Debut Arlington winner Strong Will a 2-year-old name to know
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Photo:
Coady Photography
Trainer Larry Rivelli couldn't have sounded more confident in Strong Will heading into Sunday, saying the colt "was a man amongst boys at the sale and so far hasn’t done a thing wrong." And he still hasn't.
The $775,000 son of freshman sire Strong Mandate gave the stallion his first victory by taking the opener on Arlington International's Polytrack. Off at 1-5, he covered 4 1/2 furlongs in a final time of 52.29 seconds.
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This is probably the biggest gun," Rivelli said of his juveniles. "We’ve got a couple more behind him, but he’s a special horse we’re thinking.”
The trainer typically gives his horses a chance to prove how special, as in recent years he took the Kentucky Derby trail's first points-paying race with Cocked and Loaded (2015) and The Tabulator (2017) both winners of Churchill Downs' Iroquois Stakes. Those horses also went on to finish fifth in their respective editions Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Cocked and Loaded cost just $16,000, while The Tabulator was a $460,000 purchase. The latter shares ownership with Strong Will in Carolyn Wilson.
“I think we outbid a couple big shooters for that horse," Rivelli said of Strong Will, who's out of the Majestic Warrior mare Majestic Stinger. "He’s the real deal."
Runner-up Dazzling Truths ran well to finish just 2 1/4 lengths back in Sunday's field of five. It was another 7 3/4 lengths back to third.
The $775,000 son of freshman sire Strong Mandate gave the stallion his first victory by taking the opener on Arlington International's Polytrack. Off at 1-5, he covered 4 1/2 furlongs in a final time of 52.29 seconds.
"
Cocked and Loaded cost just $16,000, while The Tabulator was a $460,000 purchase. The latter shares ownership with Strong Will in Carolyn Wilson.
“I think we outbid a couple big shooters for that horse," Rivelli said of Strong Will, who's out of the Majestic Warrior mare Majestic Stinger. "He’s the real deal."
Runner-up Dazzling Truths ran well to finish just 2 1/4 lengths back in Sunday's field of five. It was another 7 3/4 lengths back to third.
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