World traveler Curatolo looks to establish roots in Southern California
DEL MAR, Calif. – There are plenty of places Ryan Curatolo has been throughout his relatively young life as a jockey, but one spot he’s obviously been at home is the back of a horse.
No matter where he’s gone – and his passport has more stamps than a foreign correspondent for a newsmagazine – Curatolo has produced, and it’s been more of the same this summer at Del Mar, where he’s scratched and clawed his way to a tie for sixth in the jockey standings with seven wins from 53 mounts through Sunday.
What’s different about this stint is intent. Curatolo said he had no grand plan to see the world. It was, he said, different circumstances and opportunities that caused him to go from his native France to New York, then to Macau, Japan, Singapore, Qatar, and Dubai, with a few one-offs mixed in there, too, like Bahrain and Hong Kong.
But now, having turned 30, married within the past year, and with the hope of starting a family, Curatolo and his wife, Dayle – a native of the Philippines he met in Singapore – want to make Southern California their home, and if he keeps riding like this, why would he leave?
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“I’m super happy. Getting to the winner’s circle is the remedy,” Curatolo said between races last weekend at Del Mar. “Many people didn’t know me when I first got here. After I left New York, I rode in so many places, but outside the United States. But I’ve been given some good opportunities here, and I’m trying to make the most of it. I love it here.”
Curatolo arrived in Southern California last November, during Del Mar’s fall meeting. During the subsequent Santa Anita winter/spring meeting, he finished ninth overall, with 30 wins, and his $2.21 ROI (return on investment) showed his runners were outperforming their perceived chances.
Curatolo quickly rose to prominence a decade ago as an apprentice in New York, where he was based during a 2011 season in which he won 115 races and finished second in Eclipse Award balloting to Kyle Frey, who, coincidentally, is now also based in Southern California.
“He deserved it,” Curatolo said. “I remember I’d wake up in the morning and say, ‘Who is this guy?’ He’d be riding during the day, and then winning three at night while I was sleeping.”
By the middle of 2013, having lost his apprentice allowance and riding primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region, Curatolo was presented with an opportunity to ride in Macau, and thus began his globetrotting odyssey. He won the Macau Gold Cup, later received a three-month license to ride in Japan, went back to Macau, then relocated to Singapore after a typhoon knocked out the track in Macau for months. He moved on to Qatar, where he won the 2018 Qatar Derby and 2019 Qatar Oaks, and then to Dubai, where he won the United Arab Emirates 2000 Guineas in 2021.
“I didn’t plan a lot of this,” Curatolo said. “When good opportunities came my way, I said, ‘Why not?’ ”
Curatolo said the most challenging place he rode was South Korea, where he rode two races, because every conversation required translators, being as he didn’t speak Korean and the people with whom he interacted didn’t speak French or English.
Curatolo had wanted to return to the United States sooner than he did, but the COVID-19 pandemic made getting a work visa to come to the United States impossible. He had made contact with local jockey agent Mike Ciani, and once restrictions eased, he was on his way.
“We thought, ‘Let’s take a chance,’ ” Curatolo said of he and his wife. “She’s happy in the U.S. We want to settle here.”
When not at Del Mar, Curatolo resides not far from Santa Anita, in Sierra Madre, hard by the mountains he said take his breath away when he comes out of the tunnel from the paddock.
“It’s different. Really beautiful,” he said.
As for Del Mar, “Everybody is excited.”
“People are so happy at the races,” he said. “It’s the best place to be in the summer.”
Sacre bleu! A Frenchman saying there’s a better summer place than Deauville?
“Deauville has the best oysters,” Curatolo said.
Curatolo should know. The world is his oyster.