Jockey Hernandez has suspension overturned

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York State Gaming Commission on Monday overturned a 10-day suspension handed to jockey Benjamin Hernandez Jr. for an ontrack situation that occurred a year ago.

Hernandez, then an apprentice jockey, was suspended 10 days by the stewards for failing to ride in a professional manner. Specifically, Hernandez was penalized for failing to dismount from his horse, Tiger Man, whom he had pulled up at the quarter pole of the eighth race at Aqueduct on Feb. 8, 2019. Tiger Man suffered an injury to his left foreleg, was vanned off the track, and was euthanized the next morning due to “a poor prognosis,” according to the gaming commission website.

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Hernandez appealed the suspension and had a hearing held over three days in June and July. A hearing officer’s report field in December recommended the suspension be reduced to five days.

The Gaming Commission, by a vote of 4-0, recommended modifying the hearing officer’s recommendation and decided that no suspension was warranted.

“This was the right thing to do,” said Drew Mollica, attorney for Hernandez.