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Originally Posted by LOSE=GLUE
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Maybe not Wednesday, but possibly Thursday? See below.
From Oak Tree Stable Notes:
'FITTER THAN EVER' VALENZUELA HOPES TO RESUME RIDING THURSDAY
Patrick Valenzuela expects to resume riding full time at Oak Tree on Thursday after an absence of two months. On Sept. 17, the two-time Oak Tree riding champion (1988, 2003) returned to the saddle in Canada, where he is licensed, and won the $896,460 Woodbine Mile aboard 8-1 shot Becrux. He had not ridden in a race since July 16. During that span he was hospitalized for what has been described as personal reasons.
Valenzuela hoped to receive permission to ride on opening day at Oak Tree from the California Horse Racing Board, which holds the rider's conditional license, presently in abeyance. But Valenzuela's agent, Tom Knust said Monday morning that the CHRB "needs a few more documents which we should provide today, and he should be ready to ride by Thursday."
Meanwhile, Valenzuela has passed his urine and hair follicle tests, according to Ingrid Fermin, executive director of the CHRB. "One of the things in his (provisional) contract says that he would be willing to share the medical history during the time he was gone, and that hasn’t happened yet," Fermin said. "That’s what we're waiting for."
Fermin said that once the CHRB receives the required information and is satisfied with it, Valenzuela could resume riding in California.
Knust, agent for both Valenzuela and Corey Nakatani, explained how Patrick got the mount on Becrux for Hall of Fame trainer Neil Drysdale.
"Corey wanted to ride the horse," Knust said. "He told me the horse would win. Unfortunately, Corey was hurt on Friday when working a horse for Bob Hess (Jr.). Afterwards, his (right) shoulder became sore and he couldn’t lift his arm. X-rays were negative, but it still bothered him. He called me Saturday morning and told me he only had about 50 percent use of his arm and it wouldn’t be fair to Neil or the owners (Team Valor and Gary Barber) if he couldn’t ride the horse competitively in such an important race.
"So I called Neil and told him Patrick had his passport and I could arrange for him to get a flight that night, that he’d been working horses the last two weeks, he was fit and as light as he’s ever been. Becrux was assigned 117 pounds and I told Neil Pat could do 117."
Upon apprising the owners and receiving their approval, Drysdale gave Valenzuela the call, but not after first trying to get Victor Espinoza, who could not be contacted, according to Knust.
"After I made all the arrangements," Knust said, "Neil called me back and said someone had told him Patrick hadn’t been working very much and was way overweight. I assured him he was fit and could do 117, and that he was not going to lie about it. Neil gave us the OK and the rest is history."
"I felt really good," said Valenzuela, who turns 44 on Oct. 17. "I had worked three to five horses a day for 10 days before riding Becrux and felt really fit. I'm probably fitter than I've ever been."