It was a moment of great form for Umberto Rispoli, the Italian jockey who has emigrated permanently to the United States for a few seasons now. Last Sunday he won at Del Mar as favourite riding Bullard (a son of Gun Runner trained by Michael McCarthy) the Bob Hope Stakes important test for two-year-olds, but he also scored two other successes with Activated (21.60 odds in the first race) and Rashmi (at 3.80 in the last). Nothing to do for the famous US trainer Bob Baffert who was considered the king of this race having won it three times consecutively in the last three editions. Forty-eight hours earlier, on Friday, Rispoli had scored two more successes with Yerwanthere & Sandy Bottom, making it five in three days, but above all this positive series has allowed him to establish himself in first place in the seasonal ranking of jockeys at the Californian racecourse with nine victories, one more than both Antonio Fresu and Juan Hernandez.
Speaking of Antonio Fresu, who was second in the Bob Hope Stakes with Madaket Road, he too went into the weekend with two wins on Saturday with Southern Slang & Practical Dream.
