Pat Valenzuela hopes to resume racing next week in Arizona

Pat Valenzuela has not ridden in a race in more than nine years. Now 63, he is on the threshold of resuming his career next week.

The winner of two U.S. classics and seven Breeders’ Cup races, Valenzuela said he expected to be named for rides on next Monday’s card at Turf Paradise in Phoenix.

“By the grace of the good Lord, we got some help out here in Arizona, and we’re doing our best trying to get on that saddle,” he said in a Sunday phone interview from Arizona. “It’s a privilege to be a jockey again.”

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Overnight entries will be taken Monday, one week in advance of the card that would feature Valenzuela’s return. That is if all the details fall into place. Judging from the Arizona Department of Gaming jockey’s license that he showed in a video selfie on his Facebook page Saturday, the biggest hurdle has been cleared.

“I have heard the same but haven’t heard from the state or stewards to confirm,” Turf Paradise general manager Tom Ludt said in a text message Sunday.

Arizona Racing Commission chief steward Jason Hart had not yet responded to a request for comment Sunday from Horse Racing Nation. Hart told Paulick Report that the license is conditional and that Valenzuela must pass drug tests when asked.

Widely regarded as one of the most talented riders of his generation, Valenzuela was suspended or disciplined by racing authorities at least a dozen times between the 1990s and the 2010s because of substance abuse. In a career dating to 1978, those episodes overshadowed highlights like Sunday Silence’s storybook triumphs over rival Easy Goer in the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Valenzuela also owns 12 riding titles from tracks in Southern California.

“I’ve been a year and a couple months sober (from alcohol) and two-and-a-half years without anything else,” he said.

In recent years Valenzuela has been riding mornings in Southern California. He said a recent family visit led him to Arizona and to Turf Paradise.

“I came out here to visit my brother, J.R., who’s a valet here, and my sister-in-law, Jodie,” he said. “Three years ago my little brother, Fabian, died (at age 53) of a heart attack all of a sudden. It just made me realize how important family is and how much time you spend with your family.”

Valenzuela planned to stay in Arizona for only a week. He has been there for 1 1/2 months.

“When I got here, I was a little heavy. My brother said, ‘Hey, you should get your exercise license,’ ” he said. “I brought my helmet and my boots, so I started working horses. I started getting on 10 a day. It was a working vacation, basically, and then (J.R. Valenzuela) talked to me, and he said, ‘Why don’t you ride here? I know you would kick butt here.’ I haven’t ridden here yet, but by the grace of the good Lord, I got my license, and I just thank God for that. I’m going to just do my best and try to show everybody what God gave me.”

Valenzuela said he has been in the gym and on the racquetball court to work off excess pounds in preparation for his comeback.

“I thank God that I have the opportunity to ride again,” Valenzuela said. “I just pray to God that I didn’t forget anything out there, you know?”

Valenzuela asked the California Horse Racing Board three times since 2015 to restore his jockey’s license. Even though the board OK’d him to exercise horses in the mornings, Valenzuela was rejected each time for a full license, most recently in September.

“They just told me that they saw me taking my sobriety seriously, and they gave me compliments, but they did not give me my license,” Valenzuela said. “But that’s OK. I respect their decision, but I’d also like them to reconsider.”

He credits his family, agent Frank Ortiz and especially steward Floyd Campbell in his native Colorado for helping him get back to racing. He said he expects to ride for “a lot of old friends that I have from growing up in New Mexico” and others who have become familiar through the years. They include Robertino Diodoro, the leading trainer this season at Turf Paradise.

“I just feel like I’m in a really good spot right now, and I’m just going to take it one day at a time and just thank the good Lord every day that I get on a horse,” Valenzuela said.

A father of four adult daughters, Valenzuela said he hopes his eight grandkids will have the chance to see him compete.

“My grandchildren have never seen me ride,” he said. “I’d love for them to see me ride and hopefully get in a winner’s-circle picture with me.”

Valenzuela also hopes the CHRB is watching. He wants to race again at Santa Anita and Del Mar and maybe even one other holy grail.

“I would really like to go to Kentucky and maybe get lucky and get a surprise mount in the Derby,” he said. “Who knows? I don’t know any 63-year-old people that have made comebacks.”

If there is one thing he will be thinking more about when he gets back to racing, Valenzuela said it might be a rule that he did not face when he last rode Dec. 8, 2016, at Fair Grounds.

“The only thing I’ve got to remember is not to hit more than six times,” he said with a laugh. “I really don’t think I’m going to need the whip at all.”