Jockey to Resume Riding at Oak Tree
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Jockey Pat Valenzuela, who hasn’t ridden since the fall of 1997, has been issued a one-year conditional license by the California Horse Racing Board.
Valenzuela, whose career has frequently been interrupted by drug-related problems, will begin by exercising horses, said his attorney Donald Calabria. Calabria added that Valenzuela hopes to be riding Sept. 29, when the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita begins.
“He’s in terrific shape, and I’ve never seen him as excited as he is about this,” Calabria said.
The stewards at Santa Anita suspended Valenzuela’s license in October 1997 after he failed to honor his riding commitments. Valenzuela, 37, won the Kentucky Derby with Sunday Silence in 1989. In a career that started in 1978, he has won 2,972 races and ridden horses that have earned $95 million.
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