Top UAE-based rider is following in the footsteps of several European colleagues by relocating to southern California for the summer months. Antonio Fresu speaks to Laura King about his ambitious move
Flavien Prat, Florent Geroux and Julien Leparoux, Umberto Rispoli and even Frankie Dettori: plainly there has been no shortage of talented European jockeys riding in the US in recent seasons.
Now you can add another name to the list as Antonio Fresu is the latest Italian to embark on a career under the Californian sun.
Fresu, 31, has made a name for himself in Dubai where his near 250 UAE winners include G1 success with Zenden in the 2021 Dubai Golden Shaheen. A native of Sardinia, the island which also produced Dettori and UK-based colleague Andrea Atzeni, Fresu normally heads home to Italy to ride there during the summer.
This time around, however, he has decided on a more adventurous course of action. “I took out the visa a few years ago and this was the last chance to use it,” explains the amiable jockey, speaking from his temporary new home.
‘Italian racing isn’t going so well’
“I didn’t go before as I had a good job in Italy,”he goes on. “I would have had the same job this year, but Italian racing isn’t going so well at the moment.”
Fresu’s path into California was made easier thanks to his association with dual Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O’Neill and his assistant Leandro Mora, for whom he regularly rides work in the mornings during the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
That association helped him hit the dirt running on the West Coast, as he rode a winner for the trainer on his first weekend at Santa Anita, when Trusty Rusty landed a six-furlong maiden claimer.
“I was over the moon,” says Fresu. “The first win in a different country is always nice but this was with a horse which had never won before, for Doug and Leandro. It was also important that it was on dirt, as they think Europeans can only ride the turf, so hopefully it means I’ll get noticed better.”
What is more, Fresu kept up the good work last weekend with two more winners, Baladi on the dirt for trainer Hector Palma and Nineeleventurbo on turf for Neil Drysdale.
In addition to the O’Neill team, Fresu is being helped by his agent, Tom Knust, and says he is adapting well to a different style of riding – and living – so far. “I’ve been riding some works for Doug and breezing for other trainers,” says the jockey, who has also ridden in the UK, including at the 2022 Shergar Cup.
“It’s different here – you don’t go every day and ride out; you just go to ride work. The way we breeze is almost the same as I’m used to from Dubai, though, but there’s a lot of speed here, more than Dubai.
“I would’ve expected that as I’ve been watching a lot of races here but it’s a different feeling when you’re in it. They go faster than anywhere else.”
Even before his first trip to the US to ride ex-Dubai star Meraas at Saratoga last summer, Fresu was well-acquainted with US speed, his biggest win to date having come with Zenden two years ago in the G1 Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night at Meydan. Sadly, it’s a night tainted by tragedy as the Carlos David-trained colt sustained an open fracture to his left foreleg just after the line and was subsequently euthanized.
Not surprisingly, Fresu doesn’t like to dwell too much on the incident which marred his first top-level success. “The Golden Shaheen was the best race I’ve won so far,” he says. “Zenden was the fastest horse I’ve ever been on. He broke the track record from the widest draw; it was amazing. But what happened afterwards was just awful, so sad for connections.”
‘The weather is better here’
Fresu married his longtime partner, former Norwegian TV Presenter Veronika Aske, in July last year. He opted to head to the West Coast rather than return to New York because “the weather is better here”, he says.
“I loved Saratoga, but I don’t know if I really liked New York that much,” he says. “Santa Anita is a beautiful place; the people are friendly. Even though it’s different from Europe, I feel quite comfortable here.
“The Santa Anita turf downhill course is fun,” he continues. “You start down the hill and go right and left and then cross the dirt which is different and unique. The six-furlong and 6½-furlong oval track you need to cross the dirt again. I’ve had that experience and it’s fun.
“The oval turf track is tight and reminds me of a few tracks in Italy. The dirt oval reminds me of Meydan but the straight is a little bit shorter.”
And what about the whip rules? America gives less airtime than Europe to the subject, but it’s still something a newcomer needs to understand. “It’s less than Dubai here – you can only hit them six times,” he explains. “They’re very strict and you can only use a certain type of whip which you can’t use anywhere else. They’re very soft and just make noise, so they’re very kind on the horses.”
The sunshine life comes at a price, however. As well as Veronika, who will visit intermittently due to her commitments as an assistant trainer in Dubai, Fresu has been forced to give up one of the other great loves of his life: Italian cuisine.
‘No pasta, no pizza!’
“I’ve signed up for a gym next to the house,” he says. “I have to try and keep my weight down as I rode at 53.5kg (118 poun
ds) all three days here so I need to be very quiet and not do much. No pasta, no pizza! It’s in my culture and I love it but I’m not the naturally lightest.”
With the UAE staging only two Thoroughbred G1s outside the Dubai World Cup fixture, part of Fresu’s move is to try to secure more big-race mounts.
“The Breeders’ Cup is here at Santa Anita this year and at Del Mar the year after,” he says. “It would be really fun to find rides for the meeting. I will work really hard to get on something for those days.”
That meeting is likely to clash with the start of the Dubai season, but Fresu is still keen to return to the UAE, where he rides as first jockey to former champion trainer Musabbeh Al Mheiri.
“I haven’t put a limit on my stay,” says the rider, whose father and uncle were jockeys, while grandfather was a trainer. “I’d love to go back to Dubai as I feel at home over there and I have to win the UAE championship at least once; I’ve been second four times.”
Apart from the UAE jockeys’ championship, a Breeders’ Cup mount or two, what is Fresu’s greatest ambition?
“To win the Dubai World Cup,” he says without hesitation. “Although, that might change now I’m here; I would love to win one of the big races here. They have a lot of G1s at the end of May so I’ll start by trying to ride in those.”
If he manages that, it will surely be worth giving up a few dishes of cannelloni.
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