License Snafu Costs Pedroza Stakes Mount

Martin Pedroza, about to serve a three-day suspension issued by the California Horse Racing Board, on how he missed riding Private Zone in Saturday’s Grade II Gulfstream Park Handicap:

“The Gaming Commission in Florida told me my license there had temporarily been suspended and it was no big deal for us to renew it. So we did everything we needed to do and sent the paper work to them at the last minute, but it was in a stack with other applications, from Black Jack dealers to waitresses, you name it.

“Just because I was a jockey, I had no priority, and the paper work wasn’t read in time for my license to be approved. Everybody here tried to help, the stewards from here, the stewards from there, Mike Smith . . . But I never thought I needed to do something about my license being temporarily suspended then, because I never thought I was going to Florida anytime soon, so we let it go. It was kind of our fault.”

Formerly trained by Doug O’Neill but now trained by Jorge Navarro, Private Zone finished second by a half-length as the 6-5 favorite under Carlos Marquez Jr.         

Pedroza’s long-time agent, Richie Silverstein, said he is “hoping to” regain the mount on three-time Grade I winner Private Zone in the future.

Source: Santa Anita Park