At what point is P Val finally given the boot from racing? According to an old article I read from 2004 that was his last shot. If I was a rider with substance abuse problems I’d just keep using and then use P Val as my reason to keep giving me another chance.
DRF October 21, 2010 “Valenzuela: A lifetime of second chances”
Plenty of good and bad in there, people on the record, the backstory, the misdeads, those aren’t happy he’d back, etc
An interesting read. Example:
An exception to most trainers these days is Richard Mandella, who says Valenzuela is not “on the list of jockeys I use.”
“I support the system, and I think in this case the system has failed,” Mandella said. “When people can milk the system, there is a problem. There’s a certain environment I like to keep myself in, and [Valenzuela] has not been part of that environment. I wish him the best, and I hope he stays clean. There’s no question that he’s a great rider.”
And now the ad controversy … taken out by a gambler with no connection to him:
The ad remained a mystery until Jon Lindo, West Coast representative for advertising sales for the Daily Racing Form, looked into it later in the day.
“It was booked through our Lexington office,” Lindo said. “Fritz Widaman, our ad copy person, took the ad. It was approved by the ad manager there. From what I understand, the guy who paid for the ad is a gambler in Las Vegas. He’s a huge fan of Patrick Valenzuela. He spent money out of his own pocket to place the ad.”
Lindo said the Las Vegas gambler paid around $600 for the ad, but more if it ran nationally in the Daily Racing Form.
Lindo said TVG commentators said on the air that Patrick Valenzuela took the ad out in the Daily Racing form to drum up business.
More details on the ad:
San Diego Union Tribune Aug 8, 2011 “Racing Form ad spawns a mystery at Del Mar”
Printed as an open letter encouraging owners and trainers to hire Valenzuela, the ad is punctuated with six exclamation points and features the following passage:
“Are all of you BLIND and losing your knowledge of horse racing? I know you want to win every horse you send to post! Why would you use good jockeys when you can use one of the greatest jockeys of all time and still the smartest and best rider in California to this day? He is sitting in the jocks room when he could be riding your horse to the winner’s circle!”
The ad is unsigned, its author identifying himself only as a “40 year rounder” (whatever that means), and it has been a cause for considerable consternation at Del Mar.
Valenzuela declined to discuss the matter in detail Monday, but asked about the meaning of “40 year rounder” and called the ad, “kind of embarrassing.”
His agent, Tom Knust, disavows any connection to the ad and wonders how it got published without the jockey’s consent.
Duh, winning.
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;5766258]
Duh, winning.[/QUOTE]
What is odd about the ad is that its not like PVal is winning on anything that moves there at Del Mar and just needs more mounts. He’s 8th in the standings but only with about a 10% win percentage.
I could get a “fan’s” frustration if there is a chance for a long shot to win if only they had PVal on board. However that has waned in recent meets.
Maybe that fan’s ad has paid off: Race 7 - Green Flash Hdcp Aug 17, 2011
Patrick Valenzuela has been named to ride Ventana in Wednesday’s Green Flash Handicap, replacing Martin Garcia. Ventana is the 5-2 favorite on the morning-line of the five-furlong turf race.
Garcia worked Haskell Stakes winner Coil at Saratoga on Wednesday and has had difficulty returning to California, track officials said.
Baffert rarely goes with PVal and he had, for example, Chantal as an open rider for this race.
Today was perhaps one of his best rides in quite some time
He scores a massive upset in the $1M Grade 1 Pacific Classic aboard Acclamation and sets the new polytrack record at 1 1/4 mi for Del Mar. This was a “win and you’re in” for the Breeders’ Cup Classic
Video replay: Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic (Aug 28, 2011)
Announced attendance at De Mar was 29,267. The time is impressive when you consider the Travers stakes and Saratoga track record at 1 1/4 mi is 2:00 from 1979.
Acclamation completed 1 1/4 miles on Polytrack in 2:00.61, a track record in the five seasons this track has had the synthetic surface. The only 1 1/4-mile main track race run at Del Mar each summer is the Pacific Classic.
The win was the fourth in a row this year for Acclamation, who had won three previous stakes races on turf, including a pair of Grade 1 races – the Whittingham at Hollywood Park, and the Eddie Read here five weeks ago. With three Grade 1 wins this year, on two different surfaces, Acclamation has put himself in the conversation for Horse of the Year.
