Fernando Fernandez (jockey)

Fernando Fernandez (Dec.25th, 1906–Nov.30th, 1988) was a Cuban born, American champion thoroughbred horse racing jockey, who retired in 1953 as one of winningest riders of his era. Along with Ruperto Donoso of Chile, and, later, his younger brother Antonio Fernandez, he was among the first Latin–American jockeys to find major success in the United States.

Fernando Fernandez, 1945

Fernandez was born in Havana in 1906, and went to work at the nearby Oriental Park Racetrack, in Marianao, as a teenager.

Cuban champion Fernando Fernandez, aboard Juanita, winner of the S.S. Washington Handicap, March 16, 1941, Oriental Park Racetrack, Havana, Cuba.

Beginning as an exercise rider for trainer Henry "Pepito" Torriente, he took out his jockey's license in 1931. His first big break came when he travelled to the United States with Torriente's large stable in May of 1934. Fernandez won his first American race at Beulah Park in Ohio and was an immediate riding sensation, winning races at various meets across the Midwest. A favorite of both fans and the press, his successes were regularly reported in local and national newspapers. He was famously involved in a physical altercation with jockey George Woolf, who slashed him across the back with a whip during a race at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans. In the jockey's room later, Woolf again attacked Fernandez, bruising his face and blackening an eye before being restrained by other riders. The beating resulted in Woolf's 10 day suspension and a fine by the racing authorities.^[1] By September of that year, he led the nations riders in races won with 108 winners,^[2] but ultimately finished in 3rd place, with 21% winners from mounts average.^[3]

Fernandez returned to Cuba, hired agent Camilo Marin, and was the national riding champion from 1935 until 1942^[4] When Hipodromo de las Americas opened in Mexico City, in March of 1943, Fernandez accompanied Cuban trainer Leopoldo Sierra's large stable to the modern, new facility and dominated the standings there for the next several years. He was the contract rider for Mexican president Manuel Avila Camacho's Rancho Herradura, and set what was reported to be a world record by winning five consecutive races in a row on one card, for the same trainer^[5][6] He also garnered much attention when he flew 7500 miles to Argentina for a single race, having accepted a mount from prominent Cuban businessman and diplomat Eugenio de Sosa, in the prestigious Carlos Pelegrini Handicap.^[7]

Fernandez returned to the United States in 1948, where the Associated Press, stated that he had the unique distinction of having led the standings at every single meet he had ridden at for the previous ten years^[8]. He became a mainstay of the New England circuit, winning championships at Rockingham, Garden State, Monmouth and Atlantic City racetracks. He rode for many of the days prominent trainers, including Hirsch Jacobs and Moody Jolley, and large stables such as Brookemeade (Mrs. Isabel Dodge Sloan) and Cain Hoy (Mr. Harry Guggenheim). He set a course record at Empire City at Jamaica Racetrack, on Sheilas Reward, the champion sprinter of 1950 and 1951.^[9]At the end of the 1951 racing season, and with over two–thousand winners to his name, only five other jockeys had won more races than him. He had won the Cuban and Mexican Derbies, the prestigious Sapling, and numerous other stakes. He rode Jampol to a 3rd place finish in the 1952 Preakness at Pimlico.

Fernando Fernandez retired in the summer of 1953, with a more than 2500 winners,^[10]and seventh^[11] on the list of racing's all time leaders, which included Johnny Longden, Eddie Arcaro, Ted Atkinson, James Stout, Jack Westrope and John H. Adams, all future members of the National Racing Hall of Fame.^[12]He was one of the first five inducted into the Oriental Park Hall of Fame, honoring Cuban horsemen at Calder Racecourse in 1979, along with Avelino Gomez and Lazaro Barrera. Camilo Marin told the Daily Racing Form that in the 18 years he represented Fernandez, the rider was never once suspended for a riding carelessly by track stewards, and that he had been a gentleman both on and off the track.

He died on Nov. 30th, 1988, in Miami, Florida, coincidentally only several hours before the death of his longtime agent, Camilo Marin, in California.^[13].

Selected Stake Races Won

1952 New Jersey Futurity (Mon) High Hatter

1952 Benjamin Franklin Stakes (GS) Armageddon

1950 All American Hcp. (AtlCty) Dart By

1949 Commonwealth Hcp (SuffDwn) Mesmer

1949 Cuban Derby (OP) Mi Preferido

1951 Mexican Derby (HdLA) Jabato

1950 Ft. Lauderdale Hcp. (Gul) Salliquelo

1950 Fleetwing Hcp (EmpCty) Sheila's Reward

1948 Lowell Hcp (RkP) Agrarian-U

1947 Narragansett Nusery Stk (NP) Tally

1947 General Greene Hcp (RkP) Agrarian-U

1951 Gran Premio Nacional (HdLA) Jabato

1950 Select Handicap (Mon) Sheila's Reward

1951 Select Handicap (Mon) Northern Star

1941 S.S. Washington Handicap (Ori) Juanita

1941 Miramar Yacht Club Handicap (Ori) Juanita

1952 Mermaid Handicap (AC) Landmark

1952 Omnibus Handicap (MON) Joey Boy

1952 Ventnor Handicap (AC) Armageddon

1952 Tyro Stakes (MON) South Point

1952 Sapling Stakes (MON) Landlocked

1951 Pageant Handicap (AC) Spartan Valor

References