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Rivelli-Trained Act A Fool Ready To ‘Step It Up’ In Indiana Derby

Trainer Larry Rivelli harbors no illusions that 4-for-5 Act a Fool can measure up to the ability of his Kentucky Derby runner-up and $1.5 million-earner Two Phil's, who impressively won the June 24 Ohio Derby only to sustain a career-ending injury.

But Rivelli will be plenty thrilled if Act a Fool proves good enough to win Saturday's Grade 3, $300,000 Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Act a Fool is co-owned by Vince Foglia's Patricia's Hope LLC, the majority owner in Two Phil's.

“There's not much sting with Two Phil's,” Rivelli said of his stable star's premature retirement. “It was bad luck and stuff happened. But he's going to have a career as a stallion, hopefully a really successful one. We just ended up retiring him a couple of races earlier than we probably would have, that's all.

“As far as this horse, he's got to step it up a little bit. But he hasn't done anything wrong. It's time to take that next jump. His last race, the Hawthorne Derby, was a little bit of a jump. There were a couple of horses in there better than the horses he'd beaten before. He kind of ran them off their feet. It wasn't even close. He was in front and never looked back.”

Hence, Rivelli makes no bones about his tactics: Make 'em catch Act a Fool, who has been on or very near the early lead in all his victories, expanding his margin through the stretch. The pace those days was moderate, if not pedestrian, so the question remains if Act a Fool is best on the lead or just towered over his Hawthorne rivals and found himself in front by being more athletic.

“He definitely can rate outside of one or behind one,” Rivelli said. “(But) I'm going to send him to the lead and let those guys figure it out. I'll be in front, I promise you that.”

Act a Fool's wins have all come at Rivelli's home track of Hawthorne Race Course since a disastrous debut Jan. 13 over Turfway Park's Tapeta surface, when he faded to last of 12, beaten 60 lengths. Act a Fool won three races on dirt at the Chicago track by 16 1/2 lengths before rolling to a 4 1/2-length romp in the $100,000 Hawthorne Derby at 1 1/8 miles over yielding turf.

“I've always thought he was a pretty nice horse,” Rivelli said. “We ran at Turfway and had high hopes that day, and he just didn't run at all. I don't know what it really had to do with. We went back to the drawing board, and I put him in at Hawthorne. It's obviously an easier venue, and he hasn't lost since.”

That he thrived on grass was not a surprise, with Act a Fool being a son of turf standout Oscar Performance.

“I don't know if it's dirt, turf, if he likes one better, but he's certainly taken care of the competition there pretty easily,” Rivelli said. “Much deeper waters here, but he definitely warrants a shot to see if he can hang with these kind of horses.”

Rivelli also is running Patricia Hope's speedy turf sprinter Nobals in Friday's $100,000 William Garrett Stakes. Nobals — a $3,500 yearling purchase for his prior owner and winner of Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint at 38-1 odds in his last start — is the 8-5 favorite in the William Garrett.

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Attorney Alan Pincus Joins The TDN Writers’ Room To Discuss HIWU Suspensions

With the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) issuing provisional suspensions in what seems like a rapid-fire manner, attorney Alan Pincus has been busy. He is representing trainer Mario Dominguez, who was hit with a provisional suspension after a horse he trained allegedly tested positive for cobalt, and has worked with trainer Jonathan Wong on his case. A Wong-trained horse allegedly tested positive for the banned substance Metformin.

Pincus joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast sponsored by Keeneland to discuss his cases and to express his views on what has transpired since HIWU took over drug testing and enforcement on May 22. Pincus, to put it mildly, is not a fan of what is going on. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“The HISA regulations are written in a way that is truly evil,” Pincus said.

His complaints were many, starting with how violations of banned substances are dealt with by HISU. Once a positive has been determined for substances that are on the banned list, the trainer involved is immediately suspended. That takes place before a hearing can be held and before the results of a split sample are received.

