Horse Racing -- Valhol's Arkansas Derby Win Investigated

LITTLE ROCK - Oaklawn Park asked state racing authorities to investigate whether jockey Billy Patin used an electrical device to make his horse run faster when it won the Arkansas Derby.

Valhol had not won in two outings before last Saturday's $500,000 Arkansas Derby and was a 30-1 shot when the horses left the gate. He paid $62.80 for the win.

Oaklawn president Charles J. Cella said an employee found a device on the track. He did not say how the device had been linked to Patin. He asked the state Racing Commission to investigate.

The commission voted unanimously to order the track to suspend distribution of the purse to the owner and rider and have race stewards investigate.

"I swear to God I didn't burn that horse," Patin said. "I don't know nothing about that."

Trainer Dallas Keen also disavowed any knowledge of the use of a battery.

"I hope this will be resolved and they'll see that this is wrong," Keen said. "I believe Billy. I drilled him pretty good and he says no. I can't imagine someone using a machine on such a young horse. We're going to try and win the Kentucky Derby and it would be a shame if they kept him out."

The first-place check for the race was to be $300,000. Withholding those earnings would put Valhol's status in question for the May 1 Kentucky Derby. If there are more than 20 3-year-olds entered at Louisville, preference goes to the top 20 in graded money earned. The Arkansas Derby is a Grade II race and the first-place check would easily qualify Valhol for a spot in the race.

Valhol had lost a maiden race and finished fourth in the Louisiana Derby - his only two starts before winning the Arkansas Derby by 4 1/2 lengths. The field included Answer Lively, the champion 2-year-old of 1998, and the well-regarded stretch runner, Ecton Park, both of whom had beaten Valhol in the Louisiana Derby.

Valhol owner James D. Jackson of Rockdale, Texas, said he was "absolutely distraught" about the situation. He told The Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs that legal action would be "very shortly under way."

Jackson, who was in Grand Prairie, Texas, for the races at Lone Star Park, called the investigation a "witch hunt."

Cella said Oaklawn officials first became aware of possible irregularities soon after the race was declared official.

"We immediately informed the stewards and the local Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau - the investigative branch of the thoroughbred racing industry," Cella said. "By Monday night and Tuesday, Oaklawn management uncovered additional evidence regarding the race."

That evidence also was turned over to the national office of the TRPB in Maryland.

State Racing Commission chairman Cecil Alexander had no comment about the electrical device.

"I have not seen it and I think, at this time, it's best for us to not comment," Alexander said. "All the evidence will come out at a later time."

He said the commission had been aware of Oaklawn's investigation for some time.

"We had to have hard cold facts to start an investigation," he said. "If we did not feel there was an infraction, we would not be having this meeting."

Note

-- Laffit Pincay Jr., the 52-year-old jockey pursuing Bill Shoemaker's records, rode Cornflower Fields to a neck victory in the $54,000 feature race at Santa Anita.

Pincay is 108 wins from Shoemaker's career record of 8,833.

Cornflower Fields, a British-bred filly, overtook Royal Shyness in the final strides of the 6 1/2-furlong turf race for older fillies and mares. Cornflower Fields was clocked in 1:14 1/5.