Exclusive: Jockey Seriously Injured At Gulfstream Park On Road To Recovery
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Rafael Hernandez says it's only been in the past few days that he's been able to watch video footage of the terrible accident he suffered through on February 20th at Gulfstream Park.
Hernandez was riding on Brandy's Girl when she clipped hooves with the horse in front of her. Brandy's Girl fell to the ground and Hernandez was thrown. He says he immediately started praying.
"God, please take care of me," Hernandez said. "That's all I say. Take care of me, take care of me."
Hernandez has won nearly 2,000 races in his 11 year career and he's got the trophies and awards to prove it.
But the 31-year-old father and husband says he never experienced anything like this on a racetrack until the fateful afternoon of February 20.
"I just remember covering my face," he said.
Hernandez hit the dirt hard, rolled several times and briefly passed out.
"I try to move my legs," he said. "And i know something inside me is bad."
He believes a horse stepped on him or kicked him. Hernandez suffered a broken collarbone, fractured ribs and had to have one of his kidneys removed. He says his doctors assured him that he will be able to return to the sport he loves.
"I'm not the first person to live with one kidney," he said.
Hernandez says that in the hospital he briefly wondered if his career was over but says he barely gave a thought to not racing again.
"I been feeling better every day, better and better," he said.
Hernandez is a rising star and once won 7 out of 8 races in a single day at a track in St. Louis. He's also won the Canadian version of the Kentucky Derby called the Queens Plate. His ultimate goal is to win the American version someday.
He says the accident, which injured two other jockeys and led to a horse, Kandoo, being euthanized, is simply a difficult and painful reality of horse racing.
"I gonna keep doing it," he said. "That's my life, you know."
Hernandez said he expects to start training in about 2 months. There's no timetable for his return to racing yet but he says when he does come back he promises to be in peak physical shape.