Pat Valenzuela returns to Churchill Downs, chasing new rides and memories

Pat Valenzuela’s return to Churchill Downs is not just a walk down memory lane. At 63, the more urgent question is whether a rider with Hall of Fame credentials can still turn a modest comeback into real business in a Kentucky stakes environment that is younger, tougher and far less sentimental than the one he once ruled.

Valenzuela said he planned to be on the Churchill Downs backside Monday morning, where he hoped to renew old acquaintances and build new connections during Derby week. He still has to apply for a Kentucky jockey’s license through the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation, a requirement for anyone who wants to ride on association grounds during a meeting in the state. If the trip produces mounts and results, he said he could stay through the summer. If not, it is another brief stop in a comeback that still needs proof.

The return has some bite because the comeback already has a result behind it. Valenzuela earned his first victory in nearly a decade at Turf Paradise, winning aboard Definitely Prbable in a $17,000 maiden race on turf. That came in his fourth start back after nearly 10 years away from race riding, and he said the moment hit harder than he expected. “I didn’t realize I’d be so emotional,” Valenzuela said, adding that he had tears in his eyes. The win also triggered congratulatory calls and texts from Laffit Pincay Jr. and Bob Baffert, a reminder that his name still carries serious weight in racing circles.

The racing resume is still enormous. BloodHorse says Valenzuela owns 4,372 Thoroughbred wins, 66 Grade 1 victories and seven Breeders’ Cup wins. His last mount before the comeback came in December 2016 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Arizona recently granted him a jockey’s license, reportedly conditional on his successful participation in ongoing drug testing, after earlier relicensing efforts in California did not get him back in the saddle. That history matters because his return is being judged against both old accomplishments and present-day standards.

The Churchill Downs connection gives the story more than nostalgia. Valenzuela won the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness on Sunday Silence, one of the great colts of the modern era. The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame notes that Sunday Silence won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic, finished first or second in all 14 starts and retired with more than $4.9 million in earnings. That is the backdrop for this trip to Kentucky, but the present tense is harder. The real test now is whether Pat Valenzuela can still get live mounts, stay clean, and matter on a backside that remembers what he was, while deciding whether he can still be something more.