PVal ... again

[BillW]

This is too much:

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnews/newsview.asp?recno=46566&subsec=1

What is this guy on?

[Dancer's Image]

Bill W,
Cocaine, amphetamines, and marijuana. Here is the complete article just to make sure PA doesn't miss it.

Posted: 7/2/2004 9:57:00 PM ET

Valenzuela suspended again by Hollywood stewards

PATRICK VALENZUELA
Benoit & Associates photo
One day after returning from a 30-day suspension, troubled jockey Patrick Valenzuela was suspended by Hollywood Park stewards on Friday until a formal hearing can be conducted after he failed to provide samples of his hair for drug testing, a violation of the terms of his conditional license with the California Horse Racing Board.
Stewards ordered Valenzuela off all his mounts beginning Friday evening after it was discovered the 41-year-old rider had completely shaven his head, chest, armpits, and pubic hairs, which are the only areas of his body that could provide a sufficient quantity of hair follicles for testing. He did provide a urine sample before he resumed riding on Thursday, which tested negative for drugs.
The testing of hair follicles is a more comprehensive test.
Valenzuela, who has a history of drug violations, rode under a conditional contract in 2002 and ‘03 following a one-year suspension. He also suspended on January 23 when he failed to appear for a drug test after booking off his mounts at Santa Anita on January 22, claiming he suffered an ankle injury at home.
Santa Anita stewards required him to take a drug test that afternoon as part of his contract, but he did not show up for the test. Despite CHRB efforts to contact him the following day, Valenzuela did not respond and remained out of touch for two weeks.
Valenzuela received a temporary stay from the CHRB that enabled him to return to the saddle on April 25, but was suspended for the month of June by the California Horse Racing Board following a hearing in May.

[PaceAdvantage]

Am I that special that you have to single me out?

Personally, whatever happens to PVal won't affect my life in any single meaningful way whatsoever.

[cj]

He's a moron, plain and simple.

You seem a little testy there PA.

And hey, of course you are special, you are the Godfather here!

[Dancer's Image]

Originally posted by PaceAdvantage
Am I that special that you have to single me out?
(Yes, see the "Pray for those...." thread which I brought back to the top. DI)

Personally, whatever happens to PVal won't affect my life in any single meaningful way whatsoever.
(What you're saying is that you are a person who doesn't give a damned about anyone else but yourself. As long as it doesn't affect you, you could care less if other people are being treated unfairly. By giving PVal preferential treatment, the CHRB is treating the rest of the jockeys unfairly. But that doesn't bother you, PA, because the other jockeys are just jealous hypocrites.)

[CryingForTheHorses]

Guess he's going down this time, He s had toooooooo many chances to clean himself up,He does act like he is untouchable and he is embarrasing horse racing period!.I defended this guy,I even know him!!! Its a shame to get all hem chances, and waste them.Some people get ALL the chances, And some people never get a shot.I would be afraid to shave my head..May not grow back..What do they do with the hair??..Thats a new 1 for me.I have never had anything go wrong..not even a speeding ticket.I am horrified also (Another Thread) that they reinstated The Electric Man..A guy like that should have been banned for LIFE

[Valuist]

Like Kelso or not, I agree w/him on PVal:

http://www.kelsosturgeon.com/

[Dancer's Image]

Here is the article...
(for PA...everytime I clicked on the link, my computer crashed. After rebooting 3 times, I went directly to the www.kelsosturgeon.com site and copied the article so this would not happen to anyone else)

FORGET THE DRUG TEST AND GIVE JOCKEY PATRICK VALENZUELA AN I-Q TEST...
By Kelso Sturgeon
I have no idea whether the great jockey Pat Valenzuela-and please note I said "great"-is on drugs but there is no doubt in my mind that he's dumber than dirt, if not downright stupid. One can guess and speculate on his battle with drugs but no one can question his lack of intelligence.

His recent actions at Hollywood Park are far beyond prima facie evidence that P. Val is a fool. A jury of his most faithful fans would vote 12-0 to convict on a charge of blatant stupidity.

The jockey colony would vote 63-0, with no mercy and no abstentions.

It is not my intention to pick on a guy with a list of devils as long as one's arm, but Valenzuela's sudden need for shaving his body pushes the envelope a hair too far, no pun intended. He says it is something he has done in the past and had no idea that it was an act that would stop the stewards from taking hair samples from him.

Are the stewards in love with Valenzuela's hair? Not quite-they just need 100 strands of it to test for drug use, something for which the jockey is more famous than any of the many great horses he has ridden and classic races he has won.

The latest chapter in this ordeal was recorded this past week when Valenzuela, back from a month-long suspension for failure to show up for a test, gave a urine sample, which tested negative.

