Umberto Rispoli

Jockey Joel Rosario will replace Umberto Rispoli on unbeaten GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby hero Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI Kentucky Derby. The decision came after it was announced that Bob Baffert trainee Concert Tour (Street Sense), who Rosario had ridden in each of his four starts, would skip the Derby and opt for the GI Preakness S. Rosario rode Rock Your World in his turf sprint debut win at Santa Anita Jan. 1, but Rispoli was up for both the Pasadena S. and Santa Anita...

Hronis Racing and Talla Racing's Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}) threw his hat in the ring for the GI Kentucky Derby with a front-running upset in his first try on dirt in Saturday's GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby. A debut winner sprinting on the grass at Santa Anita on New Year's Day, the $650,000 KEESEP purchase scored a decisive victory in the one-mile Pasadena S. over the local lawn Feb. 27. He prepped for this with a best-of-82 five-furlongs in :59 1/5 over the Arcadia main track Mar. 28....

Several major shifts in riding assignments were underway Friday morning after Umberto Rispoli and John Velazquez were not allowed to fly to Saudi Arabia due to a mixup in flight arrangements Wednesday and problems with COVID-19 restrictions Thursday. Ron Anderson, the agent for Velazquez and Rosario, said that Mickael Barzalona would ride Max Player (Honor Code), that William Buick would be aboard Tacitus (Tapit) in the Saudi Cup, and that Joel Rosario would ride New York Central (Tapit) in defense of his title in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint. In the...

During these unprecedented times of global pandemic and spectator-free stands, the 81st Del Mar summer meet wrapped up Monday with a gripping battle to the wire between Flavien Prat and Umberto Rispoli for leading jockey honors. They were tied at 49 races apiece going into the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity, with Prat winning on Dr. Schivel (Violence) and Rispoli finishing fourth on Scooby (Fast Anna). It was the penultimate race of the meet and left Prat alone atop the rider standings with 50 wins and $2,968,918 in earnings. It...

Umberto Rispoli was off to a hot start in his first visit to Del Mar, with seven trips to the winner's circle from his first 21 rides, and he'll look for his third black-type success at the meet in Saturday's GII San Clemente S. The Italian has the call atop Croughavouke (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) for Jeff Mullins in the one-mile prep for the GI Del Mar Oaks and the filly has run well in a pair of appearances at the seaside oval. Runner-up in last year's Juvenile Fillies Turf...

Del Mar has cancelled its weekend racing--scheduled to run Friday through Sunday--because of multiple jockeys testing positive for COVID-19, as first reported in Daily Racing Form. In a subsequent press release Wednesday afternoon, Del Mar explained that all of the track's jockeys and jockey room personnel were tested on Tuesday by San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency staff, with 15 jockeys showing up positive for COVID-19. All were reportedly asymptomatic. "Assuming these individuals continue to show no symptoms, they will be isolated for a total of 10 days...

Umberto Rispoli understands how hard it can be for a foreign rider to break in at a place like Santa Anita. That's why he was delighted to be tied for seventh in the standings at the current meet with six wins after Sunday's card. But the former champion rider in his native Italy didn't come here to be mid-pack in the jockey standings. "My target is to win some of the major races in the U.S.," he said. "Flavien Prat is a good example. He came from Europe and he...