BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 4, 2023

Larry Rivelli

Gerardo Corrales

Santa Anita Park

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's get started. Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Winning connections, Nobals. We have trainer Larry Rivelli and jockey Gerardo Corrales.

Larry, I'll start with you. I know this horse well, coming in with a win at Colonial Downs in Da Hoss Stakes. You've had such a great year. Two Phil's on the Kentucky Derby trail and now the culmination here at the Breeders' Cup World Championship.

You're a staple in the Midwest. Tell us what coming to a race and winning on the big stage means.

LARRY RIVELLI: First grade 1 win. Obviously you can't do this without the unbelievable team I've had for 20 years, 15 years. My assistant, Rogelio Sanchez, my assistant Pam Little, Gonzo Gonzalez, all the guys back home. No way possible this could be done without them.

THE MODERATOR: Tell us about the ownership. Patricia's Hope Stable, who you have a great connection with. You've got a lot of horses you've had for them. Just sort of the journey getting to this and going to the Kentucky Derby trail.

LARRY RIVELLI: Patricia's Hope, which is Pat Foglia, Vinnie's mother, one of my best buddies on the planet. This is like family. You couldn't write a script any better for doing it for people you love.

Wish they were here. He had something come up. They're in Naples. I talked to them on the phone 80 times in the last three minutes. So they're very, very happy.

THE MODERATOR: This horse, you've traveled with him to quite a few different places. He's had some nice wins and then a few races very close. What made you think this race today was something that he had the ability to handle some of the best turf sprinters in the world?

LARRY RIVELLI: When I saw the entries, the nominations, I think you could have thrown a blanket over the whole field, to be honest with you, as far as who was better than one another.

We had Corrales, and we had a great trip. You've got to get lucky in these kinds of races. Our plan was to be a little closer. Didn't work out. They were gone. He ended up working out a trip, and we held on.

THE MODERATOR: I want to ask you about that because riding in a Breeders' Cup race like this and just kind of the nerves and everything going into it. When the trip didn't work out the way that you had planned, what were your thoughts? And just to stay there and kind of save ground on the rail.

GERARDO CORRALES: Because it's a lot of confidence in the horse. He did good work, on the money. Good solution from the trainer. Everything is good, you know.

It's a pride for me for Breeders' Cup is win, you know. Be first place each year in California.

THE MODERATOR: This is the biggest, the world stage, and you rode him today with such confidence. Obviously working with Larry, how does he give you the confidence in a big race like this on a horse like this?

LARRY RIVELLI: I yell at him every day (laughter). Every ride, back and forth. Big future, this kid. Really big future, no doubt about it. Everybody already knows it. The secret's out now.

THE MODERATOR: It is. You certainly proved it today. That was a very, very smart ride, saved ground and coming up the inside. I'll open it up for some questions here.

Q. Can you talk us through the name of the horse?

LARRY RIVELLI: Nobals.

Q. How did you come about that?

LARRY RIVELLI: The breeder, the horse needed to be gelded. I guess he was a bad actor. Before we bought him, he was named. I bought him after he won his first race. And I think he thought he was clever, Nobals and Noble Mission and Pearly Blue and Noble Mission. He was really clever. He got it by the Jockey Club.

It can be pronounced two ways. Like I said before, to me it doesn't matter, but I call him Nobals.

THE MODERATOR: Never one to mince words.

Q. I'm guessing back in May you were thinking you might be here with Two Phil's sitting in front of us right now. How did you manage the highs and lows of this entire season? How does this horse give you confidence every time he runs?

LARRY RIVELLI: This has been a fantastic year for us, and Patricia's Hope. Shame about Two Phil's, but there's always -- when you have a number of horses and the momentum's going and the stable's going and you start finding the right races and everything starts working out, like I told somebody, sometimes it's like shooting fish in a barrel. You've got luck going.

We've had low lows too, and it comes and goes. You have to have people who are behind you and have confidence in you. Otherwise, if they don't stick by you, you could be the greatest trainer in the world and have slow horses, there's nothing you can do about it.

THE MODERATOR: Larry, you've been leading trainer multiple times in Chicago and Arlington Park. Then with the closing of your home track, kind of upending your stable and figuring out where you're going to go from there. Maybe take us through you have a large stable, a lot of clients. What are kind of the plans going forward and the plans for Nobals?

LARRY RIVELLI: Nobals, I'm going to send him to Florida to Ocala, give him a break, bring him back and try to campaign him a little bit. The same we did this year because hopefully all of these races will be available next year.

As far as -- what was the question?

THE MODERATOR: About transitioning out of Chicago.

LARRY RIVELLI: When we got out of Chicago, the Foglias and I and Vinnie, we got together and decided to taper our stable down, better horses, less horses. At Arlington, we had one for every race. It was three days a week, and they were coming out, and we were hitting every spot, and we were winning all the races.

Usually when you put a plan together, it doesn't come together this fast. It came together the first year we did it, which is amazing. We know better it might not happen all the time, but we're definitely fortunate and happy that it did.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Patricia's Hope, Larry Rivelli, Gerardo.