Jockey Valenzuela Suspended by Stewards at Santa Anita

Six days after he tested positive for amphetamines, jockey Pat Valenzuela was suspended by Santa Anita stewards Ingrid Fermin, Pete Pedersen and Tom Ward for the rest of his one-year probationary license.

Valenzuela, who has a history of substance abuse, was given a conditional license last September after having been away from riding for nearly two years.

The stewards also recommended that Valenzuela, 37, not be eligible for relicensing until Feb. 11, 2001, and then only if he has documented, to the satisfaction of the California Horse Racing Board, that he has “experienced one year of uninterrupted sobriety.”

Valenzuela was about 45 minutes late for his meeting with the stewards Friday morning. Car trouble was blamed and Don Murray, who works for the Winners Foundation, which helps racetrack personnel with substance-abuse problems, left Santa Anita to pick up the jockey at a nearby repair shop.

After leaving the brief session with the stewards, Valenzuela was visibly shaken.

“They terminated the rest of my license,” he said.

A few minutes later, after sitting by himself, head in hands, he added, “I thought it was going to be a lot less.”

Valenzuela won the 3,000th race of his career about two months ago at Hollywood Park. His most recent problems began when he failed to show for his mounts on Feb. 4.

He tested positive for amphetamines when given a urine test by CHRB investigators last Saturday morning and was ordered off his mounts that afternoon.

At a 30-minute administrative hearing on Wednesday, neither Valenzuela nor his attorney, Donald Calabria, disputed the test.

There had been speculation about a lifetime ban but the ruling leaves the door open for another return in 2001, perhaps earlier.

Valenzuela and Calabria have 72 hours to appeal the stewards’ decision, although an extension on that time frame could be granted by the CHRB.

With 16 victories, Valenzuela was ninth in the jockey standings at Santa Anita. He finished second, behind Laffit Pincay Jr. at Hollywood Park’s fall meet.

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If trainer Wayne Lukas doesn’t win the $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for a fifth time this afternoon, it will be one of the biggest upsets in the history of Santa Anita.

Surfside, who won the Santa Ysabel Stakes by eight lengths last month and is widely considered the best 3-year-old filly in the country, is the 1-5 favorite in the Las Virgenes and her odds will probably be even lower by post time.

Trained by Lukas for owner Bill Young’s Overbrook Farm, Surfside will have only three opponents in the Grade I and she does not figure to be tested today or in next month’s Santa Anita Oaks. She figures to get her first test as a 3-year-old when she races colts in the Santa Anita Derby on April 8.

Her opponents today are Spain, making her first start since she was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last Nov. 6; Rings A Chime, second in the Santa Ysabel, and Burning Hope, who is also trained by Lukas.

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Manistique, who has won 10 of her 11 starts in California, was among eight fillies and mares entered Friday morning in Sunday’s $200,000 Santa Maria Handicap.

A prep for the $300,000 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap on March 5, the Santa Maria will be the first race of the year for Manistique, who is owned by Marshall Naify’s 505 Farms and trained by John Shirreffs.

Looking for her fourth win in a Grade I, the 5-year-old Unbridled mare will carry 125 pounds, meaning she will be conceding 5-15 pounds to her opponents.

The main competition should be provided by Bordelaise, a South American import trained by Ron McAnally, and Keeper Hill, a multiple Grade I winner for trainer Bobby Frankel.

Horse Racing Notes

Laffit Pincay Jr.’s victory with Bully’s South in Friday’s third race gave him at least one win on each of the last nine racing days. . . . Royal Anthem will make his first start since finishing second to Daylami in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf in the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Breeders’ Cup Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on the turf. . . . In an earlier race on today’s card at Gulfstream Park, Ecton Park, the winner of the Jim Dandy Stakes and the Super Derby in 1999, will make his first start as a 4-year-old in a classified allowance for trainer Elliott Walden.