CHRB Rejects Proposed Decision on Valenzuela

The California Horse Racing Board has rejected a hearing officer's proposed decision in which he said jockey Pat Valenzuela should be permitted to work as an exercise rider and also have his license restored once he pays an outstanding fine.

Valenzuela has not ridden since early last year after he failed to appear before stewards at Santa Anita Park over charges that he failed to fulfill his riding agreement.

In his proposed decision after Valenzuela appealed a rejection of his application to be licensed as an exercise rider, hearing officer Daniel Q. Schiffer concluded that stewards erred last year in suspending Valenzuela before he paid a fine for failing to fulfill his riding engagements and that his license should be restored once he has paid the $1,000 fine. In the meantime, Schiffer said in the proposed decision rejected by the CHRB, "Mr. Valenzuela is entitled to exercise horses."

Once Valenzuela pays the fine and is restored to good standing with the CHRB, he can work as an exercise rider, the hearing officer also said.

During a closed session July 17, the CHRB rejected the proposed decision and said that the board will hear the matter of Valenzuela's fitness for licensure at a future date. A board spokesman said the CHRB made the decision to hear the matter itself in the belief that the hearing officer incorrectly interpreted CHRB rules.

Valenzuela, 52, who has a long history of substance abuse, on Jan. 24, 2014, failed to fulfill his commitment to ride two races. At the time, Valenzuela had been riding with a conditional license making him subject to drug and alcohol testing at the CHRB's request.

A 13-time riding champion in Southern California who won the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) on Sunday Silence in 1989 and captured seven Breeders' Cup World Championships races, Valenzuela had his conditional license to to ride revoked in 2008 and he was deemed to be permanently ineligible to reapply for, or to hold a license issued by the CHRB. Despite that, he was given a license on July 22, 2010 that was to expire in October of this year.

Following a hearing in March 2014, stewards fined Valenzuela $1,000 for his failure to fulfill his jockey agreement with the board, stating, "Furthermore, Mr. Valenzuela's jockey license is suspended for its term, and it is recommended that Mr. Valenzuela not be eligible for a jockey's license or exercise rider's license."

Despite two appeals filed by Valenzuela's attorney, no hearing was ever conducted until June 16 of this year and Schiffer noted that there was no statutory deadline for when a hearing should have been held. Valenzuela has also not paid the $1,000 fine, according to the hearing officer's report.

Schiffer said in his proposed decision that Valenzuela's appeal of his exercise license application rejection was "meritorious and Mr. Valenzuela should not have been suspended until after he paid the fine and, upon payment of the fine, his suspension is to be revoked.

"The stewards suspended Valenzuela in excess of their authority by suspending him prior to allowing his statutory opportunity to pay the fine that was levied for his failure to fulfill his jockey engagements," the hearing office wrote. "However, since he has yet to pay his fine, Mr. Valenzuela is currently suspended, pursuant to Rule #1532, until such time as his fine is paid. Upon payment of his fine his license as a jockey shall be reinstated. In the meantime, Mr. Valenzuela is entitled to exercise horses.

"The application of Mr. Valenzuela to become an exercise rider was denied by the CHRB because his license as a jockey is suspended," Schiffer wrote. "This is clearly correct because no person may be licensed as an exercise rider unless such person is currently licensed as a jockey in good standing in California. Mr. Valenzuela will be able to work as an exercise rider once he pays his fine and regains his good standing with the CHRB."

On another matter, the CHRB announced July 31 as a result of a settlement agreement between the board and Michael Pender, Del Mar stewards have fined the trainer $5,000 for benefitting financially during two periods of suspension for medication violations in 2014. The board said a CHRB investigation determined Pender instructted his bookkeeper to continue billing clients as usual even while he was serving suspensions from June 2-8 and Sept. 22-Oct. 12 of last year.

The CHRB said its rules prohibit a licensee from benefitting financially while suspended for medication violations.