Ismael Valenzuela

Who was Ismael Valenzuela?

Ismael "Milo" Valenzuela was a Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He was one of 22 children born to parents who had immigrated to the United states. Shortly after Ismael Valenzuela's birth, the family returned to their native Mexico. At age 14, Milo Valenzuela came back to the United States where he began working with quarter horses then launched his career as a jockey at a racetrack in Tucson, Arizona. He eventually began riding in California and would come to national prominence as a jockey competing for the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

Leading up to the 1958 Kentucky Derby, the California horse Silky Sullivan received much publicity for his habit of coming from very far behind to win races. It was the first time television played a major role in the publicizing of a racehorse and after Valenzuela won the Derby on board Tim Tam, the next day he was flown to New York City to make a guest appearance on CBS Television's The Ed Sullivan Show. Two weeks later, Valenzuela and Tim Tam won the Preakness Stakes but in the final leg of the Triple Crown they finished second at the Belmont Stakes after the horse fractured a sesamoid bone near the end of the race.