After he crossed the wire first aboard Journalism (Curlin) in the GI Preakness Stakes, jockey Umberto Rispoli planned to take a few days off and bask in what was the biggest win of his career. Instead, he has found himself in the middle of an ugly controversy involving his ride and the bumping incident with Flavien Prat, who was aboard 'TDN Rising Star' Goal Oriented (Not This Time). The two banged into each other in upper stretch and impeded the Steve Asmussen-trained Clever Again (American Pharaoh).
While some people have blamed the incident on Prat, others believe Rispoli was at fault and rode recklessly by trying to come through a hole on the rail rather than going around horses. That group includes Clever Again's trainer Steve Asmussen.
“Quit riding him like a rented mule,” Asmussen said of Rispoli on Steve Byk's At the Races radio show on Thursday.
Reached by the TDN, Rispoli was clearly upset about the criticism, but claimed he did nothing wrong. He explained that he went inside because Journalism was not going anywhere and he thought there was a hole on the rail and saving ground would help. But just as he was trying to make his move on the rail, Goal Oriented and Flavien Prat took what Rispoli thought was his lane. When Goal Oriented slammed into Journalism, Journalism collided with a tiring Clever Again.
“I know this has been controversial,” Rispoli said. “A lot of people are saying it was my fault and a lot of people were saying it was Flavien's fault. A lot of people said I should have gone outside, while others said I made the right move by staying inside. You're on a horse, you're going 45 miles an hour and you have to make a decision when you can. When I ducked out with my horse around the half-mile pole I was going nowhere. Nobody thought I was on the horse to beat at that point. Everybody thought I had no horse at the time. My intention was to take him out to see if he would give me any response like he did in the Kentucky Derby. In a couple of strides he didn't do it and the turn was approaching. At that point I had to make a decision.”
Rispoli said that part of the problem was that he was intent on following Clever Again, who, he said, stopped abruptly near the top of the stretch.
“My target from day one was Clever Again. I think everybody was saying Clever Again was the horse I had to beat to win the Preakness,” he said. ” Before the race, I thought Clever Again would keep going at least to the sixteenth pole. You never would have thought that he would be stopping before the quarter pole.”
Top of the lane in the Preakness | Jeff Snyder/MJC
Rispoli said his critics have failed to realize that before he made the move to the rail, Journalism was going nowhere.
“People say my horse never dropped the bit,” he said. “If you think my horse didn't drop the bit you don't know how to watch a race. Just before the quarter pole I was ready for Flavien to go around Gosger and I would have tried to go around Flavien. My first thought would have been to go around, even if that meant going five or six wide. On the dirt, that's usually the best spot to be in. I just didn't have the horse.”
He said he wished more people would take into account that during his time in the U.S. (Rispoli came here from Hong Kong in 2020) he has been involved in very few controversies and believes he's earned a reputation as a clean rider.
“That's not the type of rider that I am,” he said. “I have been here for five years. Find me another race where people said I was reckless or find me another race where I was in that position. I am not a kamikaze rider. I have a wife and two kids and I didn't want to kill myself or see anyone get killed. It's easy for people to say that he should have gone around the other horses, but if I'm ever in a position like that again and think I can win if I save ground I'm going to do it.
“Flavien and I are friends but on the track we need to respect the colors we are wearing. There is no friendship on the track. Did he put me in tight? Yes. Was I already there? Yes. The gap was there and that's why I took it. I'm not going to drive my horse in a way where I put myself at risk of going down.”
He said he has not spoken with Prat about the incident, but plans to do so Monday when both are riding at Santa Anita. He said he will keep that conversation private.
“We definitely will see each other Monday because we'll both be riding in California,” Rispoli said. “I plan to speak to him, but it's just going to be between him and I. I don't want what we say to each other wind up on social media. There won't be any cameras, anything like that. It's something between two professional riders who are trying to do their best to win races. This is just between him and I. We are good friends. We have known each other for more than 15 years.”
In the end, nobody, horse or rider went down. Rispoli is thankful for that.
“Fortunately nobody went down,” he said. “My trainer is happy. My owners are happy. This happens in horse racing.”
“A REMARKABLE RECOVERY BY JOURNALISM!”
JOURNALISM WINS THE 150TH PREAKNESS STAKES! #Preakness150 pic.twitter.com/f2IOVEyUy9
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 17, 2025
The post Rispoli Defends His Preakness Ride appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
