Jockey Carlos Hernandez hurt in auto accident, out indefinitely

Jockey Carlos Hernandez was injured in an automobile accident near Monmouth Park on Saturday night following the closing-day card at the Oceanport, N.J., track, according to his agent John Salamone.

Hernandez had seven mounts at Monmouth on Saturday. He won the first race on the card and finished second in the third. According to Salamone, Hernandez went out to dinner after the races and at approximately 9:30 p.m. was involved in a three-car accident.

Hernandez, a 23-year-old native of Puerto Rico, was taken to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, N.J., about 10 miles south of Monmouth Park, and underwent surgery for a leg injury at 7 a.m. Sunday morning.

Hernandez was scheduled to begin riding at Parx in the near future but those plans are now on hold and he will be out of action indefinitely, according to Salamone.

“He was doing really good, I feel awful,” Salamone said. “He’s a good kid. He’s like a son to me.”

Hernandez has won 161 races since he began riding in the United States in 2016. He won 15 races at the Monmouth Park summer meet, which ran from May 2 to Sept. 27, tying for 10th in the standings. At the brief Meadowlands-at-Monmouth meet, which concluded Sunday, he went 4 for 39.