Pat Valenzuela

Horseracing personalities infobox


name = Pat Valenzuela
|caption =
occupation = Jockey
birthplace = Montrose, Colorado, United States
birth date = October 17, 1962
death date =
career wins = 3,500+ (ongoing)
race = Kentucky Derby (1989)
Preakness Stakes (1989)
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1986, 1992)
Breeders' Cup Sprint (1987)
Breeders' Cup Juvenile (1991)
Breeders' Cup Turf (1992)
Breeders' Cup Mile (1991)
Breeders' Cup Distaff (2003)
San Juan Capistrano Handicap (1981, 1989, 1992)
Del Mar Oaks (1980)
Santa Anita Derby (1980, 1989)
Pacific Classic Stakes (1991)
Spinster Stakes (1982, 1992)
Strub Stakes (1983, 1987, 1989, 2006)
Santa Anita Handicap (1984, 1993)
Santa Anita Oaks (1985, 1993)
Kentucky Oaks (1985)
Oak Leaf Stakes (1985)
Santa Maria Handicap (1985, 2003)
Secretariat Stakes (1989)
Super Derby (1989)
American Derby (1990)
Arlington Handicap (1991)
Clement L. Hirsch Handicap (1991, 1992)
Metropolitan Handicap (1991)
Vanity Handicap (1981, 1991)
Arlington-Washington BC Lassie Stakes (1992)
Del Mar Handicap (1992, 1994, 1996)
Beverly D. Stakes (2002)
Yellow Ribbon Stakes (2002, 2003)
Del Mar Breeders' Cup Mile (2003, 2005)
Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (2003, 2005)
Sunshine Millions Fillies & Mares Sprint (2003)
Hollywood Gold Cup (2005)
Sunshine Millions Distaff (2006)
Sunshine Millions Sprint (2006)

International race wins:
Queen's Plate (2005)
Woodbine Mile (2006)
awards = George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1982)
honours =
horses = Sunday Silence, Arazi, Bertrando, Best Pal
Opening Verse, Fraise, Lava Man
updated = March 30, 2007

Patrick Valenzuela (born October 17, 1962 in Montrose, Colorado) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born into a racing family, his father plus three of his uncles were jockeys. In 1980, 17-year-old Pat Valenzuela became the youngest jockey to ever win the Santa Anita Derby. He was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award by his peers in 1982.

In 1989 Pat Valenzuela won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes aboard Sunday Silence but lost his chance to capture the American Triple Crown when he was beat by Easy Goer in the Belmont Stakes.

Pat Valenzuela is a seven-time winner of Breeders' Cup races. In 1992, he became the first jockey to twice win two Breeders' Cup races on the same card.

During his career, Valenzuela has had to deal with a drug abuse problem that many observers believe has prevented his natural talents from making him one of the greatest of jockeys in racing. During the 1990s, he was suspened by racing authorities 8 times and in 2000 another suspension kept him out of racing for 22 months. Problems emerged again in January 2004 that resulted in suspension but he came back to win top jockey honors during the 2004-2005 racing season at Santa Anita Park. In 2005, he rode Wild Desert to victory for trainer Bobby Frankel in the Queen's Plate, Canada's most important horse race.

References

* [http://www.ntra.com/stats_bios.aspx?id=1799 Pat Valenzuela at the NTRA]