P. Val Eyeing Comeback

He's 61, hasn't ridden since 2016 and recently had a knee replaced. For most, this would be the time to enjoy retirement and look back on a career that carried him to the heights of his profession. But Pat Valenzuela doesn't see it that way. He's been working horses at Del Mar and Santa Anita, says he feels good and is seriously contemplating making a comeback.

“I'm a little heavy now, so I don't know if I'll be able to do the weight,” he said. “But I'm sure going to try. I'll ride somewhere, whether it's in New Mexico, Louisiana, wherever. I'll give it my best shot.”

Valenzuela last rode on Dec. 8, 2016 at Fair Grounds. He then tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and after surgery he still didn't feel right.

“The surgery came out ok, but there was still a lot of pain and it kept bothering me over the last four, five years,” he said.

He would try to get back on horses but the pain kept resurfacing.

“Last year, I was getting on horses for Neil Drysdale and I couldn't take the pain anymore. I couldn't tolerate it,” he said.

Knowing that he had to try something different to combat the pain, he decided to have his knee replaced, which took place in May.

He returned to the track after the operation and worked as a hotwalker for trainer Antonio Saavedra. Each day, his knee started to feel a little better.

“It feels really good. I can't believe how good it feels,” he said. “There's no pain. Before it was painful to get on any horses. It's not like I have a brand-new knee, but it's a lot better than it was.”

He took the next step and started galloping horses at Santa Anita and Del Mar. In addition to Saavedra, he said he has been working horses for several trainers, including Peter Eurton and Peter Miller.

“I'm getting a good response,” Valenzuela said. “I'm just grateful to be able to get on any horses. Most everybody has been encouraging. I'm not hearing anything negative from anybody. I'm just trying to keep it simple and moving forward. As far as the physical fitness part of it, I think it'll will take me another month to 45 days to get ready. The weight is the most important thing. When you get older it's harder to lose weight. I weigh 128 now. I am working hard and eating light meals. Usually one meal a day. Just trying to stay away from fats and saturated fats.”

Valenzuela, whose career was repeatedly interrupted by substance abuse issues, said those problems are a thing of the past and have had nothing to do with his prolonged absence from the track.

Should he make it back, he'll have to answer a lot of questions, namely can a 61-year-old who hasn't ridden in more than seven years overcome all those obstacles and be successful?

“We'll have to see,” he said. “I will give it my best shot. I feel really good. I feel like I'm in a La-Z-Boy with a remote control when I'm on a horse. I feel like I'm at home. Who knows? I might be better. Gary Stevens came back after having a knee replacement and look how good he did. I don't think the age will matter that much. I think it will be more about physical fitness and the horses I get to ride.”

While eager to ride again, Valenzuela is not taking anything for granted. Considering his age, his lengthy absence and his checkered past, he understands that some racing commissions may have reservations about re-licensing him. He said his preference is to ride in California, but if that opportunity isn't available to him he will look elsewhere.

“I've ridden all over the country but I'd love to start back in my home state in California,” he said. “That would be the ultimate. But if I can't ride in California I'll ride anywhere I can. Maybe Louisiana or New Mexico. I know I can still get a horse to the wire.”

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Pat Day Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Just a few days removed from his 70th birthday, Pat Day joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to talk his career, what he's been up to since retiring in 2005 and, most of all, the Breeders' Cup. Day rode Wild Again to victory in the inaugural GI Breeders' Cup Classic in 1984 and it was an historic win that helped turn the future Hall of Famer into one of the biggest stars in the sport. Day was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“What that race meant for my career was monumental,” Day said. “First of all, let me back up. In January of 84, that was when I came to Christ. I was a stone alcoholic and a drug addict and was still highly successful in the midst of that. On January 27th of 1984, I accepted Christ into my life and got set free from that addictive lifestyle. I recognized that God had blessed me with tremendous talent and ability and opportunities and I started treating that with the respect that it deserved. Subsequently, I had an incredible year capped by the victory with Wild Again in the inaugural Breeders' Cup. That helped secure my first of four Eclipse Awards. I don't know that you could put a price on just what that did for my career. It was tremendous and catapulted me to the next level. I started getting opportunities after that to participate in the major races all over the country and to ride some of the top choices in those races.

If the Wild Again win was Day's top Breeders' Cup moment, his loss to Sunday Silence aboard Easy Goer in the 1989 Classic was surely his worst.

“When they came off the turn, Easy Goer was slow to change leads,” Day said. “He finally did. When he did, he caught on and accelerated, but obviously it was too little, too late. There was just so much hanging in the balance. The Eclipse Award for top 3-year-old. Horse of the Year. There were some tremendous accolades that hung in the balance. That Breeders' Cup was hard and the second hardest pill to swallow with him would have been the Preakness. I think I rode a horrible race and I think that I cost him the race in the Preakness. Easy Goer was a great horse. The best I ever rode. I know the record doesn't reflect it but I still think he was better than Sunday Silence.”

Who was his toughest opponent?

“Day in and day out, the smartest, strongest rider I rode against on a regular basis was Jerry Bailey,” Day said. “He would draw up a game plan and he was able to implement that game plan just about every time.”

Who was the most competitive rider he ever went up against?

“With that subject, Angel Cordero's name always comes up,” he said. “We would laughingly say he could ride two or three horses in a race. Angel, I love you, man. He was an astute handicapper. And if he handicapped the race and he felt that you had the horse to beat, he was going to beat you. He felt like if he beat you he would win the race. He was very competitive.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, WinStar Farm, the KTOB, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed Frankie Dettori's decision to postpone his retirement and focus on U.S. racing in 2024 and the GI Kentucky Derby. The team agreed that Dettori, who has been riding in top form this year, deserved at least one more year. Finley predicted he might decide to keep riding for two or three more years. They also reviewed last week's action which included a win by European shipper Mawj (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) in the GI Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland and the ultra-impressive win by City of Troy (Justify) in the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

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Pat Day Among New Board Members At The Kentucky Derby Museum

Hall of Fame rider Pat Day was one of four new members named to the board of the Kentucky Derby Museum Sept. 15, the organization said in a release late Thursday.

Joining Day, the other new Derby Museum board members include:

  • Mark Bacon, SVP Managing Director – Super Premium American Whiskey
  • Ashley Davis Sigman, Vice President of Davis Jewelers
  • Eamon O'Brien, General Manager of Omni Louisville

Outgoing board members Brandy Harmon, Michael Judah, and Loren Hebel-Osborne were honored during the meeting for completing their terms of service. The late Clinton Glasscock was also recognized for his 12 years of service to the board.

A new board chair was unanimously approved. The board's vice chair, David Nett, was then selected to replace outgoing chair Glenn Haygood. Haygood served two years in that position and is now Immediate past chair.

“I'm pleased to see the incredible success that is a result of the board's collaboration and partnership with the Kentucky Derby Museum over the years,” said Haygood. “The Museum is on track to hit record attendance for 2023, and that momentum will only continue through what is expected to be an epic Derby 150.”

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