injury near the five-sixteenths pole, dislodging the rider.
Hernandez was taken to the intensive care unit at the University of Louisville Hospital. His wife, Jamie Hernandez, reported on social media Sunday night that her husband sustained seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, a liver laceration that was repaired via a procedure, and “some bleeding” that is being monitored.
McPeek, in a social media post Monday afternoon, said that he had spoken to Jamie Hernandez about the rider, who will have surgery tomorrow to repair three displaced ribs.
“It was definitely a lot worse than we thought from the liver,” Jamie Hernandez wrote in a text message McPeek shared with her permission. “He is tough and in great shape physically. The doctors are more than pleased with him overnight. They did additional scans of his chest and they had option of plating the ribs. Best to do the surgery and so we make sure they heal correctly from start. [Tomorrow] morning that should take place.”
Hernandez, riding for McPeek, swept the 2024 Kentucky Derby aboard Mystik Dan and Kentucky Oaks on Thorpedo Anna, who went on to be voted Horse of the Year. Mystik Dan is entered in this Saturday’s Grade 2 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs. Thorpedo Anna is targeting the Grade 1 Spinster on Oct. 5 at Keeneland.