Pat Valenzuela
Encyclopedia
Patrick Angel Valenzuela (born October 17, 1962 in Montrose, Colorado
) is an American
thoroughbred
horse racing
jockey
. Born into a racing family, his father plus three of his uncles, including Ismael Valenzuela
, were jockeys. He rode his first career winner on November 10, 1978, at Sunland Park Racetrack
in Sunland Park, New Mexico
. In 1980, 17-year-old Pat Valenzuela became the youngest jockey to ever win the Santa Anita Derby
. He was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
by his peers in 1982.
Pat Valenzuela has repeatedly said throughout his career that the best horse he has ever ridden was Arazi.
In 1989 Pat Valenzuela won the Kentucky Derby
and Preakness Stakes
aboard Sunday Silence
but lost his chance to capture the American Triple Crown
when he was beat by Easy Goer
in the Belmont Stakes
.
Pat Valenzuela is a seven-time winner of Breeders' Cup
races. In 1992, he became the first jockey to twice win two Breeders' Cup races on the same card.
During his career, Valenzuela has had to deal with a drug abuse
problem that many observers believe has prevented his natural talents from making him one of the greatest of jockeys in racing. During the 1990s, he was suspended by racing authorities 8 times and in 2000 another suspension kept him out of racing for 22 months. Problems emerged again in January 2004 that resulted in suspension but he came back to win top jockey honors during the 2004-2005 racing season at Santa Anita Park
. In 2005, he rode Wild Desert
to victory for trainer
Robert Frankel in the Queen's Plate
, Canada's
most important horse race.
Valenzuela's conditional California license, which stipulated many conditions including drug testing, was suspended once in 2006 and twice in 2007 for violations. The CHRB Stewards 'permanently' revoked Valenzuela's CA license in early 2008 after a drunk driving arrest. Stewards said then, that he would not be able to reapply in the state of California. Louisiana still allowed Patrick to ride, so he was able to use some time there and in Canada to get his career back on track.
On October 9, 2008 at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, Louisiana
, Pat Valenzuela rode his 4,000th winner.
On July 22, 2010, the CHRB Stewards granted Patrick Valenzuela another conditional thoroughbred license, whose conditions include thrice weekly AA meetings, submission to random and for cause drug tests, and must completely abstain from the possession, injection or consumption of all mood-altering drugs, including alcohol. Tom Knust, Patrick's agent, has insisted that Patrick has been clean since May 2008, which was confirmed by Louisiana stewards as Valenzuela never failed a random drug test there.
Since his return to California racing, he won the G1 $1 Million Pacific Classic at Del Mar aboard Acclamation, twenty years after he won the same race aboard Best Pal. Also won the G1 Shoemaker Mile with Courageous Cat, and three more graded stakes from 10 stakes wins going into the 2011 Breeders' Cup.
On Thursday, November 10, 2011 Patrick Valenzuela was a no-call no-show to ride his mounts at Hollywood Park. His agent could not get a hold of him all day long and stewards removed Valenzuela from his mounts. The next day, Patrick called Knust and told him that he had gone to see his fiancee and was afraid to leave her for her own well being. Other than saying it was a personal issue which takes precedence, he gave no further explanation, except he must travel with his fiancee to Kansas. CA stewards have taken him off all mounts until, and only until, Valenzuela meets with the stewards, provides proof of his whereabouts, and consents to a drug test. The earliest he may begin riding is November 26th, but may not be returning until early December.
|-
!Chart (2002–present)
!Peak
position
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2002
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2003
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2005
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2006
| style="text-align:center;"|14
|-
Montrose, Colorado
The City of Montrose is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 15,479 in 2005. The main road that leads in and out of Montrose is U.S...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
. Born into a racing family, his father plus three of his uncles, including Ismael Valenzuela
Ismael Valenzuela
Ismael "Milo" Valenzuela was a Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He was one of 22 children born to parents who had immigrated to the United states. Shortly after Ismael Valenzuela's birth, the family returned to their native Mexico...
, were jockeys. He rode his first career winner on November 10, 1978, at Sunland Park Racetrack
Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino
Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino is a racino located in Sunland Park, New Mexico, a suburb of El Paso, Texas.Opened in 1959 as a thoroughbred racing track, Sunland Park was the only legalized gambling venue in the region for many years...
in Sunland Park, New Mexico
Sunland Park, New Mexico
Sunland Park is a city in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 14,106 at the 2010 census. Though it lies directly across from El Paso, Texas, being in Doña Ana County makes it instead a part of the Las Cruces Metropolitan Statistical Area, some 30 miles to the north.The...
