“Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.”

– The character Rafiki, in “The Lion King”

As 2019 comes to an end, before bidding it “good riddance” and hurriedly turning the page to 2020 for a fresh start after a year that forced all of racing to examine the way it conducts its business, the philosophical musings written for a movie cartoon character might well summarize the crossroads at which the sport has arrived.

So, will racing run from its issues, or learn from them?

NEW ORLEANS – Brian Hernandez Jr. rode his 2,000^th winner Thursday at Fair Grounds when he booted home Afleet Roger in a low-level maiden-claiming race.

Hernandez entered the Fair Grounds racing week with 1,998 wins and won with his only mount on both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s card.

Among the fellow jockeys greeting Hernandez in the winner’s circle was his brother Colby, currently leading rider at the Fair Grounds meet. Hernandez’s father also was a journeyman jockey and his sister Courtney rode professionally.

The New York Gaming Commission has thrown out a 60-day suspension handed down by New York Racing Association stewards to trainer Eduardo Jones, in a vote that supported a hearing officer’s conclusion that allegations that Jones acted as a “front trainer” were unfounded.

Thomas F. Carey, the third generation of the Carey family to take the reins of Hawthorne Race Course, died on Tuesday in Florida, according to the track. Carey was 87.

A star quarterback at Notre Dame during his collegiate studies, Thomas F. Carey took the reins at Hawthorne in 1980 after his father, Robert F. Carey, died. He served as the president and general manager of the track for 25 years, after 11 years as his father’s assistant.

Sistercharlie, the 2018 female turf champion who won six consecutive Grade 1 stakes before finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, will race as a 6-year-old in 2020, trainer Chad Brown confirmed Thursday.

The decision was announced by owner Peter Brant in a press release.

“She’s currently getting a break at Dell Ridge Farm,” Brown said. “She’s obviously a world-class racehorse, one of the best I’ve trained for sure. To have her race another year is really a gift at this point. It’s really exciting.”

Charlsie Cantey and Billy Reed have been named to the prestigious Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor, it was announced Wednesday by the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Gerry Russell, a former steeplechase jockey who also trained runners on the flat and the jumps, died on Sunday in Madisonville, Ky., following illness and complications related to dementia, according to his son Tony. He was 77.

Russell, a steeplechase jockey in his native England and then the United States, had a varied career in racing. After arriving in the United States more than 50 years ago, he worked as the farm manager and trainer for Crescent Hill Farm in Lexington, Ky., and trained both flat runners and steeplechase performers.

Morton Fink, who bred and owned two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, died Nov. 20 at age 89.

Fink, a native of Chicago, first became involved in Thoroughbred ownership in the 1970s, campaigning claimers with friends. As his interests deepened, he eventually began breeding horses under the name Carelaine Farm, in partnership with Roy Gottlieb. The most successful horses to emerge from that venture included Group 1 winner Producer and multiple graded stakes winner Annoconnor.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A federal judge in Kentucky has granted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that had been filed by the owners of Maximum Security seeking to overturn a decision by the stewards to disqualify the horse from first place in this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Midnight Bisou arrived Friday morning at Fair Grounds, where she’ll prepare to make her 2020 debut in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 29 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.