Horse Racing Betting Feature – What Could Have Been

Troubled L.A. Dodgers reliever Steve Howe had a ton of chances before his untimely death, and Muhammad Ali came back more often than a fat man to a free buffet but horse bettors that wager at the Bayou know that Patrick Valenzuela has mounted once again another comeback and just recorded a rare win milestone.

Burst of Light is the horse that gave P Val is 4,000th career win at a fat 7-2.

Similar to how football coaches have to adjust and key on star defensive players, horse bettors have to know whom P. Val is riding whether his horse looks potent or not.

By just riding in a race, either putting his horse on the front end even though the runner never showed keen speed in the past, or by intimidating other riders, horse bettors have to keep an eye on this guy as far as how the race will unfold.

Denied by the California Horse Racing Board the privilege of riding in that state, P Val has found a new breathe of life at Louisiana Downs and once he’s gets entrenched there, he’ll offer a unique vehicle for horse bettors that love speed.

Currently in a dog fight to stay in the top ten on the win list at LAD, he has not gotten many prime mounts and considering that the jockeys that are ahead of him in the standings have between 100 and 200 more mounts this meeting, he has really made quite a name for himself.

He is not getting any younger, but horses still run for him and run big time. Back early in his career, when he would return from a suspension, he would usually be pumped up in the first couple of days and post a number of winners. And that has not changed even though he is at an advanced age.

When he was a pup, Patrick had the confidence of legends like Charlie Whittingham and D. Wayne Lukas. He was the youngest rider ever to win the Santa Anita Derby, he was the first rider to win two Breeders’ Cup races in the same year twice and he proved in 2003 that he could still rise to the occasion when he wired the BC Distaff field with Adoration at 40-1.

And that was despite his personal problems.

Since late in the 1970s, Patrick has been suspended or denied a license nearly 7 years.

Many in the game will sit down and tell you that he had the ability to be one of the best ever. And that is beyond The Shoe, and the Pirate, Laffit Pincay, Jr. and some of the other greats.

Horses just run for him. The same way they did for Kenny Black before that rider had his own personal demons jump up and get him.

P. Val’s mounts have won over $150 million during his career, nearly $50 million of that in Graded stakes. His career winning percentage of 15% and in the money stat of 43% is very close to his current year of 13% with winners and 44% in the money.

Those stats alone show how talented this rider is.

Patrick puts horses where they belong and he always seems to coax just a little more from them down the lane. It is kind of like a nuclear power war. If you don’t use him, the other guys at the barns will and they just might have the deciding edge. If you do use him, you will be advising your owners that this is the guy to take them and their stock to the promised land.

When betting races in the Bayou, horse bettors should start by evaluating P Val’s mounts trying to figure out how he will dictate the action either by gunning early with an eye on winning, or gunning early and killing the speed horse you are thinking about betting.