Rispoli decides to return to California

Jockey Umberto Rispoli is returning to California to ride on a full-time basis after having moved to Kentucky earlier this spring.

Rispoli is booked on two mounts at Santa Anita on Sunday. He will be represented by Tony Matos, who will continue to book mounts on behalf of Edwin Maldonado. Rispoli was previously represented in California by Scotty McClellan.

Rispoli, who moved from Hong Kong to California in late 2019, has struggled since his move to Kentucky and said in an interview on Thursday that he is eager to return to the West Coast where his wife and two children have remained.

“When things don’t work, you pick up your stuff and move on,” he said. “I don’t think I received good opportunities. I've been riding a lot of lesser horses.

“It’s tough for me.”

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Through Wednesday, Rispoli was winless with 35 mounts at the Keeneland spring meeting and the current Churchill Downs meeting. At Churchill Downs, Rispoli was booked to ride two horses on Thursday and four on Friday and Saturday. Earlier this month, Rispoli finished third in the Kentucky Oaks on 50-1 Desert Dawn, his best result in a stakes at Churchill Downs this spring.

Rispoli, 33, returns to California when Juan Hernandez has taken control of the jockey standings following the departure of perennial leader Flavien Prat to Kentucky and New York earlier this year. Prat was the dominant rider at Santa Anita and Del Mar in the last few years.

Through Sunday, Hernandez led all riders at Santa Anita with 77 wins. The meeting began on Dec. 26 and continues through June 19.

The Italian-born Rispoli has yet to win a riding title in California. He was second to Prat at the 2020 Del Mar summer meeting, finishing the meet with 49 wins, one fewer than Prat. Last summer, Prat won the Del Mar title with 47 wins while Rispoli had 27 wins, finishing in fourth-place behind Hernandez (32) and Abel Cedillo (29).

Rispoli said on Thursday that he rode with a back injury last year, but is now pain-free after undergoing an injection earlier this year.

Rispoli won 27 races at the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting and ranked fifth in the standings at the time of his departure for Kentucky. The 27-win total left him in seventh-place through Sunday.

Matos said on Thursday that Rispoli will ride at Santa Anita through May 30 and has obligations to ride at Churchill Downs on June 4-5 before returning to California.

In March, Rispoli said he planned to relocate to New York, but then changed his mind to focus on Kentucky. Now, Rispoli is on the move again, returning to the circuit where he began his American career.

“It will be nice to get back to Santa Anita,” Rispoli said. “I have to move on to what I want to do for the summer. The plan is to go to Del Mar. I’ll come back home.”