Sports fans sympathize with an athlete who must wait an extra minute or two for his moment of truth: The field-goal kicker “iced” by a timeout. The no-hit pitcher feeling his limbs tighten and nerves tense in the dugout during a long top of the ninth inning. The golfer stewing over a crucial tee shot late in a major tournament while the group ahead dawdles in the fairway.
So let’s spare an extra thought for an athlete who must wait weeks for a career-defining moment: the jockey with the favorite in the Kentucky Derby.
After Umberto Rispoli rode the colt named Journalism to a hard-earned victory in the Santa Anita Derby on April 5, he faced four weeks of anticipation and potential anxiety before the biggest race of his life May 3.
“(I’m) calm, relaxed and quiet, and try(ing) to not put the pressure too high,” Rispoli said when we talked this week.
Can he stay that way? Keep calm all the way to the post parade at Churchill Downs? Stay loose in the starting gate, where split-second reactions are vital? Remain clear-headed for the in-race decisions that make or break a horse’s chances?
Listening to Rispoli, 36, the Italian-born jockey who’s second in earnings and third in wins at the Santa Anita winter-spring meet, you realize he has – and, just as important, thinks he has – some advantages as he tries to tune his emotions for Kentucky Derby Day.
Rispoli said it helps that Journalism, a winner of three stakes in a row for trainer Michael McCarthy and an ownership group headed by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, will do some of the thinking himself.
“He’s a very intelligent horse,” Rispoli said. “I’m pretty sure he’s capable of putting himself in a good position (early in the Derby), obviously with the permission of a good (post-position) draw.
“If (the leaders) go slow, he’ll be happy to sit a little closer. If they go mid-pace, he can sit mid-pack. If they go very, very fast, he can sit at the back. I see many horses come from dead last and win the Kentucky Derby.”
Rispoli knows, anyway, that thinking hard about strategy is pointless until the field of as many as 20 horses (plus up to four also-eligibles) is set and post positions are drawn April 26. And even then, much will be dictated by how Journalism and key opponents come out of the gate.
“Once we leave the gate, we’ll decide where to sit (early in) the race,” he said.
Rispoli isn’t letting hype about Journalism’s superiority get to him.
“I don’t want to disrespect the other horses,” he said. “Journalism, (Florida Derby winner) Tappan Street and (Florida Derby runnerup) Sovereignty, I would put on the same level.
“Numbers say my horse is the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby. But I leave numbers to the people at Harvard. Horses don’t know how to count.”
Rispoli is no Kentucky Derby rookie. He and Brooklyn Strong finished 15th at 43-1 behind winner-by-disqualification Mandaloun in 2021, and he and McCarthy’s Endlessly were a creditable ninth at 48-1 behind winner Mystik Dan last year.
“When they leg you up, it’s an exciting moment,” said Rispoli, who rode at the biggest meetings in England, France and Hong Kong before coming to the United States in 2019. “The moment you walk onto the track, you have over 150,000 people singing ‘My Old Kentucky Home.’
“I gained some experience. It’s a long day. You wake up at 7, 8 o’clock in the morning, and you have to (wait) until 6:30, almost 7 o’clock (in the evening). I can’t forget any single moment of my first Kentucky Derby – even if I didn’t hit the board.”
Rispoli has other horses and races to keep him busy at Santa Anita this weekend and next, though he’ll go to Louisville to ride Journalism’s final pre-Derby workout late next week.
“I’m taking it day by day, step by step,” he said. “I’ll try to be focused on my next rides before I head to Kentucky.”
He’s booked for 11 mounts Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Santa Anita. Endlessly runs Sunday in the $100,000, Grade III American Stakes. Rispoli can also look forward to double Grade I winner Formidable Man likely running in May, and West Coast turf-course leader Johannes returning this summer.
“Without those medium-class horses, you wouldn’t get to ride in the Grade I’s,” he said, “so I’m devoted to all of those horses.”
And Rispoli has a full life off the track to keep him grounded. He lives in Monrovia with his wife, Kimberley, and their two sons. During the January fires, he said, “we didn’t have electricity for four days, and comparing that to what other people lost, we were very lucky.”
Having grown up playing soccer on the streets in a rough part of Naples, he’s keeping an eye on Napoli’s pursuit of a fourth Serie A title.
Still, Rispoli can’t help thinking about the Kentucky Derby. His career is on the rise after his horses earned $10.4 million in purses in 2024, his best in the United States and 20th best among North American jockeys last year. But he’s still looking for his first win in a Triple Crown or Breeders’ Cup race.
“I think you have to enjoy the moment, doing what you do every day,” he said of the weeks leading up to the first Saturday in May. “Don’t change anything. No overthinking. No fears.”
But he knows what’s at stake: “It could be the best moment of my life if I win the Kentucky Derby.”
Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at X.com/KevinModesti.
Originally Published:
