Valdivia to ride Dona Bruja in Beverly D.

When jockey Jose Valdivia got his chance to break out of some serious career doldrums a little more than three years ago he took hold of it – and Valdivia still hasn’t loosened his grip.

With three winners from 124 mounts during winter and spring 2015 at Gulfstream Park, Valdivia was mired in a deep rut. Wesley Ward set him up with a Chicago agent named Steve Leving, and that was that. Valdivia was leading rider here at Arlington in 2015, when he won 80 races – and was just getting warmed up. In 2016 at Arlington, Valdivia won 100 races, and last year he topped out at a remarkable 141. His pace this meet is slightly slower, but through Aug. 5 he remained the dominant local jockey with 70 wins to 52 for Mitchell Murrill, second-leading rider so far this season.

“I’m always thankful for the meets I’m having. My agent is doing a great job,” Valdivia said.

Valdivia credits leading Arlington trainer Larry Rivelli and leading owner Vince Foglia for a good part of all the local day-to-day success, but on Saturday he has landed a plum ride in the Grade 1, $600,000 Beverly D. in Dona Bruja.

Valdiva won the 2003 Beverly D. riding Heat Haze for the late, great Bobby Frankel. Dona Bruja dead-heated for second in the 2017 Beverly D. after getting a trip that left trainer Ignacio Correas less than pleased.

Correas asked Valdivia to travel to Keeneland to ride Dona Bruja in a workout there July 29, and Valdiva was happy to make the trip.
“I never mind traveling to work good horses,” Valdivia said. “Ignacio just wanted me to get a feel for her.”

Dona Bruja, an Argentine import with as much raw talent as any horse in the Beverly D., isn’t the most straightforward ride. She has the speed to lead, as she did in two races this year, but Correas prefers her off the pace. The mare has a huge turn of foot, but it must be deployed with the right timing.

“Ignacio knows I’m doing my homework – hopefully I make the right moves,” Valdivia said.

Dona Bruja faces four Chad Brown-trained runners – Sistercharlie, Fourstar Crook, Inflexibility, and Thais – as well as Daddys Lil Darling, Athena, and Oh So Terrible in a deep edition of the Beverly D.