Fresu starting to turn it around with more stakes wins on his radar

DEL MAR, Calif. – For a jockey who began the Del Mar summer meeting with a win, the first two weekends of the season have been a tumultuous period for jockey Antonio Fresu.

Fresu won the first race on opening day on July 20, and then lost with his next 26 mounts before a two-win day last Saturday. He added another win on Sunday to rank in a tie for fifth in the overall standings with four wins, trailing joint leaders Juan Hernandez and Umberto Rispoli who have eight wins through the first six days of racing.

Fresu, rated as a contender to beat Hernandez for the riding title, said in a morning interview last weekend that his confidence did not wane during the losing streak.

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“I started well with the first race," he said.

“Every decision I was making was not what I wanted to do. Everything was going bad. You have those kind of days. You need to leave them back and go on and change your luck.”

The setbacks were not limited to losses in the order of finish. In the final race on July 20, Fresu’s mount was disqualified for causing a chain reaction of interference. The disqualification led to a five-days suspension that is currently under an appeal.

Fresu, 32, said he retains high expectations for the remainder of the Del Mar season, which ends on Sept. 8.

“I feel confident I can do better,” he said. Saturday “was a good day.”

Fresu’s two winners from last Saturday are bound for stakes later this summer.

Fresu rode Dr. Venkman to a win in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, a prep for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles on Aug. 31. Dr. Venkman, trained by Mark Glatt, raced around two turns for the first time in the San Diego.

Fresu wants to see what Dr. Venkman can do at a longer trip in the Pacific Classic.

“I think it will be a different setup,” he said. “Now, we’ve tested him. The horse broke well. He relaxed really well and picked up pretty well. It will be a different setup and maybe there will be more pace.

“He was looking around in the stretch. There was something more there.”

Fresu also won a maiden race for 2-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs with Proud Starlet, who led throughout in her debut. She could return in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs on Sept. 7.

This weekend, Fresu is scheduled to ride Desert Dawn in Saturday’s Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, and Stay Hot in Sunday’s $100,000 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Desert Dawn has not raced since she finished third by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on April 21 with Fresu aboard.

Fresu has ridden Stay Hot in all eight of his starts, which range in outcomes from three consecutive stakes wins at Del Mar and Santa Anita from December to March and a last-place finish in the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Churchill Downs on May 4.

“He’s always proved to be a nice horse,” Fresu said. “He likes the Del Mar track. We won the stakes here. I think now, for what I saw when I breezed him last time, he’s back to himself. I was really happy.”

This is Fresu’s second year of riding in California after he relocated from Dubai in the spring of 2023. Last summer at Del Mar, Hernandez led all riders with 39 wins, with Fresu second with 31.

The rankings were unchanged during the two meetings at Santa Anita earlier this year. Hernandez finished first with 53 wins at the winter-spring meeting, while Fresu had 46 wins. At the spring meeting, Hernandez edged Fresu, 36-35.

On Thursday and Friday, Fresu has six mounts each day, while Hernandez has five. A native of Italy, Fresu knows keeping pace with Hernandez in the overall standings will be tough. Collecting stakes trophies remains an ancillary goal.

“I would love to be top three,” he said. “My main goals are the big races.”

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