LOS ANGELES (AP) Jockey Patrick Valenzuela filed a lawsuit
Thursday against the state's horse racing board to delay a five-day
suspension pending his appeal.
The California Horse Racing Board banned Valenzuela from riding
Oct. 1-5 at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet for an incident that
happened Sept. 8 at Del Mar. Valenzuela was given the suspension
after racing stewards determined that he interfered with another
horse ridden by Omar Berrio during a race.
Valenzuela and Berrio also were fined $500 each for an
altercation after the race.
The racing board denied Valenzuela's request for a delay of the
suspension, prompting the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior
Court.
Valenzuela was previously suspended four times this year and
appealed all of those rulings. An administrative law judge has made
a decision on those four appeals and it will be considered in
executive session during an upcoming board meeting, said Michael
Marten, a spokesman for the racing board.
It is not unusual for jockeys to seek legal action to stay a
suspension, Marten said.
Valenzuela said in the lawsuit that he is seeking the injunction
because without it, he would ``have to serve the suspension before
the case could be heard on its merits.''
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)