Patrick Valenzuela

It is no secret that I am not a big fan of all the chances that Pat Valenzuela has been given through the years. I always believed the many opportunities he has been given by trainers and owners could be given to a hard working jockey who keeps his nose clean and does his best everyday. That being said I am amazed at what I've heard about his latest incident. When the CHRB issued Pat his conditional License apparently there was to be no consumption of alcohol. Now the last time I checked alcohol was still legal. I have never heard of an instance where an employer has told its employee they cannot consume alcohol on their own time. OK, yes when you are on the job there should be no alcohol in your system and you cannot have any alcohol on the work premises, so for that you have random testing to make sure he is clean while at work. Telling him he cannot consume alcohol at anytime I think is over stepping your boundaries. Pat is a grown man well over the legal age to drink. If the guy wants to get tanked on his off time and it doesn't affect his ability to do his job during working hours I don't think you can put this restriction on him. I mean who does the CHRB think they are in this. They are not the mans parents, and even if they were, at his age they couldn't stop him. I guarantee you that 90 % of the jockeys have a few drinks after a day of riding. Should they all be suspended. I think Pat has a good case to fight and I hope he gets help, but this ruling takes the cake.