The Joe Hernandez Stakes is a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged four years old or older over the distance of furlongs on the turf scheduled annually in January at Santa Anita Park in

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

. The event currently carries a purse of $250,000.

History

The race was inaugurated in 2008 in honor of Joe Hernandez ''(June 3, 1909February 2, 1972)'' the race caller at Santa Anita Park from the time the track opened on Christmas Day 1934 until he fainted at the microphone on 27 January, 1972. The event was predominantly raced on the downhill turf course over the about furlongs distance. In 2010 the event was moved to the synthetic All Weather track due to weather. The 2015 running was also moved off the turf but by then Santa Anita Park had restored the natural dirt track. In 2019 the event was upgraded to Grade III and a year later to Grade II. In 2020 the event was moved and run using the backstretch start at a distance of furlongs on turf, and the following year the event was run on the newly extended backstretch and close to the former distance of furlongs. The 2017 winner

Stormy Liberal Stormy Liberal (foaled April 12, 2012) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse. He broke his maiden in his second start at age two but won only once in the next two years. In October 2016, he was claimed by trainer Peter Miller for $40,000 a ...

followed up winning the

Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint The Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint is a Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North American ...

and repeating that effort in 2018. The event was run twice in the calendar year in 2022 due to scheduling changes.

Records

Speed record: * about furlongs – 1:11.17 – Unbridled's Note (2013) Margins: * lengths – Distinctiv Passion (2015) ;Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

* 3 – Joel Rosario (2009, 2012, 2021) * 3 –

Joseph Talamo Joseph "Joe" Talamo (born January 12, 1990 in Marrero, Louisiana) is a Champion jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Born and raised in Marrero on the West Bank of the Mississippi River, within the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan ar ...

(2014, 2018, 2019) ;Most wins by a trainer * 3 – Peter L. Miller (2017, 2020, 2021)

Winners

''Legend:''

References

{{reflist, 2 Graded stakes races in the United States Grade 2 stakes races in the United States 2008 establishments in California Open sprint category horse races Horse races in California Turf races in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 2008 Santa Anita Park