Jockey Umberto Rispoli has a set routine on Thursday nights, the eve of the start of racing weekends at Santa Anita. Part of the evening is devoted to studying his upcoming mounts. Lately, the homework has paid off. Rispoli has had four two-win days at Santa Anita this month, including two stakes wins on March 1 aboard Formidable Man in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile and the exciting Kentucky Derby prospect Journalism in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes. “I couldn’t be more happy with the way things are going,” Rispoli said on Thursday. Going into Friday’s first day of a four-day racing weekend at Santa Anita, Rispoli ranked third in the standings at the winter-spring meeting with 31 wins – 10 less than co-leaders Juan Hernandez and Flavien Prat. Catching those two before the end of the season on April 6 may be impossible for Rispoli. More stakes victories and multi-win days are within reach, however. In the short-term, such as this weekend, and the long-term, as in the first Saturdays of April and possibly May, there is much for Rispoli to achieve. :: Playing Santa Anita? Get the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports available now. A 36-year-old native of Italy, Rispoli has 15 mounts from Friday through Monday, including Mrs. Astor in Saturday’s Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes for fillies and mares on turf, and Pushiness for trainer Michael McCarthy in Sunday’s Irish O’Brien Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares on the hillside turf course. Rispoli rides Mrs. Astor for the first time in the $100,000 Santa Ana Stakes for trainer Jonathan Thomas. Mrs. Astor had six different riders in eight races last year, a season highlighted by consecutive wins in Grade 3 stakes to end the season – the Red Carpet Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 24 and the Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 27. Rispoli has worked Mrs. Astor in recent weeks on the main track. “She doesn’t show you much on the dirt,” he said. “She’s a pure turf mare. I think she’s ready. She’s been doing everything perfectly.” Journalism, trained by McCarthy, looms as Rispoli’s most prominent 3-year-old mount. He has been aboard the colt for three of his four races, beginning with a third-place finish in a six-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita last October. Ricky Gonzalez rode Journalism to a win in a maiden race at a mile at Del Mar last November before Rispoli regained the mount for a decisive win by 3 1/2 lengths in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles in December. “I think it was a good performance,” Rispoli said of the Los Alamitos Futurity. “The more the stretch is long, the better for him.” In the San Felipe Stakes, with Rispoli aboard, Journalism closed from fourth in a field of five to win by 1 3/4 lengths over the previously unbeaten Barnes. Journalism ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.24 and earned an exceptional Beyer Speed Figure of 108. “Journalism was very impressive last time,” Rispoli said. The next assignment will be more difficult. The Santa Anita Derby field is expected to include Citizen Bull, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the champion 2-year-old male of 2024. Trained by Bob Baffert, Citizen Bull won his 2025 debut in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at a mile by 3 3/4 lengths at Santa Anita on Feb. 1. “You have to respect every single horse that Bob is running in the Derby and around California,” Rispoli said. “Citizen Bull is still the favorite for the Derby. He’s a Grade 1 winner. Journalism has all the potential and the qualities to be up there with him.” Rispoli has ridden in the Kentucky Derby twice, finishing 14th on Brooklyn Strong in 2021 and ninth last year on the McCarthy-trained Endlessly. Journalism may be Rispoli’s best chance. “I want to keep my fingers crossed and wish him all the blessings possible to get there,” Rispoli said. Rispoli relocated from Hong Kong to California in late 2019 and had immediate success, finishing second by one win behind Prat in the standings at the 2020 Del Mar summer season. Rispoli has yet to win a riding title at an individual meeting in California, but in 2024 Rispoli had his best year in the United States, with mounts that earned more than $10.4 million. The group was led by the turf miler Johannes, who won five stakes in 2024 and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in his only loss, all with Rispoli aboard. Currently sidelined, Johannes is expected to resume training in coming months for a season geared toward the second half of the year and an intended return to the BC Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 1. “He’s an important horse in my career,” Rispoli said. The 4-year-olds Formidable Man and Eagles Flight should have leading roles in the older horse division this year for Rispoli, who has guided Formidable Man to four stakes wins since late July. Eagles Flight, a half-brother to 2022 Horse of the Year Curlin, won an allowance race at a mile on March 8 for trainer John Sadler, the colt’s second win in three starts and first victory with Rispoli aboard. Successful years from Eagles Flight, Formidable Man, Johannes, and Journalism give Rispoli a chance to challenge his 2024 earnings. He acknowledges that he will need big-race wins from such runners to have any chance of surpassing last year, considering California’s day-to-day purses and stakes values are far lower than what is offered at tracks in Kentucky and New York on an year-round basis. “When they show up on those big days, it makes your year look better,” Rispoli said. “It gives you a push to work harder during the day to prepare for those occasions.” While Rispoli is closely allied with trainer Michael McCarthy, he will ride for eight other trainers from Friday through Monday. Rispoli credits his agent, Matt Nakatani, for gaining support throughout the Santa Anita barn area. “He has a good way to communicate,” Rispoli said of Nakatani. “He is on top of the game. It’s difficult to please every trainer. You need to ride for everybody.” The recent results can be partially attributed to Rispoli’s Thursday evening studies. Even though the month of March has been productive, Rispoli insists this weekend and beyond are more important. “You can’t stop and stand on what happened two weeks ago,” he said. “The year goes forward.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.