DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — Jockey Patrick Valenzuela won his first Del Mar stakes in five years with a typical front-running victory aboard J P’s Gusto in the $150,000 Best Pal Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar.
The 47-year-old jockey and the 2-year-old colt beat favorite Sway Away by a half-length.
Valenzuela, who won his first Del Mar Stakes as a teen 30 years ago, was granted a probationary license late last month by the California Horse Racing Board. The group revoked his license in 2008 after he was arrested for drunken driving and he had been riding in Louisiana the past two years.
On Sunday, Valenzuela pressed the pace as he constantly did in his prime, going straight to the front of the field of five 2-year-olds and never yielding, covering 612 furlongs in 1:16.61.