The victory was an emotional one for Valenzuela, 48, who won the first Pacific Classic 20 years ago with Best Pal, but whose career has been pockmarked with transgressions. At one point during his personal soap opera, Valenzuela was given a lifetime ban by the California Horse Racing Board, but that was rescinded 13 months ago, and he thanked the CHRB for giving him another chance in post-race comments on television.
Acclamation, 5, is a horse by Unusual Heat out of the Silveyville mare Winning in Style. Bred by Johnston’s Old English Rancho in California, he earned $600,000 for the Pacific Classic victory – his eighth in 27 starts – and increased his lifetime earnings to more than $1.5 million.
The real steal was a couple races later when Kayla Stra rode Woodman’s Lass in the last race to victory @ 56-1 odds causing a large carryover 
That’s her 4th win at the meet.
You’ll never believe what “rounder” means in a sentence like “just a 40 year rounder”.
I looked it up. Circa 16th century “habitual drunkard or wastrel”.
Nice. Imagine such a person would be a gambler as well.
Yesterday’s win on Acclamation was really lovely, gotta say.
What’s PVal’s status to ride in KY?
[QUOTE=Flashy Gray VA;5808728]
What’s PVal’s status to ride in KY?[/QUOTE]
Cleared as he rode Comma To the Top in the 2011 Kentucky Derby (finishing 19th due to injury).
Also a plan to ride in the Spring Keeneland Meet (2011) didn’t transpire.
However the brakes have to be pumped with Acclamation running in the BCC. While his shipping and stabling fees would be picked up and the race entry fee waived - he’s not nominated to the BC. To nominate is very expensive.
Also the connections are saying Acclamation racing on dirt is “unlikely”:
“If we run in one of the Breeders’ Cup races, my preference would be to run in the grass race,” Johnston said, referring to the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf, “rather than on the Churchill Downs dirt. We’ll have to think it over. On turf, he’s a tough horse, but the turf race will come up tough with all the Europeans. You have to weigh the factors.”
Johnston said he is “not sure” how Acclamation would like the Churchill Downs main track.
“I don’t know how he’d handle it,” he said. “I know he handles this track, and he handles turf. I’m not ruling anything out, but I wouldn’t say the Classic is our first choice.”
“We haven’t discussed anything yet,” said Warren, 59, who scored the biggest win of his career in the Pacific Classic. “We’ve had to make a lot of decisions just about every day for the past four weeks. How is the track today? Is the weather going to be warm and effect the track? We’ve got to give our minds a rest.”
Immediately following the Pacific Classic, Johnston mentioned the Canadian International, run Oct. 16 at Woodbine, as a possible next start for Acclamation. If he goes there, though, that likely would preclude a start in the Breeders’ Cup three weeks later.
Congrats to PVal. 
He really is an amazing rider. No matter how many times he screws up, he’s incredibly blessed to have the talent that he does! Hopefully he can keep his head on straight for the remainder of his career!
[QUOTE=Flashy Gray VA;5808728]
Yesterday’s win on Acclamation was really lovely, gotta say.[/QUOTE]
Almost a month later its deja vu 
Race replay: Oct 2, 2011: Grade 2 $150,000 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship
PVal and Acclamation will be at Churchill Downs for the Breeders’ Cup. Most likely they’ll be running in the BC Turf over 1 1/2 miles.
If the man is truly sticking to his recovery (and wishing him the best in that) perhaps we need a new all-purpose PVal thread?
Like “Kudos to PVal” or “PVal Does the Cheesy Cash Call Advertising Pantomime after X Stakes Win?”
Because everytime this particular thread comes up, I get a bit sad actually thinking that I’m going to open it and it might not be good news, as it relates to his substance abuse issues.
Will look forward to seeing him at BC!
Nov 17, 2011 “Hollywood Park: Valenzuela a no-show”
Jockey Patrick Valenzuela failed to appear at Hollywood Park to ride on Thursday, leaving his agent concerned about his well being. Valenzuela was scheduled to ride five of the eight races on Thursday.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” said his agent, Tom Knust. “I’ve been trying to call him and get a hold of him.”
Thursday, Hollywood Park steward Kim Sawyer said that Valenzuela will have to undergo a drug test when he returns to Hollywood Park.
Well, this may prove problematic…I hope it is not the obvious answer…
Hoping this is just some sort of freak mix-up or misunderstanding of some sort. 
I hope he’s okay.
No longer “WINNING”
