Valenzuela gets mount on Memories of Winter in Delta Jackpot

Jockey Patrick Valenzuela’s first mounts in more than a year and a half are on the immediate horizon in Louisiana, among them Memories of Winter in the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot on Nov. 21.

Valenzuela, 53, plans to ride the Fair Grounds meet that opens next Thursday, said his agent, Rob Whitlock. But the earliest Valenzuela is expected to be in the saddle in New Orleans is Sunday, Nov. 22. Whitlock said a race for which Valenzuela was booked for Friday, Nov. 20, did not go, but Valenzuela will ride the Jackpot on a special afternoon card at Delta next Saturday.

Valenzuela got the mount on Memories of Winter late Friday morning, said Whitlock.

Valenzuela, who won the 1989 Kentucky Derby aboard Sunday Silence, has not ridden since Jan. 20, 2014, at Santa Anita. He was named on horses for next Thursday night at Delta, but both mounts are on the also-eligible list. Valenzuela also has a mount next Friday at Delta. Karl Broberg trains the horses Valenzuela is named to ride Thursday and said he talked with the rider about coming to Louisiana. A number of years back, Valenzuela was based at Louisiana Downs.

Whitlock said Valenzuela is scheduled to arrive at Fair Grounds on Tuesday.

“He’s going to tack 118,” Whitlock said. “He’s been getting on horses for a while in California, and he said he feels like a bug boy.”

Broberg, who leads all North American trainers in wins this year, has divisions of horses at Fair Grounds and Delta Downs.

“He and I have been talking for a while,” said Broberg.

In March 2014, Valenzuela was suspended by the Santa Anita stewards for missing consecutive days of mounts in January 2014. His request for reinstatement was denied, but this past August, the stewards granted him an exercise rider’s license with the provision that he could not race ride through the term of his jockey’s license, which ended Oct. 31.

Valenzuela will have to reapply for a jockey’s license to ride in California, and at present, he has not done so, according to Mike Marten, spokesman for the California Horse Racing Board.

“We can’t speculate on how that process might conclude, if and when he does apply in California,” Marten wrote in an e-mail.

Valenzuela has a three-year license in Louisiana that runs through June 30.

“He currently holds a valid license,” said Charles Gardiner, executive director of the Louisiana Racing Commission.

Gardiner said there is nothing of a reciprocal nature in California that precludes Valenzuela from riding in Louisiana. Marten also said there is no suspension in place that prevents other jurisdictions from issuing a license to Valenzuela.

– additional reporting by Jay Privman