“They give you very little chance to defend yourself,” Pincus said. “The worst part of it is that when you have a banned substance, they come to you. They give you a letter that says you have a positive for this drug. They tell you 'get out' and you're out that next day. What happens to a trainer who is told to get out? Their horses must be relocated to different trainers in different stalls. You lose your owners, you lose your horses, you lose your ability to make a living. In the case of Mr. Dominguez, he had a dozen horses. He was a small trainer working his way through and was doing okay. But like most trainers, he is living month to month. Now you've taken away his ability to make a living. You haven't charged him with anything, but he's dead. That's against due process.”

He continued: “He's yet to be charged with anything. They won't charge you until the split sample comes back. It's due momentarily. But his life has long since been over. He hasn't been charged with anything. What happens if the split sample comes back and it's under the level? What do they say? 'Oops, sorry that I destroyed your life.' The whole system is unconstitutional. It's based on the fact that you're guilty until proven innocent.”

Pincus also opined that there are substances on the banned substance list that don't belong there, that should be treated as relatively minor issues.

“Mac Robertson (who also received a provisional suspension from HIWU) got a positive for Regumate, another very low-level drug,” Pincus said. “It can't possibly be a banned substance. You're supposed to be looking for a Etorphine and EPO and things like that as banned substances. Not these things. It's ridiculous. You're going to see more, one a week. It's like Russian roulette out there. These guys, they're not cheaters. And besides the fact, you have very little chance under their system of winning. It has to stop.”

Pincus said the old way of doing things is preferable to a world under HIWU and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA).

“They're not going to be able to do it better than the racing commissioners,” Pincus. “The racing commissions know about the game. They have experience in the game. The stewards are the most knowledgeable people in racing. Now we've gone and replaced them with a bunch of people who say things like, 'Let's change the whip to a popsicle stick with a piece of cotton on the end of it and look at some grainy films and see if that was a jockey winding up or he actually hit the horse.' It's stupid. The seventh whip strike is animal cruelty? Then what was the sixth whip strike, which is allowed?”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, WinStar Farm, Lane's End, XBTV.com andhttps://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman, jumped into the controversy surrounding the extension of Bob Baffert's ban by Churchill Downs. Moss predicted that Baffert would fight the extension in court and that, this time, he would prevail. The team also took a look back at the win by West Will Power (Bernardini) in the GI Stephen Foster S., run this year at Ellis Park, and the game victory by Fort Bragg (Tapit) in the GIII Dwyer S. Looking ahead at this weekend's action, Finley focused in on the GII Suburban S. at Belmont. A race with a long history and one won by some of the sport's all-time greats, the Suburban, Finley said, has turned into a second-tier race. He argued that there are too many races on the NYRA calendar for older dirt males and said the best solution would be to discontinue the Suburban, which, this year, drew only five horses.

Click here to watch the Writers' Room podcast or here for the audio-only version.

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Derby Protestor Spared Jail Time After 18-Week Sentence Suspended

Ben Newman, who was filmed running onto the Epsom Downs course after the Derby had started and was subsequently apprehended by security in June, was spared jail time after his 18 weeks of imprisonment was suspended for two years, Sky Sports reported on Thursday. The defendant, 32 and part of protest group Animal Rising, was also fined a total of £1,356.

The defendant entered a guilty plea at Guildford Crown Court for causing a public nuisance. The judge criticised Newman for “endangering” the lives of police and security stationed around the course. Epsom Downs obtained an injunction banning Animal Rising prior to the Derby Festival. Newman was one of 31 people arrested on the day of the race.

The post Derby Protestor Spared Jail Time After 18-Week Sentence Suspended appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Laurel Cancels After Third Race Due To Prolonged Lightning

The balance of Thursday's 10-race program at Laurel Park was cancelled due to prolonged lightning in the area.

Thunder and lightning were first reported approaching post time for Friday's fourth race. Following a 30-minute delay, during which the main track was sealed and the rain began, steady lightning persisted and the decision was made to cancel out of safety concerns for Laurel's horses, horsemen, fans and employees.

Thursday's program was originally carded for June 30 but postponed due to poor air quality stemming from wildfires in eastern Canada.

Live action is scheduled to resume with a nine-race program Friday starting at 12:25 p.m. There will be carryovers of $16,427.18 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (Races 4-9) and $11,237.43 in the $1 Jackpot Super High Five (Race 6).

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