Hernandez returns to Britain to ride Bacio

Juan Hernandez, the leading rider at the current Del Mar meeting, will miss two days of racing in California next week to travel to York Racecourse in Britain to ride Bacio in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes on Aug. 21.

Hernandez is scheduled to miss the Aug. 20-21 race programs at Del Mar, but he will return in time to ride on Aug. 22, the Pacific Classic program, according to his agent, Craig O’Bryan.

Hernandez rode Bacio to a win in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap at five furlongs by 3 3/4 lengths at Royal Ascot in Britain on June 19, the first trip overseas for the colt and the first time the 34-year-old Hernandez had ridden in Europe. Hernandez’s booking on Bacio in the Nunthorpe Stakes was first reported by Attheraces.com.

Trained at Keeneland by Wesley Ward, Bacio has won 4 of 5 starts, with the only loss a second in the Speakeasy Stakes for 2-year-olds at five furlongs on turf at Santa Anita last October. Hernandez has been aboard for four of Bacio’s races, including a win in a five-furlong allowance at Churchill Downs in April in the colt’s first start of the year.

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As of Wednesday, Bacio was the 3-1 favorite in the future book for the $810,000 Nunthorpe, the leading late summer sprint in Britain. The winner of the Nunthorpe receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

Bacio is co-owned by a syndicate that includes the MyRacehorse partnership.

Last fall, Ward pre-entered Bacio in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar but failed to draw into the race from the also-eligible list. Bacio won an allowance for 2-year-olds on turf on Breeders’ Cup weekend.

Through Wednesday, Hernandez led all riders at Del Mar with 20 wins, four more than Joel Rosario. Hernandez has won the riding title at the last four summer meetings at Del Mar. A two-day absence, however, could affect the rankings.

The Aug. 22 program at Del Mar is the most significant of the summer meeting, which runs through Sept. 7. Aside from the $1 million Pacific Classic, there are three other graded stakes on turf worth a combined $800,000.

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