The Arizona Department of Gaming has issued a license to 63-year-old jockey Patrick Valenzuela. He last rode professionally in 2016.Valenzuela has long struggled with substance abuse problems, as a result of which, the jockey has seen his license repeatedly suspended during a career that started in 1978.In 2018, Valenzuela pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic abuse charges after slapping his girlfriend at a Carlsbad, California, restaurant. He was arrested again in 2019 on spousal abuse charges, according to a 2025 California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) hearing document.After repeatedly violating his restraining order stemming from those abuse charges, Valenzuela served a brief jail sentence in 2024.According to the Paulick Report, Valenzuela's license is conditioned on on-going drug testing, though the specifics around those conditions remain unclear.Jessica Roza, the Arizona Department of Gaming's assistant director of government and community affairs, did not provide answers before publication deadline about what kind of analysis was done to ensure Valenzuela was fit for licensure, and what specific conditions are attached to his license.Racing steward Jason Hart did not respond to multiple text messages and calls.Valenzuela has been working as an exercise rider at Turf Paradise. He has also been licensed to work as an exercise rider in California, where his three attempts since 2016 to get licensed as a jockey by the CHRB were unsuccessful.The CHRB denied his 2016 attempt because he “committed acts of moral turpitude or acts that exposed others to danger,” and “failed to demonstrate rehabilitation,” according to hearing documents. That 2016 decision detailed 15 separate rule violations and/or criminal convictions.Valenzuela applied again in 2018 and was subsequently rebuffed by the CHRB due in large part to his 2018 arrest on domestic abuse charges and for a separate arrest for possessing drug paraphernalia.Last year, the CHRB again denied Valenzuela's latest license application.Hearing officer Patrick Kane noted in his hearing report Valenzuela's “willingness to improve and accept responsibility for his past transgressions, and this Officer encourages Appellant to continue down this path of rehabilitation in order reapply for a jockey's license in 2026.”However, “Because of Appellant's substantial history of rule violations and criminal charges, and because Appellant's latest criminal charge recently occurred resulting in jail time, Appellant cannot meet Section 1489.2's rehabilitation criteria at this time,” wrote Kane.Valenzuela has ridden 4,372 winners throughout his career. In 1989, he rode Sunday Silence to victories in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness Stakes.In a Facebook post Valenzuela wrote, “I want to say thank you for all the support all the warm wishes, my brother JR, my sister-in-law, Jodie, and everybody in Phoenix, who have welcomed me as family. Thank you to the stewards and the Phoenix racing board. But most of all, thank you God without you nothing of this would be possible. I got my Jockey license.”The post Jockey Patrick Valenzuela Licensed in Arizona appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.