Brian Hernandez recounts how he landed a thrilling Kentucky Derby victory to complete a historic double after his Oaks win on Thorpedo Anna
Having landed the Kentucky Oaks on Friday with Thorpedo Anna, Brian Hernandez Jr. became only the eighth jockey to complete the Oaks-Double double in the same year with Mystik Dan.
Both horses were trained by Kenny McPeek, the first trainer to do the double since ‘Plain Ben’ Jones in 1952.
Hernandez, 38, is the first rider to complete the feat since Calvin Borel in 2009 – and he emulated ‘Bo-Rail’ with a rails-skimming ride on 18-1 chance Mystik Dan, who held on in a thrilling finish by a nose from late-running pair Sierra Leone and Forever Young. After the race, Hernandez explained how it felt to make history beneath the Twin Spires in the 150th Kentucky Derby.
‘It still hasn’t sunk in’
It still hasn't sunk in – it's unbelievable. We came into the weekend thinking we had good chances, really big chances, both Friday and Saturday.
And then to just have the horses pull it off for us … we really have to thank all the guys back in the barn. They put so much work into this to have these horses ready on days like today and yesterday.
Like I said, I don't know how long it's going to take to sink in, but it's definitely a surreal moment right now.
The last 20 years I've ridden here in Kentucky and as a young kid out of Louisiana, I got the privilege of sitting in the same corner as Calvin Borel. So I got to watch him ride those Derbies all those years.
With Mystik Dan being in the three‑hole, I watched a couple of his rides there between the Super Saver and Mine That Bird. I said: ‘You know what? We're going to roll the dice.’
And that's the nice thing about Kenny [McPeek]. He entrusts me to do things like that. We thought we had the right kind of horse to give him that kind of trip. So we found our spot under the wire the first time quickly. Then from there, he was just so nice and comfortable the entire way. I was really proud of him that he was able to just cruise along nicely.
When I called on him to hit the spot that I needed to right before we straightened, to kind of get a little separation on the deep, deep closers, he did it. He jumped off quickly and we were able to get that separation, and that made the difference of them not getting to him in the wire.
‘A pretty tight spot’
Around the first turn, we had to hit a pretty tight spot. Mystik Dan, he went through there with no problem. So once I went through that spot, I was like, okay, now I know he's going to go through tight spots – which we already kind of knew that coming back from the Southwest.
And then just going down the backside, the nice thing about really talented horses, they went 46.3 in front of us. But my horse, he was just cruising along so nicely and so comfortable, it never felt like we were going that quickly.
Once we got to the second turn, everybody outside of Track Phantom started piling up and piling up. I had a nice little pocket there. I was like, ‘well, we’ll just sit here and let them pile up’.
Once Track Phantom just kind of moved off the rail just half a step, we were able to kind of get through there. We might have took out a little bit of the inside fence, but that's okay!
Once he cut the corner, he got a little separation on the closers that were forced to kind of go around the horses that were tiring, and he was able to hold them off.
When we got to the eighth pole and he was still running, I just kind of had my head down riding. Three jumps before the wire, I didn't see them at all. And then right at the wire, they surged late, and I was like: ‘Oh, God, did we win the Kentucky Derby?’ I was asking the outrider that, and he said: ‘We think you won but they haven't said it officially yet.’
‘The longest two minutes in sports’
It took about two minutes, and then finally when they said, Yeah, you've just won the Kentucky Derby, I was like, oh, wow, that's a long two minutes. Yes, that was the longest two minutes in sports – from the fastest two minutes to the longest, by far.
With Thorpedo Anna, we knew she was fast. So looking at the race, it looked like the only other real speed in the race was on our outside. I thought when Kenny told me to go ahead and let her run to the first turn, I thought we would be able to be in the lead. She is such a naturally talented filly that she went fast, but she kind of ran them off their feet.
In Mystik Dan's case, a big thing that helped us was on Wednesday, Kenny decided we were going to go ahead and pop him out of the gate and just let him go like a sixteenth of a mile, an eighth of a mile.
Mystik Dan helped us in that situation, too. Most of the time, when you try to do that with a horse out of the gate a few days before race, they will kind of overdo it.
The nice thing about him, he leaves there sharp and then he listens to you. He comes right back to you. Just like today, he was able to break so sharp, which we needed to. In a 20‑horse field like that, you can't break a little flat‑footed because you are going to get shuffled around.
‘Go forward, go forward, go forward’
When he broke as sharp as he did, he was just so nice and comfortable his whole way around there on the rail. I was smiling the whole time, because it's an amazing feeling when you have the horse under you and you know that they're going to go forward, go forward, go forward.
Like I said, when he turned for home and got the split, I was like, oh, wow, there is no way this is going to happen again. And he was able to hold them off. He was that good today.
I have been very fortunate. Quite a few years ago – it's probably been seven, eight years now – Kenny started using me down in New Orleans. We had success early on, and it's just been successful since.
A big part of this goes back to my agent Frank [Bernis]. We got together 12 years ago, and at the time, we were both kind of struggling, just kind of making ends meet. We made a pretty good career for the last seven, eight years riding for Kenny.
Like he said, it's been no drama. We go out for a maiden 30 or the Kentucky Derby. There's not many instructions given. It's more kind of he lets me go out there and ride my race.
I'm fortunate enough that the guys back at the barn, they have these horses so well‑prepared and so ready to go that we have learned the program. With the first‑timers and the horses like that, we know they don't need to win the first time out. If they are really, really good, they will overcome just the little things … they will get in trouble and stuff like that and they will be able to overcome it.
But for the most part, it's all about developing the horse which is something I have kind of learned my whole career just riding. That makes it a lot more fun. It makes it enjoyable to go out there every morning and just watch these horses develop and be a part of watching them get better and better. That's a testament to the job that Kenny and all those guys do back in the barn.
I think my riding style fits with Kenny’s training style as well, where we let the horses develop and let them take you around there and try to find the trip with them.
It's just been a great relationship, and I have been fortunate enough to fall into a good spot.
• Brian Hernandez was speaking in the post-race press conference
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