Jockey Antonio Fresu, who was suspended 32 days for a series of whip violations at Del Mar in late summer, has been granted a stay by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority that allows him to ride the opening two weekends of the Santa Anita autumn meeting that begins on Friday until an appeal is heard. Fresu’s agent, Tom Knust, said he requested a stay from HISA regarding two rulings against Fresu in the final two weeks of the Del Mar meeting. A hearing regarding an appeal is scheduled for Oct. 4. The first two weekends of the Santa Anita meeting include 14 graded stakes designed as preps for Breeders’ Cup weekend races at Santa Anita on Nov. 3-4. Fresu has mounts in several stakes this weekend. :: Bet the races with a $250 First Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. On Saturday, he is expected to ride Astronomer in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on turf, Visitant in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on dirt, Celestial Moon in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt, and I’m A Gambler in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course. Entries for those races were scheduled to be drawn on Wednesday. On Friday’s opening day, Fresu has mounts in seven of the nine races. In three instances in late August and early September, Fresu was given one-day suspensions for overuse of the whip. He was cited for striking his mount seven times, or one more than the permitted number. Because of an accumulation of similar violations since early May, Fresu was given two seven-day suspensions, and one 15-day suspension for the infractions. The penalties were originally scheduled to run from Sept. 9 through Oct. 9, but the stay granted by HISA allows Fresu to continue riding. Fresu won 31 races at the Del Mar summer meeting, finishing second in the standings to Juan Hernandez with 39. Fresu, 31, moved from Dubai in April and is riding in California for the first time this year. On Aug. 19 at Del Mar, Fresu rode Astronomer to a 21-1 win in an allowance race at a mile on turf, the 4-year-old gelding’s first win since an upset at 30-1 in the Qatar Golden Mile for 2-year-olds at a mile on turf at Del Mar in November 2021. Astronomer, trained by Simon Callaghan, did not race at 3 in 2022 and had his second start of 2023 on Aug. 19. The field for the $200,000 City of Hope Mile is expected to include Hong Kong Harry, a three-time Grade 2 winner in 2022 who is winless in three starts this year. Hong Kong Harry was third as the 8-5 favorite in his last start, the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on May 29. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.