DEL MAR, Calif. - They’re old pals, the 6-year-old gelding Unconquerable Keen and jockey Umberto Rispoli. Rispoli rode Unconquerable Keen five times from October 2024 until early May of this year, a stretch highlighted by a win in the Stormy Liberal Stakes at Del Mar in November 2024. When Unconquerable Keen returned from a layoff of nearly seven months in Sunday’s $102,500 Stormy Liberal Stakes, Rispoli was back aboard and able to guide the gelding to a thrilling win in the five-furlong turf sprint. Unconquerable Keen has won three consecutive runnings of the Stormy Liberal Stakes, first run in 2022. Trainer Phil D’Amato has won all of them, beginning with Turn On the Jets. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. On Sunday, Unconquerable Keen ($21.60) closed from eighth of 10 with a furlong remaining to win by a neck over 19-1 Zio Jo. The style of the win was Unconquerable Keen’s preferred way to race. “He likes to run between horses,” Rispoli said. “He can finish really strong.” Unconquerable Keen was timed in 56.10 seconds and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96. For the first three furlongs, Unconquerable Keen was well off the pace set by 41-1 Ballyvaughan Gig, who led through early fractions of 21.66 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.22 for a half-mile. Unconquerable Keen was still at the back of the field turning into the stretch when Rispoli moved toward the inside. With less than a furlong remaining, Rispoli guided Unconquerable Keen between Book Smart and Yellow Card. Unconquerable Keen surged to catch Zio Jo, who led briefly. Zio Jo, who was ridden by Antonio Fresu for trainer Doug O’Neill, started in a turf sprint on Sunday for the first time since a sixth-place finish in a maiden race in August 2022. Zio Jo ran in mile races on turf earlier this year, including a second by a half-length in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March. “It’s a good training performance from Doug,” Fresu said. “To bring him back this short and run this good, against all these horses that specialize at this distance, it’s not easy to do.” Zio Jo was third for much of the Stormy Liberal. “The plan was to get him out and get into striking distance,” Fresu said. “The horse responded really well. He took the inside gap and got unlucky at the wire.” Sorrento Sky (5-1) finished third, closing from seventh. D’Amato trains Sorrento Sky. Book Smart finished fourth, followed by Yellow Card, No Nay Hudson, Virat, Nay V Belle, Big City Lights and Ballyvaughan Gig. Unconquerable Keen, an Irish-bred by the Danehill stallion Clodovil, races for the partnership of Michael Nentwig, John Rochfort and Omar Aldabbagh. Unconquerable Keen has won 8 of 24 starts and earned $489,129.  The three wins in the Stormy Liberal Stakes are his only stakes wins. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.