ARCADIA, Calif. – For the fifth time in his career, California jockey Juan Hernandez won at least three stakes on the same day, on Saturday at Santa Anita.His latest hat trick was a mix of a short-priced favorite, a massive longshot, and a mid-priced contender who could start in the Kentucky Derby.Hernandez was aboard Splendora ($2.20) for an easy win in the Grade 1 B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile, on the promising colt Potente ($18.20) in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds, and the turf veteran Final Boss ($65.40) for a surprise win in the Grade 2 Frank Kilroe Mile. Hernandez also won a maiden race for turf sprinters on Mo Sasha ($4).The quartet of wins occurred on Hernandez’s 34th birthday.“Before the races, I was reading the Form and watching the replays,” Hernandez said between workouts on Sunday morning.“I was thinking, I’ll have a good day, but I didn’t expect that.”Hernandez, who has won 12 riding titles at Del Mar or Santa Anita since the summer of 2023, has won three stakes four times in his career. He won four stakes for California-breds on May 28, 2022. Saturday’s trio of stakes wins was the first for Hernandez since April 5, 2025.For many reasons, three stakes wins on the same program is not an easy accomplishment for a modern rider in California. A jockey needs a set of live mounts racing on the same day. There are not many chances. In 2025, for example, there were 16 racing days at Del Mar or Santa Anita with three or more stakes, and two were Breeders’ Cup programs at Del Mar.Hernandez won two stakes twice on the same day at Del Mar’s 2025 summer meeting. At Santa Anita, Hernandez won two stakes on three programs in September and October last year.Potente may run in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles on April 4 after his win in the San Felipe. Trained by Bob Baffert, Potente had his second start in the San Felipe, having won a six-furlong maiden race earlier this year. Hernandez rode Potente for the first time on Saturday.“Potente is really good,” Hernandez said. “There is always a concern when they go two turns. Bob said he’s bred for long distances and he was right.”Potente, the 8-1 fourth choice of seven, closed from fifth to catch a stubborn stretch leader in 67-1 Robusta.“He broke good and he relaxed really well,” Hernandez said. “He finished really strongly.“He was running like an older horse. He would listen to me. He was there for every jump. He wasn’t pulling or anything crazy. Around the quarter pole, when I swung out, he took off.“He’s going to get better with racing.”Hernandez has ridden Final Boss in the 5-year-old horse’s last 11 starts, since March 2024. Trained by John Sadler, Final Boss returned from a layoff of more than five months in the Kilroe Mile. Typically a frontrunner, Final Boss closed from third, six lengths off the pace, to win on Saturday.A pre-race consultation with Sadler and his assistant, Juan Leyva, led Hernandez to take a patient approach.“Juan Leyva told me the horse was doing really good and to do what you want with him,” Hernandez said.“He was coming off a layoff. I didn’t want to ask him too much. I was going to give him a race and try to make a run and see if I can finish well and pass some horses.“Around the turn, I asked him to pick it up and he took off. I think that was the winning move. I had a lot of horse. I wasn’t expecting that.”Sadler mentioned the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf at Santa Anita on May 25 as a springtime goal for Final Boss.Splendora, trained by Baffert, won her fifth consecutive race in the $300,000 Beholder Mile, leading throughout. The race had little suspense. Splendora led by 2 1/2 lengths in the stretch and won by 5 3/4 lengths.Hernandez has been aboard Splendora for four of the recent five wins. The exception was the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar last November when Splendora was ridden by Flavien Prat. Hernandez did not ride the race. He was booked on Sweet Azteca, who was scratched on veterinary advice.Hernandez was back aboard Splendora for a win in the Grade 2 D. Wayne Lukas Stakes at seven furlongs on Feb. 7.“She’s all power,” Hernandez said. “Bob said, ‘Have fun and don’t look back.’ That’s what I did. “She wanted to go to the lead and I let her go. She won the race out of the gate. She is one of the best fillies I’ve ever ridden.”Through Sunday, Hernandez had won 2,971 races in North America since his career began in 2009. After three stakes wins on Saturday, he added another on Sunday when the Baffert-trained Forced Entry won the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes to join the list of contenders for the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on April 4.