Rispoli scores first California win

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Umberto Rispoli, who relocated from Hong Kong to California last month, recorded his first win in the United States in Wednesday’s 10th race at Santa Anita on 4-1 Musawaat.

Musawaat was Rispoli’s eighth mount since the start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting on Dec. 28. On the weekend of Dec. 28-29, Rispoli had three second-place finishes in stakes, including Originaire in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile.

“With a win, I’ll have a little better sleep,” he said, while walking back to the jockeys’ room. “I hope it’s the first of many.”

Musawaat stalked the pace to early stretch in the allowance race with an $80,000 claiming option at 1 1/8 miles and held off a late threat from 5-2 favorite Southern King to win by a half-length. Musawaat avoided trouble when Rispoli moved his mount around Golden Birthday when that horse sustained a fatal leg injury.

“I was lucky I wasn’t on his heels and could shift around,” Rispoli said. “He lost his balance, but I had so much” horse.

Rispoli, 31, was a two-time champion in his native Italy before moving to Hong Kong in 2011. He has three mounts on Saturday’s 10-race program, which begins at 11:30 a.m., Pacific.

Rispoli rode at Woodbine three times in the last decade, but this is his first time to ride in California.

“It’s like the south of Italy, which is where I’m from,” he said.