Fernando Fernandez (jockey)

Fernando Fernandez (December 25, 1906 – November 30, 1988) was a Cuban-born, American champion thoroughbred horse racing jockey, who retired in 1953 as one of winningest riders of his era. Along with Ruperto Donoso of Chile, and, later, his younger brother Antonio Fernandez, he was among the first Latin American jockeys to find major success in the United States.

He was born in Havana in 1906, and went to work at the nearby Oriental Park Racetrack, in Marianao, as a teenager.

Beginning as an exercise rider for trainer Henry "Pepito" Torriente, he took out his jockey's license in 1931. His first big break came when he travelled to the United States with Torriente's large stable in May 1934. Fernandez won his first American race at Beulah Park in Ohio and was an immediate riding sensation, winning races at various meets across the Midwest. A favorite of both fans and the press, his successes were regularly reported in local and national newspapers. He was famously involved in a physical altercation with jockey George Woolf, who slashed him across the back with a whip during a race at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. In the jockey's room later, Woolf again attacked Fernandez, bruising his face and blackening an eye before being restrained by other riders. The beating resulted in Woolf's 10 day suspension and a fine by the racing authorities.