COVID restrictions will keep Rispoli, Velazquez from riding on Saudi Cup card
American-based jockeys John Velazquez and Umberto Rispoli were unable to travel to Saudi Arabia, where they were scheduled to ride horses in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Saturday.
Rispoli had the mount on Max Player in the Saudi Cup and Cowan in the Saudi Derby. Trainer Steve Asmussen said Friday that Mickael Barzalona would ride Max Player in the Saudi Cup. Joel Rosario was released from his commitment on another horse in the Saudi Derby and will ride Cowan.
Velazquez was booked to ride Tacitus in the Saudi Cup; that mount now goes to William Buick. Velazquez’s mount in the Dirt Sprint, New York Central, goes to Rosario.
The travel problems all stemmed from a flight ticketing error made by the travel coordinator for the Saudi Cup. Tickets for the second leg of travel, between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, were double booked, according to Ron Anderson, agent for Rosario and Velazquez. The double booking of flights scheduled to depart Wednesday led to the cancellation of the entire flight itinerary. Travel was rescheduled for Thursday, when further problems surfaced.
In California, Rosario, Rispoli, and retired jockey Gary Stevens boarded a flight but were taken off after being told the COVID-19 tests would not meet Saudi entrance requirements. To travel, a negative COVID test was required within 72 hours of landing in Saudi Arabia. Rispoli’s test, Anderson said, had a 72-hour window that ended one hour before he was scheduled to land in Riyadh after travel was rebooked. Rosario had gotten a second rapid COVID test in advance of the rescheduled flight, so he was allowed back onto the plane, and has arrived in Saudi Arabia.
As for Velazquez, who is in Florida, his flight was rebooked to depart Thursday and fly through Spain, but when Velazquez arrived at the airport, Anderson said, he was told that without a Spanish visa, which he did not possess, he would not be able to change terminals in Madrid to board his flight from there to Saudi Arabia.