SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Bumpy at times, yes, but Journalism has taken jockey Umberto Rispoli on the ride of a lifetime this spring. There was a sensational 3-year-old debut in the fast-rated San Felipe Stakes in March followed by a dramatic victory in which he had to overcome traffic trouble in the Santa Anita Derby in April. Those performances made Journalism the favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Beaten on the square by Sovereignty in that race, Journalism bounced back with another dramatic performance in the Preakness as Rispoli created running room for himself and his horse in upper stretch before running down a seemingly home-free Gosger to win by a half-length. Saturday, Rispoli hopes to close out the Triple Crown with a victory in the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga where Journalism will be rematched with Sovereignty. “We’re grateful for what happened in the Preakness, obviously we were close to winning the most important race in the United States, but we bounced back pretty well to win the Preakness,” Rispoli said earlier this week. “We are at the Belmont, hopefully, the journey is not going to end.” Rispoli’s ride in the Preakness has been a talking point. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, whose horse Clever Again was bothered the most in upper stretch of the Preakness, sharply criticized Rispoli in a radio interview with Steve Byk a few days after the race, saying Rispoli should “quit riding him like a rented mule.” :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save up to 52% on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. “That’s crazy,” Rispoli said when asked about the comment earlier this week. “I don’t think I have to answer it.” The criticism centered around Rispoli’s decision to take Journalism to the crowded inside as opposed to going outside for the stretch drive in the Preakness. Rispoli explained that he didn’t feel Journalism was moving as well at Pimlico as he had two weeks before in the Kentucky Derby. At Churchill Downs, there was an early loss of position due to some crowding out of the gate. However, Rispoli felt, all in all, Journalism had a good trip in the Derby and that Sovereignty just had a better one under Junior Alvarado. Different story in the Preakness. Traveling down the backside, Journalism was sixth and Rispoli was riding him just to keep up. Though he was on the best horse, Rispoli felt that had he taken Journalism outside he likely wouldn’t have won. So, approaching the quarter pole, Rispoli went for what he believed was a gap between the pacesetting Clever Again and Goal Oriented, a horse being ridden by Flavien Prat. Rispoli put Journalism into that gap and inside the quarter pole Journalism bumped with Goal Oriented, who got hit in the hind end and got turned inside. Journalism fought his way through the incident, got into the clear, and kicked on by Gosger in the final strides. “If he was moving like at Churchill I would have gone around,” Rispoli said. “He was off the bridle. At that point you don’t have many options, you have to think what to do, and going to the turn he was [turned] off. I said ‘Well, it doesn’t look like he’s moving like a winner today’ because I’m busy riding him.” Rispoli was hoping the pacesetting Clever Again would keep going into the stretch, thus perhaps creating some space. But Clever Again wasn’t continuing on under Jose Ortiz. “Clever Again stopped really quick, so that was a crucial moment,” Rispoli said. “I start running, he stopped. How many people expected he would stop running before the quarter pole? Nobody. That week we talked about he could be the horse to beat, we thought until at least the sixteenth pole he would be there.” Rispoli’s ride elicited a brief stewards’ inquiry, but the results were official before Rispoli had concluded his post-race interview with NBC’s Donna Brothers. :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Betting Strategies by Mike Beer and David Aragona feature exclusive wager recommendations! Prat, the rider of Goal Oriented, was upset after the race and felt his horse could have finished second or third without that bumping. Prat did not lodge an objection and admitted the best horse won the race. A week later, when Prat was in California to ride, Rispoli and he spoke privately. “We’re good friends,” Rispoli said. “Of course, when we’re on the track we want to win and we try to ride our races. He has his point, I have mine. Of course he’s riding his horse, I’m riding mine, he sees something that I didn’t see, I saw something he didn’t see. “To be honest with you, at that point, the gap I took, it was the only option for me, I couldn’t go nowhere else. There was a gap there. Flavien thought his thought, I had mine. It’s over.” Prat said he and Rispoli have as good a relationship now as they did before the Preakness. “I just showed him I was holding my position,” said Prat, who will be on Baeza in Saturday’s Belmont. “We turned for home, I get turned sideways plus my horse has blinkers so he couldn’t see him so that aggravated the situation. At that point, he felt he didn’t have any other way and he went for it.” Michael McCarthy, the trainer of Journalism, has enjoyed tremendous success with Rispoli over the years, the pair hitting at a 24 percent strike rate, including 12 wins from 38 starts together in 2025. McCarthy said he had “a brief discussion” with Rispoli about the Preakness ride and was satisfied with the jockey’s explanation. “I think we both have a better understanding of how things transpired,” McCarthy said. “I know a lot has been made and people obviously voice their opinions. I’m not too worried about it. I’m worrying about what I’m trying to accomplish on Saturday. I hope they’re worrying about what they’re trying to accomplish on Saturday.” Rispoli, 36, has been riding in the United States since late 2019 after riding in Europe and Hong Kong. His success in those places and early in his U.S. career came on the turf. Before Journalism, Rispoli’s only previous Grade 1 win on dirt came aboard Rock Your World in the 2021 Santa Anita Derby. Despite having gone 3 for 3 on that horse, Rispoli was taken off Rock Your World for the Kentucky Derby, where he finished 17th (elevated to 16th via disqualification) under Joel Rosario. :: DRF's Belmont Stakes Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more “The best horse I rode on the dirt before [Journalism] was Rock Your World because I win the Santa Anita Derby and that performance was an amazing performance that year,” Rispoli said. “But this is special.” Rispoli has never ridden at Saratoga before this week, though he remembers visiting here in the summer of 2019. Ironically, he remembers a horse trained by Asmussen, Gozilla, winning a maiden race. “I remember when I went to the racetrack, it was beautiful, I remember a horse of Steve Asmussen’s named Gozilla, he impressed me,” Rispoli said. “All the atmosphere, the people at the track, this is classy, I like it.” Rispoli hopes to have another Saratoga memory to like come early Saturday evening. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.