Trotting Favorite Fails

John Campbell scored a record-tying fourth driving victory in the historic Hambletonian, guiding lightly raced Tagliabue to an easy win in a race that might be remembered most for the sensational filly who didn’t make it to the final heat.

CR Kay Suzie, who had dominated the 3-year-old trotting scene and was almost everyone’s favorite to win trotting’s most prestigious race, broke stride in the first heat and just missed qualifying for the final.

At Del Mar, Calif., troubled jockey Patrick Valenzuela was suspended for the remainder of the Del Mar meeting by the track’s board of stewards for failure to appear at a hearing earlier in the week.

Since 1983, Valenzuela, a three-time Del Mar riding champion, has been fined or suspended 11 times, several times for cocaine-related offenses or unexplained absences from the track.