LOS ANGELES — Patrick Valenzuela, the jockey who won the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness aboard Sunday Silence, is retiring after a 33-year career marred by no fewer than a dozen suspensions or jockey’s license revocations because of substance-abuse problems.
Valenzuela’s agent, Tom Knust, said Friday the 49-year-old rider made the decision to quit after recent surgery to remove his gall bladder, in addition to battling weight and knee problems. Valenzuela rode 4,333 winners in his career, including seven Breeders’ Cup races, and had purse earnings of $163,893,554, ranking 19th on the all-time list among jockeys.
Rockies get left-hander from Padres.
The Rockies acquired left-hander Nick Schmidt from the Padres to complete the trade that sent closer Huston Street to San Diego. Schmidt, 26, split the 2011 season between High-A Lake Elsinore and on a rehab assignment in the rookie league. He combined to go 3-5 with a 3.84 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings. Schmidt was originally selected by the Padres in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2007 draft out of the University of Arkansas.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired pitchers Trevor Cahill, Craig Breslow and cash from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for pitcher Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill and reliever Ryan Cook.
• The New York Yankees signed right-hander Freddy Garcia to a one-year contract. Garcia went 12-8 with a 3.62 ERA in 26 appearances in 2011.
• The Washington Nationals acquired Ryan Perry from the Detroit Tigers for Collin Balester in a swap of right-handed relievers.
• The Tampa Bay Rays and Matt Moore, who went 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA in three appearances last season, agreed to a deal that guarantees the left-hander $14 million over five years.
Hurricanes send Kaberle to Montreal for Spacek
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes traded defenseman Tomas Kaberle to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Jaroslav Spacek.
• Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger will be out indefinitely with concussion-like symptoms.
• The NHL suspended Buffalo Sabres forward Ville Leino one game without pay for elbowing Flyers forward Matt Read in their game Wednesday night.
Footnotes.
Junior forward Reeves Nelson was dismissed from the UCLA basketball team after twice having been suspended for insubordinate behavior this season. He was averaging 5.7 points and 4.5 rebounds.
• Canada’s Patrick Chan shrugged off an uncharacteristic fall into the boards to beat Aspen native Jeremy Abbott and win the short program in the ISU Grand Prix Final in Quebec City. Italy’s Carolina Kostner won the women’s short program.
• Rory McIlroy had two late bogeys to finish with a 1-under-par 71 and 7-under total — five strokes behind Alvaro Quiros — at the Dubai World Championship.
• UCLA swept four-time defending national champion Penn State 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 in the NCAA regional volleyball semifinals to end the Nittany Lions’ record 26-game postseason winning streak in Lexington, Ky.
• Two former basketball players have accused Amateur Athletic Union president Robert “Bobby” Dodd of molesting them as children in the 1980s, according to an ESPN report.
The Associated Press