But, alas, the stewards said they also wanted hair samples for drug testing. It takes about 100 strands of hair for such a test, but Valenzuela proved to be Yul Brenner from stem to stern.

No hair in sight.

For the record, drugs stay in your blood the least amount of time, in your urine a bit longer and in your hair for weeks.
IF A MAN WOULD SHAVE THE PACKAGE AREA, SHOULD HE NOT GET A PASS...
P. Val was unable to comply with the hair test, since his body had been shaved bald, including the package area. If this were not such a serious matter, one might want to suggest that anyone who would shave the hair off his balls to beat a test should be given an automatic pass.

But the stewards at Hollywood Park had no sense of humor and sent him home after he rode a couple of winners.
And the beat goes on.

Valenzuela has now been suspended so many times (I think it's 10) for failure to pass drug tests, failure to take required drug tests and for missing appointments to take required drug tests even those in power have lost track of the number. Just say the offenses and infractions are more than numerous.

Valenzuela, 41, has been crossways with the governing body of California racing so many times, he has ridden on a provisional license since December of 2001. In that time frame, the infractions continued, required suspensions were given, and good lawyers and psychiatrists made tens of thousands of dollars pleading the cases that got him reinstated.

They, and Valenzuela, may be out of luck this time.

As I said, the envelope was pushed a hair to far this time and the silver-tongued devils that practice law by come up empty.
HOW MANY CHANCES DOES ONE GET...
Drug addiction and all its whys and wherefores is so complex in its dynamics that no one really has any answers. "Let'em hit bottom or die" is the mantra of the business. It is difficult to grasp this strongly held feeling of the drug treatment community because one knows if that loved one hits bottom and still won't give it up on their own, they will most certainly die.

And it will be in the filthiest gutter one can find or in a darkened, stinking crack house that would make a $3-a-night flophouse look like The Plaza.

To roll the dice and temporarily throw away someone you love dearly, hoping they will stop and turn their lives around once they sit at the gates of hell, rips out one's guts and I am not suggesting that Valenzuela be tossed into this circumstance.
But the choice has to be his.

Something has to be done and the most logical thing would to be simply rule Valenzuela off the racetrack for a indefinite period of years-and note I said "years"--and let the chips fall where they may.

If he is entitled to ride while being a user, let the courts say so.

It is obvious if Valenzuela remains on drugs-and all the anecdotal evidence supports that point of view-he seems to be someone who functions well, despite the addiction. As I said the dynamics of this sickness are so complicated there is no one scenario that fits all.
The final question is simply how many chances does one get, when something within him makes him love more than anything in he world the high and the rush that smoking, shooting up or mainlining the heavy duty stuff gives one?

I do not mean to be crass but, as they say in the street drug business, Valenzuela is a man who loves to "suck the devil's dick" more than life itself.

You do the math.
WILL THE REAL PATRICK VALENZUELA PLEASE STAND UP...
When I referred to Valenzuela as a great rider, I meant it and you will be hard-pressed to find anyone in horse racing who will disagree. He is the best gate rider in the history of the game and has that natural gift of making horses run for him when they won't give their best for someone else.

Here are some quick facts about Valenzuela, as provided by the NTRA:
Quick facts about Patrick Valenzuela through September of last year:

--Through Sept. 28, 2003 ranked fourth nationally in earnings with $11,619,087.
--Through Sept. 28, 2003 had won 228 races in 1,136 mounts.
--Finished 1992 ranked seventh nationally in purses won with $12,544,098.
--Has six Breeders' Cup victories in 39 rides and was the first jockey to twice win two races on the same card: in the 1991 Juvenile (Arazi) and Mile (Opening Verse) and the 1992 Juvenile Fillies (Eliza) and Turf (Fraise). Also won the 1986 Juvenile Fillies with Brave Raj and the 1987 Sprint with Very Subtle.
--Top mounts in 2003 have included Starrer (Santa Maria and Santa Margarita Invitational handicaps); Tates Creek (Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap); and Joey Franco (Triple Bend Breeders' Cup Invitational Handicap).
--Won the last three main Southern California meets at Santa Anita, Hollywood and Del Mar.
--Career has been interrupted eight times by suspensions and license revocations because of recurring drug problems. Served a 22-month suspension as the result of a positive drug test and was reinstated by the stewards on Dec. 26, 2001. He's been riding great since. Before he returned to ride, he had not ridden since Feb. 3, 2000.
--Won the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes with Sunday Silence. They lost their chance for a Triple Crown sweep when Easy Goer won the Belmont Stakes.
--Won six races Oct. 21,1988, one of four riders to do so at Santa Anita during the fall Oak Tree meet.
--Registered his 3,000th career win on Sexy Too at Hollywood Park on Dec. 4, 1999.
--Captured his first riding title in 11 years at the 2002 Hollywood Park Spring/Summer meet. Followed that with a second title at the 2002 Del Mar meet.
--At 17, became the youngest jockey to win the Santa Anita Derby. He had been a journeyman one week when he won with Codex.

