The Meadowlands has been an avid supporter of the amateur driving colony for many years. For the most part, participants represent a wide range of men and women with a connection to the Standardbred. Often, owners like to get in the sulky and compete against others. In the case of Geovany Hernandez, getting into the bike at The Big M has been a long time coming, but the 32-year-old native of Guatemala has been making the most of the opportunity. This weekend, with The Big M adding multiple amateur events since none of the Fall Final Four races required eliminations, Hernandez will have six from his stable of 10 in action at the East Rutherford, New Jersey, mile oval. Hernandez came to this country in 2010 and began working for Buzzy Sholty. A year later he got work with trainer Nifty Norman and stayed for four more years. Eventually he moved on to trainer Gilbert Garcia Herrara’s stable and six years later decided it was time to try something different. "Coming from Guatemala I was always around horses and other animals," said Hernandez. "I was riding horses from the age of 4." The love of horses is in Hernandez's blood, and after gaining enough experience working for top trainers, he slowly moved on to train and own his own horses over the last two years. Driving horses however was something that took a bit longer to work out. "At first I was driving my own horses in qualifying races to get enough starts," said Hernandez, who, like all looking for a driver's license in the sport, must complete enough successful qualifying drives. "Then, a few other trainers noticed that I was good at handling horses, and they gave me some additional drives." Hernandez has focused on building a stable, and the results over the last two years are quite promising. In 2023 his horses started 97 times and earned $100K for the year. This year, going into the weekend, he has started horses in 212 races and the stable has earned just under $250,000. Hernandez's horses have won 25 times this year, but his training stats pale in comparison to his record as a driver. Hernandez has finished in-the-money 23 times this year in just 41 starts, good for a UDRS rating of .350. Many of the wins have come at the Meadowlands, and it's a dream come true. "I really love driving at the Meadowlands. It's easier out there because you can win from anywhere. I started from the 10-hole with Hello Rocky, and he flew in the stretch to pass everyone," Hernandez said, commenting on his stable’s hottest horse Hello Rocky. A son of Pet Rock, Hello Rocky has been responsible for three of Hernandez's wins at the Meadowlands, and those victories were rather impressive. On October 25, Hello Rocky had an inside draw and was kept close to the pace by Hernandez. In the stretch the pair found room and out-sprinted rivals to a head victory. A week later, starting from post nine against similar amateur stock, Hello Rocky was tenth and trailing at three-quarters, yet rolled on by every horse in the stretch in dramatic fashion. Last Friday (November 15), Hernandez and Hello Rocky showed that prior efforts were not fluke victories as he energized another last-to-first effort, pacing over the field again. "He's a very fast horse," Hernandez said of Hello Rocky, a 6-year-old that shows up every week like his trainer-driver and works hard to the finish. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Hernandez is hoping to have another good weekend at the Meadowlands, with the action starting in the very first race on Friday night with Duck Into The Nite drawing post six in the $11,500 Meadowlands Amateur Drivers Club (MADC) 1 division. Racing primarily at Yonkers and Harrah’s Philadelphia, Duck Into The Nite makes his Meadowlands return with Hernandez driving him for the first time in a race this year since he qualified him at Freehold back in April. Hernandez had no luck from a pair of outside draws the last time he drove Rockford Peach. The 4-year-old mare drew the rail in the fifth race, with Hernandez likely to have more options over the big track this time around. Captain Terminator has won two of his last four starts at The Big M for Hernandez, and once again the luck of the draw has him on the outside with post 10 in Friday's ninth race. Hernandez has won with the 9-year-old twice from post seven already this meet. On Saturday, Hernandez sends out Kelly's Greatest with Braxten Boyd driving the sophomore trotter in the fourth race, a conditioned event for non-winners of two races, and will have little time to rest, having to hop aboard Hello Rocky from post two in the fifth race, another MADC event. Hernandez will have to stick around until the final race on the card as he has Fredneck in the 14th, with Scott Zeron handling the 5-year-old in the claiming handicap. Growing a solid stable appears to be paramount in Hernandez's mind, despite his success driving recently at the Meadowlands. "As a driver you have to be focused all of the time. Sometimes you have a plan behind the gate and then horses leave that you didn't expect to leave and everything changes," said Hernandez. With a wealth of experience working with horses, Hernandez has watched some of the sport's best and tried to emulate them when he can. "I've watched George Nap (Napolitano Jr.) and the way he shakes up a horse during the race to keep them alert," said Hernandez. "It's worked for me." With a stable at Winner’s International, Hernandez is hoping to see it grow in coming years. “Hopefully I can come up with a good horse that could race in stakes races," said Hernandez. "I know a lot of people are in this sport for the money but for me I love being around the horses and taking care of them," said Hernandez. "I love doing what I'm doing." The recent results suggest Hernandez's horses are responding favorably to his care.