American Classics/Breeders' Cup wins:Breeders' Cup Classic (2012)Breeders' Cup Distaff (2024)Kentucky Derby (2024)Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr. (born November 3, 1985 in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American Eclipse Award-winning jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.

He began riding professionally in 2003 and achieved his first win on November 29, 2003 at Louisiana's Delta Downs.

[1] In 2004, Hernandez won 243 races and was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey.

[3] On August 18, 2012, he won the 1,000th race of his career at Ellis Park Race Course[4] and on November 3, 2012, his 27th birthday, he won the Breeders' Cup Classic aboard Fort Larned at Santa Anita Park.

[6][7] In an interview, Hernandez Jr. told The Blood-Horse "as a young kid, I'd always ride my bicycle around and tell my mom and dad that I'm going to win the Kentucky Derby".