Firing of Veitch places blame ­unjustly

It is troublesome to me that with a cavalier wave of the hand the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission could destroy a man's reputation and his livelihood, as I read in the Dec. 1 article "Veitch fired as state steward."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Jockey Patrick Valenzuela announced his retirement Friday, ending a tumultuous 33-year riding career highlighted by a win in the 1989 Kentucky Derby on Sunday Silence but marred by substance-abuse problems that left him suspended for lengthy periods.

In a phone interview, Valenzuela, 49, cited a recent gall bladder surgery and the near-constant fight with weight as two of the main reasons for the retirement.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association has begun accepting votes on its website for the “Moment of the Year” from a list of 12 races run in 2011.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Peter Ferriola, a three-time leading trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit, died Friday morning at his home in Spring Hill, Fla. A lifelong diabetic, Ferriola was 69.

Ferriola, a native of Philadelphia, worked for his uncle, trainer John Russell, as well as trainers John Campo Sr. and the Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel before going out on his own in 1978. He won with the first horse he saddled, Sea to Sea, on Feb. 3, 1978. Ferriola won 1,129 races before retiring in 2001.

In response to the position taken by several industry entities to restrict the raceday use of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix in 2012, the New York Racing Association's board of directors passed two resolutions at its monthly meeting held Wednesday.

First, the board directs NYRA management "to work with the New York State Racing and Wagering Board to establish appropriate regulations and other conditions as appropriate."

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Jockey Club expects to launch several of the initiatives in its five-year, $10 million project to attempt to reverse significant declines in racing’s popularity by early next year. The efforts will include a free-to-play handicapping site and social-network game, the organization’s vice president of business development, Jason Wilson, said on Thursday morning at the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing and Gaming.

Fans of popular singer Andrea Bocelli can help the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation at Bocelli’s concert at the Bank Atlantic Center in Miami on Feb. 14. The Bocelli show has reserved a limited group of seats that also include a pre-performance cocktail party, the concert, and a post-show dessert party featuring a meet-and-greet with Bocelli. Ticket prices are $220 or $500 depending on seat location. A portion of each ticket sale will go to TRF, and both include the meet-and-greet events.

The founder and chairman of Leon Medical Centers, he is the owner of Besilu Stables and was a breeder and owner of world champion Paso Finos before he entered the Thoroughbred game in 2007. At the Keeneland November auction, he paid $8.5 million for Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic winner Royal Delta, the third-highest price ever at the auction for a racemare or broodmare prospect. He and trainer Bill Mott are pointing Royal Delta to the March 31 Dubai World Cup.

Birthdate: Dec. 4, 1944, in Oriente, Cuba

 OZONE PARK, N.Y. -  J C’s Pride, the 2-year-old colt who set the track record for five furlongs at Saratoga this past summer, was euthanized earlier this week due to complications from an infection, trainer Robert Barbara said Friday.

 According to Barbara, J C’s Pride had developed a salivary gland infection a couple of weeks ago, which prompted him being sent to the Mid Atlantic Equine Medical Center in Ringoes, N.J. Barbara said the infection spread and “something got to his kidney.’’ The horse was euthanized at Mid Atlantic earlier this week.