. In 1980, 17-year-old Pat Valenzuela became the youngest jockey to ever win the Santa Anita Derby
Santa Anita Derby
The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $1 million. Inaugurated in 1935, it is considered the most important West Coast stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby...
. He was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack.The award was created...
by his peers in 1982.
Pat Valenzuela has repeatedly said throughout his career that the best horse he has ever ridden was Arazi.
In 1989 Pat Valenzuela won the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
and Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
aboard Sunday Silence
Sunday Silence
Sunday Silence was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, earning distinction as 1989 American Horse of the Year over American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse Easy Goer. He was foaled in 1986, sired by Halo out of Wishing Well by Understanding. Though he was registered as a dark bay/brown, he was in...
but lost his chance to capture the American Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
when he was beat by Easy Goer
Easy Goer
Easy Goer was an American Champion Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse, famous for earning American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors in 1988, and defeating 1989 American Horse of the Year Sunday Silence in the Belmont Stakes by 8 lengths. The victory deprived Sunday Silence of the Triple Crown...
in the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
.
Pat Valenzuela is a seven-time winner of Breeders' Cup
Breeders' Cup
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Thoroughbred horse races, most but not all Grade I, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. The location...
races. In 1992, he became the first jockey to twice win two Breeders' Cup races on the same card.
During his career, Valenzuela has had to deal with a drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
problem that many observers believe has prevented his natural talents from making him one of the greatest of jockeys in racing. During the 1990s, he was suspended by racing authorities 8 times and in 2000 another suspension kept him out of racing for 22 months. Problems emerged again in January 2004 that resulted in suspension but he came back to win top jockey honors during the 2004-2005 racing season at Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...
. In 2005, he rode Wild Desert
Wild Desert
Wild Desert is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2005 Queen's Plate, Canada's most prestigious race and North America's oldest annually run stakes race....
to victory for trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
Robert Frankel in the Queen's Plate
Queen's Plate
The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
, Canada's
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
most important horse race.
Valenzuela's conditional California license, which stipulated many conditions including drug testing, was suspended once in 2006 and twice in 2007 for violations. The CHRB Stewards 'permanently' revoked Valenzuela's CA license in early 2008 after a drunk driving arrest. Stewards said then, that he would not be able to reapply in the state of California. Louisiana still allowed Patrick to ride, so he was able to use some time there and in Canada to get his career back on track.
On October 9, 2008 at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, Louisiana
Bossier City, Louisiana
Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States.As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 61,315. Bossier City is closely tied to its larger sister city Shreveport, located on the western bank of the Red River. The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is the...
, Pat Valenzuela rode his 4,000th winner.
On July 22, 2010, the CHRB Stewards granted Patrick Valenzuela another conditional thoroughbred license, whose conditions include thrice weekly AA meetings, submission to random and for cause drug tests, and must completely abstain from the possession, injection or consumption of all mood-altering drugs, including alcohol. Tom Knust, Patrick's agent, has insisted that Patrick has been clean since May 2008, which was confirmed by Louisiana stewards as Valenzuela never failed a random drug test there.
Since his return to California racing, he won the G1 $1 Million Pacific Classic at Del Mar aboard Acclamation, twenty years after he won the same race aboard Best Pal. Also won the G1 Shoemaker Mile with Courageous Cat, and three more graded stakes from 10 stakes wins going into the 2011 Breeders' Cup.
On Thursday, November 10, 2011 Patrick Valenzuela was a no-call no-show to ride his mounts at Hollywood Park. His agent could not get a hold of him all day long and stewards removed Valenzuela from his mounts. The next day, Patrick called Knust and told him that he had gone to see his fiancee and was afraid to leave her for her own well being. Other than saying it was a personal issue which takes precedence, he gave no further explanation, except he must travel with his fiancee to Kansas. CA stewards have taken him off all mounts until, and only until, Valenzuela meets with the stewards, provides proof of his whereabouts, and consents to a drug test. The earliest he may begin riding is November 26th, but may not be returning until early December.
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable"|-
!Chart (2002–present)
!Peak
position
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2002
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2003
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2005
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2006
| style="text-align:center;"|14
|-