Valenzuela Rescues Boy From Burning Trailer

Pat Valenzuela, one of the country’s leading jockeys, pulled a 9-year-old boy out of a burning motor home in Pasadena on Wednesday night.

Valenzuela was driving to a restaurant with his fiancee, her mother and sister and his agent, Jeff Franklin, when he saw a propane-gas explosion in a trailer that was parked on Colorado Boulevard, along with several others, for today’s Tournament of Roses Parade.

“I didn’t think twice,” Valenzeula said.

He said he went to the door of the trailer, noticed a young boy inside and broke the lock when no one responded to his pounding.

After pulling the boy out, Valenzuela returned to the trailer, but by that time it was covered with flames. Valenzuela went to the restaurant and called the emergency number. Two fire trucks responded.

The boy, who was not identified, suffered minor burns and declined medical attention. A report identified the boy’s grandfather and legal guardian as George Kingsland, who was out shopping at the time of the fire.

“I would have expected someone to do the same thing for my (three) daughters if they had been in there,” Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela, 30, rode horses that earned about $10 million this year. In October, he rode Eliza and Fraise to victory in two of the seven Breeders’ Cup races at Gulfstream Park. Valenzuela won the Kentucky Derby with Sunday Silence in 1989.