Brian Hernandez Jr.

Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr. (born November 3, 1985 in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American Champion jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding professionally in 2003 and got his first win on November 29 at Louisiana's Delta Downs.

In 2004, Hernandez won 243 races and was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. In 2009 he rode Rachel Alexandra to two wins in her first five starts. On August 18, 2012, he won the 1,000th race of his career at Ellis Park Race Course and on November 3, 2012, his 27th birthday, he won the most important race of his career aboard Fort Larned, taking the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.