Edward Hernandez didn’t grow up around harness racing in his native Guatemala, but he and his younger brother Williams did grow up around horses and they both fell in love with them at a young age.
So when they were first exposed to the sport at Cal-Expo racetrack in Sacramento, California they were both immediately drawn in. Williams learned a lot from a close family friend, Matias Ruiz who is like an uncle to the pair, and Edward went to work for one of the top stables in California at the time- The Tim and Denise Maier stable. Edward worked in the Maier stable for around eight years and he credits his time working with them as giving him a lot of the knowledge he has now. He has always worked closely with Williams as well and the two have learned a lot together.
Williams became a driver in 2011 and later added a full trainer’s license, and Edward got a later start, making his first drives around 2015 and taking out his full trainers license in 2019. They both campaigned on the Cal-Expo and Running Aces circuit for a few years before Williams decided to head out east instead of wintering at Cal Expo for the first time in 2019.
Now Edward has followed suit starting this past winter. Williams has found good success out east, racing at tracks like Freehold, The Meadowlands, and Yonkers, but the brothers still feel a strong connection to Running Aces where they have become a big part of the horseman community. Williams sent several horses out to Minnesota this summer for Edward to campaign, along with several that Edward has for his own owners, giving him a full roster of around a dozen horses.
Both brothers enjoy driving horses but find that the training side of things keeps them busy enough that they don’t have a lot of time to drive horses these days, and they try hard to find just the right catch drivers that fit well with each horse.
Edward has some good racing stock with him this season at Running Aces, including Open-level trotting star All American N for owner Jose Cervantes, the impressive seven-year-old Muscle Hill gelding who has now won two in a row in the top Open with driver Luke Plano at the controls. Edward sends two horses in this week’s Open Handicap Pace with So So De Vie (also for Cervantes), a talented four-year-old American Ideal gelding who has won four of 19 starts this year, and five-year-old Parklane Jet, who just took a 1:51.4 career mark in his last start with driver Dean Magee on board for owner Terrance Smith.
Edward Hernandez with trotter All American N
Hernandez also has high hopes for pacer Shamma Lamma, who has had a couple of weeks rest and will be back in to go next week. He will also soon be qualifying Swagasaurusrex, a sharp Minnesota-sired pacer who has a mark of 1:49.1 and has banked over $191,000. The roster also includes the nice trotter winning Lyric, who is currently in rehab and will hopefully make his return to racing soon. He is a seven-year-old Credit Winner gelding with a mark of 1:52.3 and over $173,000 in the bank.
Hernandez takes pride in his work and believes in putting the correct amount of effort into the care and training of the horses and says “I am not going to send them onto the track if they are not ready to go.” He cares about the horses staying sound and staying healthy and happy. From all of the recent success he has had at Running Aces, it looks like Edward has found a winning formula, and is hitting his best stride as a trainer.
(Running Aces)