Leading rider Hernandez fined for excessive use of the whip

Juan Hernandez, the leading rider at the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, was fined $1,000 by track stewards on Monday for excessive use of the whip.

Hernandez was cited for using his whip more than six times on Lucky Peridot, who finished fourth in Sunday’s Grade 3 Astra Stakes. Hernandez was sanctioned for his third such offense in the last 60 days.

The California Horse Racing Board toughened whip rules in October, limiting the frequency of strikes allowed in a race and mandating that whips be used only in an under-handed fashion.

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Through Monday, Hernandez had won 19 races since opening day on Dec. 26, and held a four-race lead over Joel Rosario. Umberto Rispoli and Flavien Prat were tied for third with 14 wins, the only other riders with a double-digit number of wins.

Those standings could change this weekend. Prat and Rosario are booked to ride at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, and are not booked to ride Friday.

◗ In other rulings, trainers Dan Dunham and Art Sherman were fined $750 each earlier this month for failing to file papers with racing officials noting that horses in their care were racing as geldings for the first time at the Los Alamitos December meeting.