A tidal wave of winning has washed away some of the pain in the Larry Rivelli barn that came from losing Kentucky Derby runner-up Two Phil’s to early retirement after the colt won the Ohio Derby on June 24. Since Two Phil’s’ career-ending injury, Rivelli has gone 16 for 49, a red-hot 33 percent strike rate that actually has lowered his 2023 winning percentage. In 2022, Rivelli lost his home track, Arlington Park, yet Rivelli, now based over the summer at Hawthorne, is on his way to a career year in earnings and stakes wins. Already this season he has won 10 stakes, closing in on his career-best 14 in 2022, and Buck Moon can give Rivelli another in the $75,000 Outbound Ike Handicap on Thursday at Hawthorne. Buck Moon tries turf for the first time in the Outbound Ike, carded for 1 1/16 miles on grass. He hit 97 on the Beyer Speed Figure scale returning from a long layoff March 23 on Hawthorne’s dirt track and went on the next month to win the Bosselman Gus Fonner in Nebraska. Two winters ago, Buck Moon ran to form over the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park, and while synthetic capability doesn’t assure turf proclivity, Buck Moon is a one-way speed horse, which plays to a recent bias on the local course. :: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets. Buck Moon has Gerardo Corrales named and carries 116 pounds while facing six rivals. Top-weighted at 121 is the Illinois-bred long-distance grass specialist Another Mystery, who will struggle to get home at a trip this short. Another Mystery, a 7-year-old Team Block homebred trained by Chris Block, did win over one mile in June 2022 at Hawthorne but was facing Illinois-breds that day and is 3 for 10 going 1 1/16 miles. Notary beat Buck Moon in a July 19 allowance race with a $50,000 claiming option that owner Antonio Donato and trainer Armando Hernandez used to acquire the horse. Notary twice raced on turf in June 2021 and showed no fondness for the surface. Buck Moon is listed at 6-1 on the morning line, too high for a fast horse from the meet’s leading barn. Rivelli ranks 25th nationally in trainer earnings and stands alone among the top 100 on that list with a seasonal win rate above 30 percent. Rivelli has won at a remarkable 35 percent clip this year, 64 for 159, a mark that has produced a $2.25 return on investment. In 2023 stakes, Rivelli is 10 for 20 with an ROI over $6, and since 2017 his record in all stakes races is 64 for 195, 33 percent winners. Buck Moon never has started on turf. It might not matter at all. ◗ Last year’s Outbound Ike hero, Grade 1 winner Two Emmys, has just returned from a couple months on a local farm and is set to go back to the track, trainer and principal owner Hugh Robertson said. Two Emmys, who hasn’t started since February, should be ready for the Fair Grounds meet. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.