HORSE RACING: VALENZUELA'S FATE HINGES ON INTERPRETATIONS.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI HORSE RACING horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with His head spins, his eyes glaze, his tongue twists. This is not Patrick Valenzuela on a long night out. This is a clean and sober person trying to make sense of the latest standoff between the drug-troubled jockey and state horse-racing authorities. The important Oak Tree season at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
The answer lies somewhere between a Pasadena hospital and the Constitution. ``I'm not sure what's going to happen,'' said Tom Knust, Valenzuela's agent, who is taking calls and hoping for the best. Valenzuela, 43, who has competed in recent years under a unique licensing agreement after a series of drug-related suspensions dating to before his 1989 Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. victory with Sunday Silence Sunday Silence (1986-2002) was an American thoroughbred race horse. He was foaled in 1986 Sired by Halo out of Wishing Well. Though he was registered as a dark bay/brown, he was in fact a true black. , hasn't ridden in a California race in the two months since he booked off mounts at Del Mar with what Knust termed a back injury. After ostensibly os·ten·si·ble adj. Represented or appearing as such; ostensive: His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity. undergoing back therapy for more than a month at a Pasadena facility known for treating drug-dependency and psychological problems, Valenzuela declared himself fit for action. But, amid racetrack rumors that P. Val was battling depression, the California Horse Racing Board demanded to see a doctor's documentation of the hospital stay before it cleared him to compete. ``We're not interested in anything really personal,'' Ingrid Fermin, the CHRB's executive director, said Thursday. ``Just some kind of explanation (of the hospitalization).'' Attorney Neil Papiano acknowledged that the license contract Valenzuela agreed to in 2001 grants the CHRB CHRB California Horse Racing Board CHRB Community Housing Resource Board (Montana) CHRB Commonwealth Health Research Board access to such information, but said he won't allow violation of the jockey's constitutional right to doctor-patient privacy. ``Horse racing is a game,'' Papiano said. ``The Constitution of the United States Constitution of the United States, document embodying the fundamental principles upon which the American republic is conducted. Drawn up at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the Constitution was signed on Sept. is not a game.'' As long as Valenzuela fails to deliver the documentation and the CHRB stops short of handing down a formal suspension, the many-time Southern California riding champion is perched on a horse called Limbo. Valenzuela hasn't failed a drug test during this latest controversy, and a hair-follicle test in early September seemed to clear Valenzuela of drug use in the previous 90days. He was well enough to go to Toronto on Sunday and win the major Woodbine Mile with Becrux. He has been allowed to exercise horses at the California tracks, apparently without incident. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. any reason he can't ride (races),'' said Papiano, calling this a ``witch hunt.'' It cannot be denied that Valenzuela's behavior for nearly two decades justifies suspicion about unexplained absences, especially when yet again he gave the runaround run·a·round n. 1. Informal Deception, usually in the form of evasive excuses. 2. Printing Type set in a column narrower than the body of the text, as on either side of a picture. to state agents seeking drug tests in July and August. Nor can one minimize the board's duty to guard the racetrack's safety and integrity from intoxicated in·tox·i·cate v. in·tox·i·cat·ed, in·tox·i·cat·ing, in·tox·i·cates v.tr. 1. To stupefy or excite by the action of a chemical substance such as alcohol. 2. participants. Still, it seems that Valenzuela is in a Catch-22. Stipulate that from everything we know, Valenzuela is waging a never- ending struggle against his drug addiction. Now assume the worst, that Valenzuela sought treatment in July because he had suffered or feared he was about to suffer a drug relapse. Wouldn't that be the responsible thing for him to do, if the alternative was to risk riding impaired? Shouldn't the crucial requirement be that he be fit to do his best when he's in the saddle? But these are bigger questions than the immediate one, which is whether P. Val will be at Santa Anita on Wednesday. The whole thing should come to a head in the next few days. Meanwhile, the head spins. The weekend: The big race is Saturday's Super Derby XXVII at Louisiana Downs, with Point Determined (Victor Espinoza riding) and Lawyer Ron (John McKee) in a field of eight. Point Determined, the Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. runner-up, goes back to dirt after his Del Mar Derby The Del Mar Derby is an American thoroughbred horse race run each year at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The race is open to horses of either gender, age three, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the turf. flop. Lawyer Ron won the St. Louis Derby The St. Louis Derby run at Fairmount Park in Collinsville, Illinois held its inaugural race on August 26, 2006. Open to three-year-old thoroughbred horses of either gender, and run at one and one sixteenth miles on the dirt, this ungraded stakes race offers a purse of $250,000, at Fairmount Park in his first start since he was 12th in the Kentucky Derby. The Super Derby sent winner Sunday Silence (1989) and runners-up Unbridled (1990) and Concern (1994) on to Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. victories. At Fairplex Park, whose meet ends Monday, Martin Pedroza (21 wins to David Flores' 10 through Wednesday) closes in on his eighth consecutive L.A.County Fair jockeys championship, and Jeff Mullins (10 wins to four for the next-best) looks likely to break Doug O'Neill's string of four fair titles. Oak Tree opens Wednesday at Santa Anita. A small victory: As promised, here's the profit-or-loss statement for the little handicapping system proposed in this space to cope with front-running horses' dominance at Fairplex Park. After the fast start reported last week, the system continued to do well enough to maintain a 7 percent profit, getting back $73 on $68 in imaginary $2 win bets from Sept. 11 through Wednesday. The system looked for horses at Fairplex who a)made their latest starts in DelMar sprints, where front-runners are less successful; b) showed good form by finishing 1-2-3 or earning Beyer speed figures that first- or second-best in today's field; and c) ran within a length of the lead in the first half-mile. From 34 horses, in 26 races, we had 13 winners. Most paid very short prices, but Commander Gary paid $21.20in the 10th race Saturday to carry the week. The real surprise about Commander Gary is that after going wire-to-wire at DelMar, he rallied from sixth to win at Fairplex. We take full credit, anyway. heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com (818) 713-3616 CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE - Kevin Modesti and Associated Press |
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