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Kentucky Downs ‘Looks Like Home’ To Jockey Umberto Rispoli

Umberto Rispoli spent most of a week at Kentucky Downs last year in order to ride only two races that wound up five days apart. But even as he jogged around the 1 5/16-mile undulating turf course to keep his weight down, he knew he wanted to come back this year.

Rispoli finished 10th in his first start at Kentucky Downs, the Dueling Grounds Oaks, then five days later made the trip from California worth it financially by winning the $400,000 Music City Stakes aboard Lighthouse. The Music City was part of a card that moved from a Sunday to the following Tuesday because of torrential rain.

But Rispoli — who has ridden all over the world including being a champion rider in his native Italy and a Group 1 winner in Hong Kong — had already made up his mind that he wanted to return to the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs, the richest six days of racing in America and among the most lucrative in the world.

The FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs runs this coming Sunday, Labor Day Monday and Sept. 8, 9, 11 and 12. First post is 12:20 p.m. Central.

Rispoli admits he wasn't happy when some of his anticipated mounts for Kentucky Downs fell through.

“But it was going to be an experience for me, anyway,” he said. “Because I'd never been to Kentucky Downs and I know it's a class track and had a scenery like some of the tracks we have in Europe. So I was excited about it. I just saw some of their races on TV. I didn't know much about the track. I ran around the track to lose some weight, and it was a good time to check out the track. But definitely when you come home with a stakes in your pocket after five days, it was worth it and it was a good experience.

“I hope this time to have more races to ride and more horses with chances…. The agent is going to be very important there. There's a lot of money. They're going to be overfilled in every race probably. But I'm very excited to come back there. This time I hope to bring home some other big winners.”

Veteran jockey agent Scott McClellan said he's got Rispoli riding at Kentucky Downs for the final four days after their Del Mar base closes on Labor Day. His stakes business is expected to include Argentine-bred Belmont Gold Cup runner-up Fantasioso for trainer Ignacio Correas in the $1 million Calumet Turf Cup (G2) and Constantia for John Sadler in the $600,000 The Mint Ladies Sprint.

Rispoli is in his second full year of riding year-round in America. In that short period of time, he has stamped himself among the top few jockeys based in southern California. Rispoli currently ranks 14th in North American purse earnings for 2021 at more than $7 million, including his first and second Grade 1 victories in the United States aboard Smooth Like Strait in the Shoemaker Mile and Rock Your World in the RUNHAPPY Santa Anita Derby.

The jockey says he had no expectations coming into Kentucky Downs last year. The course catches a lot of people by surprise with its undulations, kidney shape and dog-legged stretch rather than American racing's standard flat oval.

“I just knew it was an up-and-down racecourse, which isn't common in the United States,” he said, adding of his close friend and fellow rider Flavien Prat, with whom Rispoli traveled from California last year: “We landed and go to visit the track right away. He turns into the street for the racetrack, and I said, 'Where are we going?' He said, 'This is the track.' I said, 'You're kidding! Well, it's going to be fun.'

“I wasn't disappointed at all. I was laughing. I said, 'OK, it looks like home.' In France sometimes you're driving for hours and you look on the side of the highway and you find the rails and you think, 'Wow, I can't believe there's a racetrack here.' So I wasn't that shocked. But it was funny to approach the track, just watching and seeing it for the first time.”

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Kendrick Carmouche Will Be Back In The Saddle Next Monday

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche is expected to return to riding races next Monday at Parx Racing, reports the Daily Racing Form.

He has not ridden in the afternoon since Belmont Stakes day on June 5, when he suffered a broken ankle in the final race and had to undergo surgery.

“He probably could have come back and ridden the final couple of days at Saratoga, but the book was already out and we didn't know exactly when he'd be able to return, and Kendrick didn't want to come back here just to come back,” agent Kevin Bubser told DRF. “He'll ride Monday through Wednesday each of the next two weeks at Parx and be ready to return when Belmont reopens the following Thursday.”

Carmouche began working horses again on Sunday morning at Saratoga.

