 In poor health, he was unable to travel to the annual induction ceremony on August 4 at Saratoga Springs, New York and was inducted in a special ceremony at Santa Anita Racetrack on June 22, 2008.Seventy-four-year-old Ismael Valenzuela died on September 2, 2009, and was buried in the Live Oak Memorial Park Cemetery in Monrovia, California.Valenzuela had three brothers who also became jockeys as did his nephew, Pat Valenzuela.