Rivelli credits owners, two-year-olds for big meet at
Arlington
Trainer Larry Rivelli is having a banner season at Arlington International
Racecourse. With 11 race days remaining in the 2013 meet, the trainer is
currently a clear second in victories (44) behind perennial powerhouse and
10-time training champion Wayne Catalano (65) and 12 wins ahead of third-place
Roger Brueggemann. In 158 starts through Thursday’s card (the same amount of
starters the entire 2012 season), the 42-year-old has won 14 more races and
eclipsed his earnings of 2012.
It was apparent in the beginning of the season that Rivelli was loaded.
Winning a race nearly once per day over the first two weeks of racing, the
Chicago native has cooled off slightly but been very consistent for the
remainder of the meet. Striking at an impressive 28 percent and landing
in-the-money 54 percent since, his statistics are nearly identical to those of
Catalano, but with 30 percent fewer starts.
Rivelli is quick to point out two major factors for such success — owners
and two-year-olds.
“Great owners and the fact that my two-year-olds being more successful has
been big for me,” the conditioner reported. “We’ve hit five or six two-year-old
races so far and we’ve also had the right horses in the right spots.”
An ex-collegiate athlete with an eye for talent and fitness, Rivelli has done
his best to judiciously place his charges.
“We’re doing the same stuff we do every year. We have a really good staff and
a really good team of guys and we try to make sure we give them every chance to
run well,” he explained. “The two-year-old success has been a huge highlight
compared to last year. It’s hard to get them to races to begin with.”
Rivelli also attributed a marginal portion of his earnings increase to his
embrace of the Illinois breeding program.
“We’ve had a lot of Illinois-breds. One of my owners, Richard Ravin, and I
have bred and are racing a lot of those together. That definitely helps with the
purse bonuses. We also got a great new addition in Patricia’s Hope Stable, which
is Vince Foglia — very good guy Illinois guy. We’re good friends and (he
and Richard) good owners,” Rivelli elaborated.
“I definitely have to praise my owners — they’re such good people and they
make this game happen,” he continued. “If you’re winning 28 percent of the time,
you’re losing 72 percent of the time. So, it’s definitely a humbling investment
and sport. I’ve been very fortunate.”
Rivelli’s performance with Ravin horses has been particularly impressive.
Ravin’s stable is currently in second place in the standings with 14 wins and is
striking at a 34 percent with 54 percent in-the-money. In the same breath,
Patricia’s Hope Stable has performed very well for a new owner — striking at 20
percent and landing in-the-money 47 percent of the time.
Rivelli is equally as thankful for those he allows to ride the equine
athletes.
“I think that jockeys are like quarterbacks. Not every quarterback runs the
option; not every jockey rides the same race. If I see a jock knows a horse and
I have recently claimed that horse, I’m rarely going to take that jockey off
when I race him,” he explained. “It takes a while to learn the ropes with
jockeys, but I have a good idea of who is best at what. For example, it’s hard
to find a better jockey on the front end than (E.T.) Baird and Noel Vigil is a
very talented young jockey who is excellent with young horses.”
Though he has done an impressive job spreading the wealth among the colony,
Rivelli definitely has flourished with his go-to guys, as well. In addition to
Baird and Vigil, he has used Quincy Hamilton and Timmy Thornton a great deal
during the meet. Thornton, in particular, has done very well when given a leg-up
from the trainer, winning 11 of 27 mounts for a 41 percent clip — the highest
percentage of any jockey-trainer team on the grounds this meet.
While the meet has been a big success, he highly anticipates the future for
his stable.
“Having nice two-year-olds is a nice way to get excited for the future, as
well as having a nice older horse like Ojos de Hielo,” Rivelli said.
Ojos de Hielo, repatriated from Panama, has earned bullets in the morning for
Rivelli, as well as placed in a restricted stakes in Texas for the trainer this
summer before tailing off in the American St. Leger.
“Ojos prefers the dirt and we are going to aim him toward the Hawthorne Gold
Cup this fall,” Rivelli stated. “I’ll go to Hawthorne with a lot of my
horses because of all the Illinois-breds I have. I’ll also send a handful to
Gulfstream that fit – like Ojos (after the Gold Cup).”
Whatever the future may hold, Rivelli is excited, determined and feels
prepared.
“It’s all about having great owners, a good team and good horses, and I’m
very fortunate,” he concluded.
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