Jockey Juan Hernandez begins the four-day Santa Anita racing week on Friday with five mounts on the nine-race program. Five is a convenient figure for Hernandez, the precise number of wins he needs to record his 3,000th victory in the United States. “Let’s do it on Friday,” he said on Wednesday morning. “Why wait until Saturday?” Realistically, Hernandez may need all weekend, and possibly longer, to win five races. Following Friday’s program, Hernandez has six mounts on Saturday, including two in stakes for California-breds; two rides on Sunday, a low number for a leading jockey such as Hernandez; and six on Monday, including all three graded stakes. Hernandez, a 34-year-old native of Mexico, began riding in the United States in 2009. He was primarily based in Northern California until the summer of 2020, when he moved to the state’s southern circuit on a full-time basis. Hernandez has won 12 riding titles at Del Mar or Santa Anita since the summer of 2023, including the last four titles at the prestigious Del Mar summer meeting. In the last year, his grip on that status has weakened. He won the riding title at Santa Anita last fall but ranked sixth at the Del Mar fall meeting. :: Play Santa Anita racing with confidence. Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more. At the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting from late December to early April, Hernandez finished second in the standings with 42 wins, eight fewer than Emisael Jaramillo. At the current Santa Anita spring meeting, which began on April 17 and continues through June 14, Hernandez ranks fourth with 14 wins, three less than leader Antonio Fresu. Another riding title is well within reach, depending on whether Hernandez travels to ride major stakes at Saratoga on the first weekend of June. Earlier this year, Hernandez said his agent, Craig O’Bryan, mentioned that a 3,000th win was on the horizon. Through Sunday, Hernandez had won 59 races this year. He has won at least 162 races annually since 2017 and had a career high 229 in 2016. “It gives me motivation to keep working hard and win more races,” Hernandez said of the looming milestone. “I think every 1,000 races is a goal.” On Wednesday morning, Hernandez and O’Bryan discussed the competitive nature of the current jockey standings. They reached a simple conclusion. “Let’s just keep riding the same and stay focused,” Hernandez said. “If I win, good. If not, I’ll keep trying. With 19 scheduled mounts through Monday, five wins is possible, although Hernandez will need to win with a few outsiders. On Monday, Hernandez rides Malarchuk for trainer Michael McCarthy in the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles. Malarchuk will start in a graded stakes for the first time in the $200,000 Gold Cup. He was second to Vodka Vodka in the $250,000 Sunland Park Handicap in New Mexico on April 5. Hernandez will ride Malarchuk in a race for the first time on Monday in a field of five that includes British Isles, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March. On Monday, Hernandez was aboard Malarchuk for a five-furlong workout in 58.60 seconds. “That was the first time I rode that horse,” Hernandez said. “He looks like a straightforward horse.” In Monday’s Grade 1 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf, Hernandez has the mount on Vronti, an improving 4-year-old filly. The $300,000 Gamely is Vronti’s stakes debut. Trained by Graham Motion, Vronti has won her last two starts – a maiden race at Tampa Bay Downs in February and an allowance at Keeneland in April. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Vronti is part of a field that includes the 2026 stakes winners Take A Breath and Thought Process. By comparison, Hernandez and the 6-year-old gelding Genius Jimmy, who starts in Monday’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf, are old friends. Hernandez has ridden Genius Jimmy in seven of his 19 races, including a second by a neck to Shoemaker contender Almendares in the Grade 3 American Stakes at Santa Anita on April 18. A win by Genius Jimmy in the $300,000 Shoemaker would be an upset, considering he is winless in seven starts since an allowance at Del Mar last July. Hernandez warns not to dismiss Genius Jimmy’s chances in a race that includes Formidable Man, who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar last November in his most recent start. “We’ve been close a couple of times,” Hernandez said. “He always tries. We got beat last time, but he ran good.” If Hernandez has an early winner on any day this weekend, he can carry that momentum through the afternoon. Four times this year, he has won at least three races in a day, including a four-win day in March. Such an afternoon this weekend would quickly propel him closer to 3,000. “I ride some good horses this weekend,” he said. “Hopefully, I can make it to 3,000.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.