Pval returns with a million dollar race win
 

Well hes done it again. No matter how many times he goes AWOL, when Pval returns he never ceases to amaze everyone. Guy picks up his first mount back off his most recent AWOL and gives an incredibly perfect ride and nails the Woodbine Mile.
What interested me were his comments after the race about his back and his workout program.
I know you can't believe anything he says but is it perhaps possible that his back really was killing him and that it was the problem?

Could be, but I dont know anyone who needs to spend 30 days in a hospital for a back problem. I like how his head was shaved. Say what you want about him, but that man can freaking ride.

Can you even begin to imagine what status and wealth he would have had he stayed clean?
People forget that he was Sunday Silences rider that year before he went nuts and lost the end of the year mount to McCarron in the Classic. That was 18 years ago.
I'd say had he stayed clean he'd hold every record in earnings that there ever was and there might not have been Jerry Bailey to the extent that there was Jerry Bailey. He would have had a rival to all those big mounts.
Pval is certainly the bigest tragedy in the game. I'd dare say he is the most talented rider to ever sit in a saddle. Too bad he wasted 90% of it.

In his prime, the best of the last 20 years to me was Stevens. But P Val has no weaknesses on the track and is the best gate rider I ever saw.

P Val
 

Best ride I ever seen at Saratoga was by PVal on Very Subtle in the Test Stakes. The horse was unbeaten around one turn going into the race and remained that way after. But some of you guys like Oracle may have been a little young to remember.

He made just enough money to go MIA again:D
You can probally buy alot of crack with 60K

Be nice! :p

He's had a rough time of it..... VERY happy he's back.

Hope he gets better. Really do. He doesnt have much of a lifespan if he keeps on the nose candy. Hes only fooling himself.

I am sorry! you know how I get, when they keep putting loopholes in his license agreement and he has attorneys find them and then exploits them.:eek:

The odd thing about Pat is that whatever issues he has:

1)seem to bother others (that he has no contact with)a lot more than him.He has always been a pretty upbeat guy.This is a very positive person.Matter of fact,too positive,for some folks.If I have one complaint against the guy,it is the depression state that was claimed a few years back.This is one guy that has been given the gift of a positive attitude.I can't really see the guy being depressed more than a day or 2 about anything.I think he is one of the most positive/confident people I have ever seen.

2)haven't been an issue in any of the races he has ridden in.This guy has been riding off and on for what 27 years now? I haven't heard one complaint from anybody about him being high while riding a horse.Has he ever been accused of being reckless for any other reason than that he is ultra-aggressive? I don't think so.

I know this guy has botched fewer rides % wise for me than most all of those guys out there.To me,he appears to be a horseplayer's best friend.Not only that,but he is doing what he was evidently created to do(ride horses.)He is a productive member of society.Can you really ask much more than that from a drug addict? How many drug addicts help their daughters etc. get through College or whatever they want to do in life.Lets not just ignore the fact that this guy has a lot of family and friends in those winners circle photos.How many drug addicts even have a relationship of any kind with their kids,and family? I want the guy "clean" when he rides. As far as I can tell,he is.I think if people knew how dehydrated these jocks sometimes are(to make weight,)they would be a lot more worried about that than what some experienced high-performing jock does when he isn't riding for a few weeks or months.

So Much Talent
 

PVAL whatever you want to say about him one thing we can agree on is his natural riding ability. As stated before, there is no one better out of the gate than him and when he is straight and riding there is no one in So Cal that can touch him, especially with Go Go back east now....

I remember after Antley died (another rider of extreme natural given ability) Baffert told PVAL that he should take notice because that can easily be him next.... Unfortunately, addicts are generally addicted for life and PVAL's actions attest how hard it is for someone to get off the habit.

PSH

He's the best in the game when he's playing.

It bothers the normal Joe cause if any of us got a bad test at work we would of been canned, and this guy has a green light to go and party for a few months every year and still maintain good standing with the CHRB. :mad:

Actually, it's very different. P Val is not an employee of anybody. He needs a license to engage in his profession, but that's it. If you don't care for the way you're treated at work, go work for yourself. Millions do.

So that makes it ok to smoke crack and rob taxi drivers in El Monte?:D
As long as you work for yourself

Doesn't make it ok but it is different. If you want to lay blame, place it on he CHRB either for making a lousy agreement with P Val that has allowed him to somehow comply or "letting him off easy." Also, as a one-time cab driver, his robbing a hack is, imo, the more serious offense, if it truly happened.

I dunno, I wish they would punish jocks who dont try in races and hold horses more than a guy who busts his ass every time.
I don't care if he wears pink dresses in his free time. All I know is he gives you his best every time hes on a horse. No Sigfreto's from him. And Gomez acually went to jail!!!!!! WHy not complain about him?

Oracle, I have to agree with what you say about PVAL. If he would have stayed clean, then perhaps Jerry Bailey never happens. PVAL is a master on the horse. And he is a great tragedy among jocks in this sport.

http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NAS...=1112274690734

he talks about
his back injury
here.