Valenzuela recovering from incident at Hollywood Park

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Jockey Patrick Valenzuela took off his mounts on Saturday after being unseated and kicked by his mount at the start of Friday’s fourth race.

Valenzuela was unseated from 2-1 favorite Sunburn a few strides after the start when Sunburn stumbled. The filly then kicked Valenzuela, according to the jockey’s agent, Tom Knust.

Valenzuela was hospitalized late Friday, and precautionary X-rays on his arm, shoulder and leg were negative. He was released around midnight. Saturday morning, Valenzuela was complaining of body soreness, Knust said.

“The horse ran right over the top of him,” Knust said. “If the horse hadn’t run over him, he would have been okay. It could have been a lot worse.”

Valenzuela, 48, is among the top 10 riders at the spring-summer meeting, which ends on Sunday. He won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile aboard Courageous Cat on July 2.

Jack Baedker dies at 96

Jack Baedeker, who published the well-known Southern California tipsheet Baedeker Guide with his brother Bud Baedeker, died on June 24 at his home in Laguna Beach, Calif., his family said. He was 96.

Born in Chicago, Jack Baedeker was involved in many facets of racing, as a racing manager, through the tip sheet, and as a bettor. His nephew Bob said that Jack Baedeker was an astute handicapper, who often studied trip handicapping long before it became commonplace. Jack Baedeker also worked in Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist for a California transit company.

Bud Baedeker died in 2004. The Baedeker Guide gained notoriety for picking all seven winners on the opening day of the Hollywood Park meeting in 1950.