At 41, Valenzuela is running out of time. He has won almost 3,600 races and purses worth more than $125,000,000, and certainly has the talent to go on.

It's not simple, but he must choose between a life of riding horses or sucking the devil's dick.
To you and me the choice is easy.

To the addicted, make the devil and his dick the 1-100 favorite.

[PaceAdvantage]

Is the fact that links open up in a new browser window the reason why they don't work for you? Nobody else seems to be having any problems, at least that I know of....

[Bruddah]

what I have said about PVAL all the while. He doesn't have a hair on/in his A$$. What a waste by a big MAROON!!

[Dancer's Image]

Originally posted by PaceAdvantage
Is the fact that links open up in a new browser window the reason why they don't work for you? Nobody else seems to be having any problems, at least that I know of....

PA,
I sincerely do not know. I admit to being a computer idiot (some would say the word computer is redundant), but I clicked that link to kelso's site which Valuist provided three times this AM and all 3 times my computer crashed. When that happens, a balloon opens saying words to the effect that AOL shut down because an error (either type 1, or type 2, or type 3) occurred. Now this afternoon, I just tried the link again and it takes me to Kelso's site, but now the article on PVal is not there. Strange. I am going to leave the PA website and go to Kelso's site on my own and see if the article is still there now like it was this AM.

[PaceAdvantage]

It sounds like that is what is causing the problem (links that open up in new windows).

AOL browser is always a dicey proposition when using this site....I've had some problems with their browser, which is odd, because they use a version of Internet Explorer, don't they? (That last question was open to anyone who uses the AOL Browser to surf)

[Hosshead]

Originally posted by Bruddah
What a waste by a big MAROON!!
P.Val may have turned red (or even maroon) from embarrassment, but I think the word you're looking for is "moron".

[PaceAdvantage]

Actually, if you watch a lot of Warner Bros. cartoons (especially ones that feature Bugs Bunny), then MAROON is entirely appropriate!! LOL

[cj]

I have a Bugs Bunny watch that plays that phrase on demand...unfortunately, I keep having to replace the battery! :eek:

[Storm Cadet]

Do the names Steve Howe or Daryl Strawberry ring a bell???

Howe was so bad that the Yankees tested him in the morning (positive for cocaine) and by BP at 4 PM he was already clean and flushed...California must have a shitty drug test lab if he keeps coming up negative all these times.

[Dancer's Image]

Well, Storm Cadet, you just explained why the CHRB wants to use hair follicle testing. At least if your information about Howe testing positive in the AM and being able to test negative by batting practice is correct.

Ps. to PA: I left PA.com and went to kelso's website and I was able to get into his site, but the article on PVal is nowhere to be found. Perhaps he deleted it? It did contain some rather crass (his term) language. Can someone else use the link posted by Valuist and see if they can still see the PVal article? Perhaps it's a good thing I cut and pasted it, so now we have it on record.

[cj]

From Daily Racing Form:


Valenzuela weighs court action

As of Monday, Valenzuela was considering court action in an attempt to resume riding by the weekend, according to his agent, Corey Black.

Reached on Tuesday, Valenzuela declined to comment, referring inquiries to his attorney, Neil Papiano, who was not available.

On Friday, Valenzuela was suspended by the Hollywood Park board of stewards for failing to comply with the terms of his conditional license, which requires that he submit to a hair-follicle test. The suspension came a day after Valenzuela returned from a 30-day suspension for failing to submit to a mandatory urine test in January.

Valenzuela, 41, said last weekend that he was unable to take the hair-follicle test because he had fully shaved his body and could not provide a sample. According to a statement from the California Horse Racing Board, Valenzuela did not have sufficient hair on any part of his body. Hair-follicle tests require approximately 100 strands of hair and are considered more thorough than urine tests. Last week, Valenzuela submitted to at least two urine tests, which were negative.

If he does not resume riding in coming days, Valenzuela is tentatively scheduled to appear at a hearing with Hollywood Park stewards Pete Pedersen, George Slender, and Tom Ward on Friday.


I'll say its 2-5 he misses that hearing. :rolleyes:

[PaceAdvantage]

The link posted here just goes to the kelso home page. I can't find the article either. Interesting.