Rispoli Not Allowed to Fly to Saudi Arabia for Cup

[Wandering Eyes]

Umberto Rispoli, set to ride Max Player (Honor Code) for Steve Asmussen in Saturday's Saudi Cup, was taken off a plane to Saudi Arabia as it prepared to take off Thursday, according to a Tweet posted by the jockey Thursday evening.

Rispoli said that a change in the regulations regarding COVID-19 testing by the Saudis had made it impossible for him to fly to Saudi Arabia as planned. It was unclear if other jockeys would be affected.

“As you can see, I am here, sitting home on my bench,” said Rispoli in the Tweet in which he was critical of the organization running the event. “I couldn't make the flight to Saudi to go to the Saudi Cup. It has been since yesterday I have been trying to fly, but it has been over a week that we have had an issue with the organization with the Saudi Cup,” he said. “Yesterday, there was an issue with the ticket. The ticket was cancelled after I was at the airport for three hours. Today, I was ready to fly, my luggage was already on the plane, I was in my seat, my seatbelt was fastened, and before we took off, the stewards came and took me off the plane, saying in Riyadh at that moment, exactly that moment, there was a change in the rule in the COVID test. Before, it was 72 hours prior to the flight. This time, in Riyadh, the request, a COVID test, was 72 hours once you land in Riyadh. It was something that was out of my hands. I'm so devastated, I'm frustrated, and that's why I couldn't go to ride the Saudi Cup.”

Rispoli continued, “I would like to give my apologies to Steve Asmussen, and his connections. I'm really sorry about that and also, I would say as well that this is the biggest race in the world and that there should be a better organization behind this, and probably then there wouldn't be any issue. Today, I'm paying the consequence of this organization, which probably didn't pay attention to any details. As I said, I'm frustrated, I'm have to move on, I'm going to watch the races on t.v., and I wish all the contenders of the Saudi Cup best of luck and I will see you back in business at Santa Anita next Friday. Thank you for all of your support before the race, and I wish you guys can keep supporting me.”

Reached by text, Asmussen said that he was, “working on options to discuss with the owners.”

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