“People Thought We Were Nuts”: Equestrian Trainer Worth $38,354,157 and Undefeated Filly Prove Naysayers Wrong After Winning Again

Equestrian racing is a gamble for the trainer and horse owner. Because after all the race is run by a horse who are difficult to predict and train. The trainer puts his full effort into understanding the animal and teaching him what he wants and how he wants. When the relationship between them clicks it’s a never-ending joy.

Larry Rivelli the famed equestrian trainer is currently enjoying that joy with his trained three-year-old filly Back to Ohio. Despite all the odds, his trained filly has never lost any race in her career to date. The risk taken by Vince Foglia by purchasing the filly in April last year has paid off.

Famed equestrian trainer’s trained filly proves naysayer wrong

When Vince Foglia purchased Back to Ohio from Top Line Sales for $385,000 there were questions raised on the purchase. “People thought we were nuts” explained equestrian trainer Larry Rivelli. But, all the naysayers were given a powerful reply when the filly won all her five races last year. Among those five races, four were stakes races. Bred in Ohio by Trail M Boarding & Guest Farm the filly took part in one race this year at Thistledown Allowance and won it. Back to Ohio’s next is Tomboy Stakes at Belterra where she will try its turf for the first time.

Speaking on that Larry said, “She’s a real nice filly. At some point we’ll have to find out if she can hang with open-company horses“. He further explained that “This is why you buy a breed or a horse like this for this kind of money, so you can knock out the races that you’re supposed to knock“. He said so because after some point the filly will have a drop in form which is natural.  But, overall he is happy with the filly and said, “She’s a sweetheart horse. Honestly, she doesn’t do anything wrong. She’s very, very classy. She’s been like that since we bought her“. Over his decades-long career, worth $38,354,157 Larry has trained many horses who have registered their name among the best in equestrian races.

Larry Rivelli’s equestrian career

Larry Rivelli belongs to Chicago and grew up among the horses in his childhood. His grandfather and uncle worked at the Illinois Circuit where they conditioned horses. Larry got his trainer’s license in 1999 and since then he has been the mainstay at Arlington Park and Hawthorne Race Course for the last twenty years.  He got his first graded stakes win at the Hawthorne Derby in 2008 when Strait of Mewsina won for him.

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Rivelli lead the winner at Arlington Park among the trainers for a continuous eight-years, from 2014 until the track’s final meet in 2021. His top trained successful horses include Two Phil’s, Nobals, and Nicole’s Dream. This year his trained Two Phil’s secured the second position at Kentucky Derby. This year in his 159 starts Larry won 55 races and has earned $3,403,622 to date this year.

The story of Larry Rivelli and Back to Ohio is incredible and time will say how long their winning streak will continue.

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