CHRB rejects Valenzuela’s request for jockey’s license

The California Horse Racing Board, acting on a recommendation from a hearing officer, has denied Patrick Valenzuela’s request to restore his jockey’s license in the state, a racing board official said Thursday.

The decision was reached by the racing board in a closed session at its monthly meeting Sept. 18 and was subsequently announced on the racing board’s website.

In a three-sentence statement, the racing board said, in part, that the proposed decision from the hearing officer was adopted.

Valenzuela, who currently holds an exercise rider’s license in California, did not return a phone call or text message seeking comment Thursday.

Valenzuela, 62, has not ridden since December 2016 in Louisiana.

Valenzuela, who has a lengthy history of personal disruptions in an otherwise accomplished career, had a fitness-for-license hearing in June before a hearing officer appointed by the racing board.

The recent decision is the third time that the racing board has rejected Valenzuela’s attempt to regain his license in California in the last decade.

In 2015, Valenzuela’s request for a jockey’s license was rejected by the racing board. The decision came after Valenzuela was suspended in March 2014 for failing to appear to ride on consecutive days at Santa Anita in January 2014. At the time, track stewards stated Valenzuela should not be reinstated in any capacity.

Valenzuela appealed the decision to a hearing officer who recommended he be reinstated as a jockey. The racing board rejected the decision but allowed Valenzuela to hold an exercise rider’s license in the state.

In March 2016, Valenzuela again made a request for a jockey’s license in California and was rejected by the racing board. Valenzuela appealed but was unable to overturn the decision. He was licensed in Louisiana at the time and rode at Fair Grounds until that fall.

Valenzuela is well known for winning such races as the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes on Sunday Silence.

Valenzuela won seven Breeders’ Cup races from 1986 to 2003 and was a former leading rider on the tough Southern California circuit. He has won five riding titles at Del Mar, most recently in the summer of 2003; two titles at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting; most recently in 2005-06; and five titles at Hollywood Park, the last in the fall of 2003.

Valenzuela, who began riding in 1978 and has won 4,372 races, has had repeated disruptions caused by substance-abuse problems that have led to suspensions and interruptions.

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