Barn Tour: Two Phil's, Nobals bookend a strong year for Rivelli

It’s been a year like no other for trainer Larry Rivelli.

In the spring, he had his first Kentucky Derby contender. Two Phil’s proved himself as a top 3-year-old with a strong second in the run for the roses and then a win in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby before being injured and retired to stud.

And last weekend, Nobals gave the long-time Chicago-based trainer his first Breeders’ Cup win when he scored in the Turf Sprint.

They contributed to Rivelli having his best earnings year ever, $4.6 million and counting, about $1 million more than his previous high last year.

“It was a good year,” Rivelli told Horse Racing Nation on Tuesday.

In another first, Rivelli said he partnered with WinStar to retain a share of Two Phil’s as a stallion. “That ought to be exciting,” he said.

Rivelli also is in the process of setting up shop at Fair Grounds, also a new experience. “My jock (Jareth) Loveberry goes down there, my buddies, my agent,” he said. “And Hawthorne won't be open during this winter for a while. And they don't have HISA there, so you're not getting badgered by all these silly claiming rules and whip rules and all that stuff.”

Nobals, a 4-year-old gelding, became a millionaire this year with a record of 7: 4-2-0, including a win in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G1) on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

He returned to Rivelli’s Turfway stable after the Breeders’ Cup and will spend the winter at the Ocala farm of veterinarian Dr. Jean White. “I'll bring him back next year for his campaign,” Rivelli said.

Rivelli provided updates on other horses in his stable for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

One Timer. The 4-year-old gelding closed out last year with a win in the Franklin-Simpson (G2) and has a record of 4: 1-2-1 this year with a win in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint at Ellis Park and a loss by a head in the Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs last out. “One Timer, he's going to get the same rest,” Rivelli said. “My goal with him is, he loves that Kentucky Downs. He only needs to run a handful of times a year to make a significant amount of money when you run at that track. So we got beat an inch this year for a million dollars. The year before he won the $600,000 race there. So, he's going to get the same break that Nobals is going to get. And I'm just going to campaign the same as we did this year. And we all know that never works out the way you plan it. So hopefully, hopefully one of them will stay on the course.”

Tape to Tape. The 4-year-old gelding has a 9: 4-4-1 record this year with a stakes win at Prairie Meadows in June. “Old hard-knocker. He's at the Fair Grounds. He'll be running within the next, I'd say, 30 days.”

Uncashed. This 4-year-old gelding was 4-for-4 this year before finishing eighth in the listed Mahony Stakes at Saratoga in August. “Uncashed is going to run in the Mahoning Valley Sprint, the last straight 3-year-old race of the year in Ohio.”

Act a Fool. The 3-year-old son of Oscar Performance had four straight wins before finishing seventh in the Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby. “Act the Fool is at the Fair Grounds. Just looking for a race for him, I'm not quite sure. He's ready to run, but I just haven't found a race.”

2-year-olds

Whatdoyouthinkmark. This son of The Factor won his debut in July and then was eighth in the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes in August, his most recent start. “That's a good one. I ran him at Prairie Meadows. He had an incident, I don't know what happened but ended up stepping on himself behind and cutting the back of his pastern up pretty good. So I sent him to Florida, turned him out. He'll be coming back. That should be a serious horse to look for in the first part of the year, spring.”

Foxxy Cleopatra. The Munning filly won her only start, a maiden special weight at Presque Isle in June. “That's a good one. She broke her maiden at Presque Isle like we thought she would and came back with a little bit of a flake in her, I think in her right ankle. And we ended up removing that, and she's back in training now, she's back at the Fair Grounds. If she comes back as good as she left, she's going to be pretty nice.”

Baxley. This Klimt colt won his debut in September at Hawthorne and then was fifth in an optional-claiming allowance at Keeneland last month. “Baxley is a pretty nice horse. He broke his maiden pretty easy and we took him to Keeneland, in the race he got banged around, bounced off the rails. So we sent him to the farm for a couple of months. A lot of these horses have been running all year, so I give a lot of my horses breaks over the winter.”

Go Margie Go. The Exaggerator filly won her debut at Hawthorne but then lost her next two at Churchill Downs and Keeneland. “She ran since she broke her maiden and didn't run very good. So she'll probably be campaigning as a lower-level claimer, but hopefully we find the right spot to get her to win.”

Blameitonmymomma. The Peace and Justice colt won his only start, at Presque Isle on Oct. 24. “Pennsylvania-bred. We'll probably campaign that horse somewhere in Pennsylvania.”