Board Adjusts Suspension

The California Horse Racing Board shortened a stewards’ suspension of Pat Valenzuela on Tuesday, giving the embattled jockey credit for three months served and ordering him to sit out June.

Had Valenzuela not appealed a stewards’ ruling at Santa Anita in early April, he would have been grounded for the rest of the year.

The three months’ credit stems from an indefinite suspension that was handed out in late January. Valenzuela didn’t ride from then until late April, when John Harris, racing board chairman, gave him a stay, which permitted Valenzuela to ride while his case was being appealed.

The oft-suspended Valenzuela has a history of drug and alcohol abuse.

His most recent problems began Jan. 22, when he called the three Santa Anita stewards to say that a twisted ankle would keep him from riding. When Valenzuela then failed to report for a mandatory drug test, a condition of a contract he has been riding under since 2002, the stewards suspended him.

Tuesday’s action, announced after the seven-member board had conducted a 90-minute hearing at Hollywood Park, will prevent Valenzuela from riding Rock Hard Ten in the Belmont Stakes on June 5 in New York.

Rock Hard Ten, ridden by Gary Stevens, finished second to Smarty Jones in Saturday’s Preakness, but Corey Black, Valenzuela’s agent, said his client probably would have received the mount for the Belmont.

Rock Hard Ten will be one of the horses trying to prevent Smarty Jones from achieving the Triple Crown. Stevens has been riding under contract in France and, according to Black, will be busy riding either in France or England on Belmont day.

All seven members of the racing board favored the ruling, which also stipulated that Valenzuela must perform 100 hours of board-approved community service during the rest of the year, and submit to hair-follicle drug tests, which are said to be more sophisticated than urine analyses. Valenzuela also will not be able to ride in designated races -- graded stakes -- which are usually available to riders under suspension.

Tuesday’s ruling figures to be unpopular with other Southern California jockeys. Dozens of them opposed Harris’ stay order in April, saying that riding against Valenzuela was a safety risk.

Wayne Gertmanian, chairman of the Jockeys’ Guild, declined to comment on the decision.

Valenzuela said he needed to digest the ruling before commenting. Valenzuela, who testified at the hearing, said that severe clinical depression had caused him to miss the January drug test.

Valenzuela testified that his wife, to whom he had been married for less than two years, left him last year and cleaned out the couple’s bank accounts. Valenzuela also said he had been overmedicated for his depression.

“The day [he missed the drug test] was a dark day,” Valenzuela said. “I went to a dark place and cried. I couldn’t focus or talk to anybody. It was something I’ve never experienced.”

When Valenzuela resumed riding April 25, he rode at least one winner for eight consecutive days at Hollywood Park. He is the meet’s leading rider with 24 victories. Last year, Valenzuela, one of racing’s premier riders despite his many absences, led all five of the major race meets in Southern California.

“I don’t know whether Patrick might appeal [in court],” said Terry Giles, Valenzuela’s attorney at the hearing.

“He would need an appellate lawyer to consider that. I have mixed feelings about the board’s decision. It could have been worse, but the month of June includes the Belmont, and it hurts that Patrick won’t be able to ride in that race.”