Rivelli has the horses to beat in pair of stakes

Trainer Larry Rivelli appears to hold all the cards in the pair of $50,000 stakes for Illinois-bred sprinters Saturday at Arlington, the open Addison Cammack and the Isaac Murphy for fillies and mares, but Rivelli’s hand might not be quite as strong as it looks at first glance.

Rivelli entered two in the Cammack, Dom the Bomb and Lewys Vaporizer, but Dom the Bomb, who just won an allowance last weekend, is likely to be scratched, Rivelli said. Lewys Vaporizer runs and seems likely to go off favored, and Rivelli said tieback surgery to repair a paralyzed laryngeal flap that compromised the horse’s breathing, especially in a dull performance when last seen Jan. 30 at Oaklawn, was thought to be a major success. Lewys Vaporizer shows a sparkling work pattern for this comeback run and “has been working with some good horses,” Rivelli said.

But all of Lewys Vaporizer’s best races last year – and he showed quite a bit of talent on several occasions – came on dirt. He won twice over Arlington’s Polytrack but only gutted out those wins and ran well below his best form. He can win Saturday but doesn’t have to.

Recount won his first four starts on Arlington’s Polytrack before he finished fourth May 21 in the Hanshin Cup. The Hanshin was a one-turn mile, and the turnback to six furlongs won’t hurt him, but his inside draw is tricky, and Recount might need to go forward early, risking a pace battle with Lewys Vaporizer.

If they go fast enough up front, watch out for Sweet Luca. Sweet Luca long has run well sprinting on Arlington’s main track, and though he was third in the 2015 Cammack, he won it in 2014, beating Work All Week, who went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint that year.

Rivelli has Richies Sweetheart, the 7-5 morning-line favorite, entered in the Isaac Murphy, and he said she runs despite having just won the Honor the Hero Stakes on May 30 at Canterbury Park.

“I don’t like to run them back this fast, but her next turf sprint isn’t for a month and a half,” Rivelli said.

On raw ability, Richies Sweetheart no doubt is the best horse in the Isaac Murphy, but she clearly seems best suited to turf sprints up to 5 1/2 furlongs and could be vulnerable while back on short rest at a distance longer than her best and on a surface that isn’t her favorite.

Puntsville, if a trip can be worked out from the fence, has a chance at a minor upset. Puntsville improved throughout her 3-year-old campaign last season, showing by the end of the year that she could be as effective at six furlongs as at five. She’s been off since December but looks ready to race, having posted a bullet half-mile drill at Tampa as far back as April 13.