BALTIMORE (AP) — Umberto Rispoli took quite a path to make history.
Rispoli became the first jockey from Italy to win a Triple Crown race Saturday, squeezing between horses around the top of the stretch and then riding Journalism to a tremendous rally in the stretch run of the Preakness.
Rispoli's colt was the even-money favorite, but this was no easy trip. He kept Journalism near the rail, which saved ground but forced him to slip between Goal Oriented and Clever Again — with no shortage of contact — before he could even begin making a run at 15-1 shot Gosger.
“I got in trouble at the quarter pole and, look, he make himself keep going,” said Rispoli, who came over from Italy in 2020. “It's all about him. It's a privilege to ride a horse like him.”
Journalism's win brought to mind Afleet Alex's victory in this same race 20 years ago, when the horse and jockey Jeremy Rose nearly went down when they were cut off by another horse at the top of the stretch.
Journalism's anxious moment was around the same spot at Pimlico, and although he didn't stumble the way Afleet Alex did, he had to deal with horses on both sides of him.
“Jeremy Rose almost fell off from the horse. That was for me probably the most spectacular Preakness that I ever see," Rispoli said. “But even what we saw today. This horse, coming back after two weeks from a tough trip in the (Kentucky) Derby ... it was an amazing effort. I wish I would have give him a softer race, but this is a part of horse racing.”
After working his way through traffic, there was still the matter of catching Gosger.
“At the 16th pole, I say OK, I think I'm going to be late but probably on time,” Rispoli said.
With one final surge, Journalism pulled ahead and won by a half-length.
“When I cross the line, it's all 20 years of my career that pass in front of me,” Rispoli said. “I had to wait so long to ride a champion like that.”
Journalism acquitted himself well in finishing second in the Kentucky Derby, and when Derby winner Sovereignty skipped the Preakness, Journalism was the clear favorite.
He would have to win from behind, though. Rispoli credited Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey with the advice to save ground in this race.
“Umberto, all credit to him, he chose to save ground. That’s what it takes to win these races like this,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “Obviously found himself in a little bit of a conundrum there for six or eight jumps. Thankful that he and the horse came out of it unscathed. That’s the most important thing, win, lose or draw.”
When Rispoli was asked about being the first jockey from Italy with a Triple Crown win, there were shouts of “Viva Italia!” before he answered. He said his idol was top Italian jockey Frankie Dettori, who was expected to retire at the end of 2023 but continued racing.
“I think you have to ride a couple of more years to get one of the winners of the Triple Crown to equal me,” Rispoli said. “It's even difficult to describe the feeling when you cross the wire in those races. You just dream about that.”
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
Umberto Rispoli hugs his son, Hayden, as his wife Kimberley, right, and their son Aramis look on after Umberto Rispoli rode Journalism to win the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race Saturday, May 17, 2025, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Umberto Rispoli, atop Journalism, wins the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race Saturday, May 17, 2025, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Umberto Rispoli, atop Journalism, reacts after winning the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race Saturday, May 17, 2025, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
