2025 LOUISIANA BREEDER OF THE YEAR
2025 STATE & CANADIAN BREEDER AWARDS
2025 LOUISIANA BREEDER OF THE YEAR
Earl & Keith Hernandez, & John Duvieilh
By Jessica Licausi
As president of the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Keith Hernandez has helped guide the state's thriving breeding program. Now, as a recipient of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's Louisiana Breeder of the Year award with his father Earl and business partner John Duvieilh, he's leading by example, showcasing their breeding operation.
"We've been breeding horses since 1985, and it took a long time to get the type of horses we needed," Hernandez said. "We raced everything we bred."
Reflecting on how the operation began, Hernandez credits the team that laid its foundation, led by his father and Duvieilh, the operation's key founders.
Things took off for Earl and Keith Hernandez when they claimed a son of Majestic Light named Rail for $12,500 at Fair Grounds Race Course in December 1994. The next year as a 6-year-old, Rail became a stakes winner, which combined with his pedigree, led to a stud career.
"You know what happens when you get the chance to have a stallion: you kind of lose a lot of your mind, and we went that path," Hernandez said jokingly.
Rail went on to become a successful sire in Louisiana after his retirement from racing. His highest earner, Mr. Sulu, was a multiple stakes winner and racked up career earnings of $617,033.
Their breeding operation continues in full swing. Hernandez has 16 broodmares. Hernandez and his partners advance their operation by buying mares, claiming racehorses, obtaining foal shares, and getting involved with the ownership of stallions.
"We do a lot with a little," Hernandez said.
He and his team work outside at Hernandez Farm near Covington, La., caring for the horses and raising future generations.
"It's a labor of love," Hernandez said. "If you like it, it's not a lot of work."
Hernandez couldn't be more pleased with the state of the Louisiana breeding program, mentioning increases in funding and purses.
"The horses that we breed now are competing all over the country, and they're winning graded stakes," Hernandez said.
Hernandez and his partners are also breeding stakes winners or racing them. Geaux Sugar, bred by the partners, won the 2025 Louisiana Champions Day Sprint and King Creole Stakes last year for Single Malt Stable and trainer Keith Bourgeois.
Another, Highly Wicked, notched four wins in a row, three in stakes, from March through July for the partners as breeders and owners. The homebred daughter of Wicked Strong has added multiple stakes in 2026.
