Jockey Valdivia drops 10-day suspension appeal
Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. has dropped his appeal of a 10-day careless riding suspension and will sit out the final six days of the Los Alamitos meeting that ends Sept. 26, and the first four days of the Santa Anita meeting that starts Oct. 1, according to his agent, Nick Hines.
The suspension will not prevent Valdivia from riding in any so-called "designated" races, essentially stakes. There are a number of graded stakes races Oct. 1-3 at Santa Anita that serve as preps for Breeders' Cup races Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.
Valdivia was penalized by Del Mar's stewards following an accident Aug. 22 in which seven of the 12 runners did not finish, resulting in the race being declared a no-contest. Jockey Diego Herrera was given five days by Del Mar's stewards for his role in the accident.
The stewards ruled that Valdivia crossed over without sufficient clearance, and also ruled that Herrera ran up on heels, which Hines and Valdivia thought was inconsistent. Hines last month said he was "flabbergasted" by the ruling.
Valdivia initially appealed, but Hines said "upon further consideration we just want to bite the bullet now for business sake."