| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) Jockey Patrick Valenzuela on Tuesday was granted a delay of a five-day suspension by the California Horse Racing Board.
The suspension would have prevented him from riding Wednesday through Sunday at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting.
Racing authorities contended he interfered with a horse ridden by Omar Berrio on Sept. 8 at Del Mar. Both jockeys were fined $500 each for a fight after the race.
Judge David Yaffe granted a 30-day stay of the suspension, which will allow Valenzuela to ride in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at Santa Anita on Oct. 25, said Valenzuela's attorney, Donald Calabria. The delay was sought to allow Valenzuela to appeal the suspension.
Appeals are heard by an administrative law judge, but no hearing date has been scheduled, Calabria said. If a hearing is not held within 30 days, Calabria said he will return to court to seek a further delay of the suspension.
Valenzuela previously was suspended four times this year and he appealed all those rulings. An administrative law judge has made a decision on those four appeals, but the racing board has not yet received those findings, CHRB spokesman Michael Marten said.