Rivelli dominating, per usual, at Arlington Park

There were times earlier this year when Larry Rivelli, perennial leading trainer at Arlington, wondered if there would be a 2020 meeting at Arlington. And when it finally became clear, in late June, that the track was on course to run an abbreviated season this summer, Rivelli was more than ready.

Rivelli enters the third week of the Arlington season with a record of 18-9-8 from 47 starters, which would be dominant on the face of things, and is an even stronger mark considering Rivelli usually has multiple entries in a single Arlington race.

A look at DRF Formulator trainer stats shows the longest-priced runner among Rivelli’s 47 starters was 5-1. Only two horses have gone off at odds longer than 7-2. Fourteen of Rivelli’s starters have gone off a 6-5 or lower.

Riding the Rivelli wave is jockey Jareth Loveberry, who moved his tack from Canterbury Park to ride first call for Rivelli at Arlington. On Aug. 6, Loveberry had seven mounts on the eight-race card and emerged with six winners and a second-place finish. Five of those winners came for Rivelli.

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Thursday, in the featured second race, Rivelli has two entrants – Strong Will, who drew the rail with Constantino Roman, and Dugout, Loveberry named. So far this meet, Loveberry has inevitably been on the stronger Rivelli-trained runner in races where the barn runs more than one, but Rivelli said Strong Will and Dugout “are pretty similar.”

Dugout, a talented New York-bred, is making his first start since he chipped a knee last fall, and Rivelli was looking around for a turf race. But Dugout, Rivelli said, is ready to run his race in this Polytrack sprint, which has multiple allowance conditions and a $62,500 claiming option.

Jean Elizabeth out of training

Jean Elizabeth, the Rivelli-trained Illinois-bred who has won eight races in a row – two of them graded, all but one in open company – was scheduled to race last week in the Caress Stakes at Saratoga but came up with a relatively minor issue and has been turned out at a farm for 45 to 60 days. Jean Elizabeth is a 5-year-old, but Rivelli said his plan is to bring her back this fall and race the mare again next year at age 6.

Purses increased

Arlington has increased purses at its ongoing meet by 20 percent. The purse increase comes after the suburban Chicago track received a grant from the Illinois Department of Agriculture and because of better-than-forecast performance at Arlington’s offtrack betting parlors and through account wagering, Arlington president Tony Petrillo said.

Still, Arlington is running just 24 races per week during a 30-day season, and projections from the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association show gross 2020 purses coming in at about $4.2 million, a 62 percent decrease from gross purses in 2019.