Two Jockeys Suspended For Roles In Accident Causing Seven-Horse Spill At Del Mar

Jockeys Jose Valdivia, Jr. and Diego Herrera (apprentice) have each been issued suspensions by the Del Mar stewards, reports the Daily Racing Form, for their roles in an incident that caused a seven-horse spill and resulting “no contest” in last Sunday's seventh race.

Sassy Chasey (Herrera) was racing in third, in between frontrunners Katie's Paradise (Valdivia) to the outside and Scream and Shout along the rail when she appeared to clip the heels of Katie's Paradise and went down, setting off the chain reaction that involved Backtoflash and Cesar Ortega; Whiskey Blue and Kyle Frey; Siena Silk and Emily Ellingwood; Renegade Princess and Tyler Baze; Phoenix Tears and Tiago Pereira; and Corners Up and Juan Espinoza.

Miraculously, there were no serious injuries among jockeys or horses, with four riders going to a local hospital for evaluation before being discharged. Among the seven horses, there were only a few lacerations that required stitches. All were back in their stalls Sunday night.

Valdivia received a 10-day suspension, and Herrera received five days. Herrera's agent, Vince DeGregory, said the apprentice jockey does not plan to appeal. However, Valdivia's agent, Nick Hines, is planning an appeal.

“What can you say?” Hines told DRF. “Ultra-surprised and flabbergasted, to single Jose out when the rider who clipped heels admitted fault. They've made Jose out to be doubly responsible.”

DeShawn Parker Wins 2021 Mike Venezia Memorial Award

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced today that veteran jockey DeShawn Parker is the winner of the 2021 Mike Venezia Memorial Award.

Parker, based at Indiana Grand, was chosen in ballots cast by more than 350 professional jockeys at North American tracks. He outpolled a distinguished group of finalists including Junior Alvarado, Julien Leparoux, Scott Stevens and Gerard Melancon, and will be recognized in a special ceremony on Thursday, September 2 at Saratoga Race Course.

Created in 1989, the Mike Venezia Memorial Award is awarded to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the result of injuries suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., won more than 2,300 races during his 25-year career.

“It's an honor just to be on the ballot for this award,” said Parker. “It's extra special that my fellow riders are the ones who made the selection. I take a lot of pride in being a role model both on and off the track. I will cherish this award.”

In a career that has spanned more than 30 years, Parker, 50, was America's leading rider in 2010 with 377 wins, becoming the first Black rider to do so since 1895. He led all jockeys again in 2011 with 400 wins; and is now closing in on 5,900 career wins. A native of Cincinnati, Parker was a dominant rider for more than 20 years at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia. He has also enjoyed considerable success at Indiana Grand, where he was leading rider in 2020, and at Sam Houston Race Park, where he was leading rider in 2015.

Winning the Venezia Award is another major accomplishment for Parker in a year he described as “personally emotional but exciting.” In early March, Parker lost his father, Daryl Parker, a longtime Ohio racing steward, to cancer. Parker called his father his mentor and inspiration for becoming a jockey, especially after telling his 5-foot-10-inch son to ignore the naysayers who said he was too tall to make it as a professional rider.

“My idol, my best friend and a great father!” Parker said of his father. “He meant so much to my life and my career. I can only hope to be as great as he was.”

Two weeks after the passing of his father, Parker was selected by a vote of jockeys nationwide as the winner of the 2021 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, presented by Santa Anita Park.

The Venezia Memorial Award is a 13-inch bronze sculpture with a title that reads, “The Jockey, A Champion.” Parker joins a legendary group of riders who have won the award previously, including Venezia, who posthumously earned the inaugural award in 1989, as well as Bill Shoemaker, Angel Cordero, Jr., Jerry Bailey, Mike Smith, Gary Stevens, Richard Migliore, Edgar Prado, Ramon Dominguez, Joe Bravo and Javier Castellano.

For Migliore, the 2003 Venezia Memorial Award winner who is now with NYRA TV, the award continues the legacy of Venezia.

“Winning the award myself was one the proudest moments of my career because Mike Venezia embodied everything you look for in a rider,” said Migliore. “He continues to be an example for today's jockeys and for our sport. DeShawn Parker is a worthy addition to this group of jockeys.”

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