Rispoli, leading rider at Santa Anita, has ankle surgery after spill at Gulfstream
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Umberto Rispoli, the leading rider at the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, underwent surgery on Sunday morning to stabilize a broken ankle sustained when he was unseated in a race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, according to his agent Matt Nakatani.
Rispoli was aboard Unconquerable Keen, who clipped heels in the stretch of the $175,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint. Rispoli fell from the left side of Unconquerable Keen and suffered a fractured ankle, tibia and fibula.
Nakatani said Rispoli underwent surgery on the ankle on Sunday at a hospital in Aventura, Fla. In coming days, Rispoli will seek consultation with doctors about care for the other injuries, and whether a forthcoming leg operation can be conducted in Florida or California.
“He’ll come back in a week or so to stabilize his leg,” Nakatani said. “We’re trying to figure out whether to stay.
“That’s the first question I’m going to ask of the doctor.”
In a social media message posted on Saturday night, Nakatani said Rispoli is looking forward to a comeback.
“This isn’t the end of the road for us,” Nakatani wrote. “We will be back stronger than ever.
“Umberto is focused on one thing and one thing only, getting back to the saddle as soon as possible! We are very thankful that it wasn’t worse!”
There was no timeframe on Sunday on a recovery period, Nakatani said in an interview.
Through Saturday, Rispoli led all riders at Santa Anita with 15 wins, two more than Kazushi Kimura. Juan Hernandez (12 wins), Emisael Jaramillo (11) and Hector Berrios (9) ranked third through fifth.
Rispoli, 37, was the leading rider at the 2025 Del Mar autumn meeting, his first title at Del Mar or Santa Anita since relocating from Hong Kong to Southern California in December 2019.
In 2025, Rispoli won 129 races with mounts that earned more than $13.4 million, a personal best of his American career.
A native of Italy, Rispoli won his first American classic on Journalism in the Preakness Stakes last May. Journalism also won the Santa Anita Derby and Haskell Invitational and was second in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, with Rispoli aboard.
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