Folks got a sample of rider Umberto Rispoli’s special talents this past summer at Del Mar when the international reinsman rode 49 winners in the 27-day meet, many of them on the turf course, and just missed being its leading rider in his first season at the shore oval.
They got another reminder about just how good he is in the featured race at the seaside track near San Diego, Calif., on Friday when he put on a masterful performance that included slipping up the rail late to tally by a head with Hronis Racing’s Chaos Theory in a grassy allowance sprint that went as the day’s second race.
On the next race on the program, veteran trainer Mark Glatt registered a nifty milestone when he rung up the 1,000th victory of his career with the speedy gelding Zestful in a nine-furlong allowance affair.
Chaos Theory, who ran his five furlongs in :56.08, bested Rafter JR Ranch, STD Racing Stable or Miller, et al’s Texas Wedge, who in turn had a length on Mike Schott’s Mikes Tiznow.
The win got trainer John Sadler off the schneid for the meet as he scored for the first time with his 24th starter. Chaos Theory picked up $39,000 from the $85,000 purse and increased his bankroll to $307,054 with his sixth win in his 13th start.
Chaos Theory, the 6-5 favorite, paid $4.40, $2.40 and $2.10 across the board. Texas Wedge returned $2.60 and $2.20, while Mikes Tiznow paid $3.40 to show.
Zestful, who is owned by the Shanderella Stables, Haramoto or Kawahara and others scored in his dirt test by 2 1/2 lengths under Edwin Maldonado in wire-to-wire fashion and paid $6.40 to win. He covered the nine furlongs in 1:50.94.
Glatt, whose father Ron was a longtime trainer in the Northwest, began training racehorses for a living in 1994 in his native Washington State, then moved south to the Bay Area shortly thereafter. In 2000, a client convinced him to try his luck in Southern California and he’s been a regular – and successful — member on that circuit since.
He had his best year ever in 2019 when his horses won 73 races and more than $3.3 million in purses. In total, the 47-year-old horsemen has now won 1,000 races, had 932 seconds and 875 thirds for earnings of $32,458,403.
The last trainer to register his 1,000th victory at Del Mar was Peter Miller in 2018.
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