Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

Trainer Larry Rivelli and owner Vince Foglia are longtime friends who have raced horses in Chicago for years. As Arlington Park was winding down to its closure in 2021, they looked for a horse who might do well in the Arlington-Washington Futurity. Foglia bought Nobals, who not only won the Futurity for them, but now has become a Breeders' Cup winner, capturing the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

Since the 2021 Arlington-Washington Futurity and prior to the Breeders' Cup, Nobals had won seven more races, six of them stakes, and racked up earnings of almost $1 million. He also put together a good enough resume as a turf sprinter that Rivelli and Foglia decided to take a shot at the Breeders' Cup.

"When I saw the nominations, I thought you could throw a blanket over the whole field as far as who was better than one another," Rivelli said.

When the gate opened in the five-furlong Turf Sprint, European runner Live In The Dream zipped to the lead and set brisk fractions of :21.15 for a quarter mile and :43.77 for a half-mile. Nobals broke ninth of 12 for jockey Gerardo Corrales and ran in mid-pack early.

"Our plan was to be a little closer," Rivelli said. "He ended up working out a trip and we held on."

After Nobals took a bump from the outside, Corrales moved him to the inside and saved ground around the turn. They came through on the rail to take the lead. Big Invasion, who was in tight early, got clear late to make a huge rally. But Nobals held him off to win by a neck in :55.15. Aesop's Fables closed for third, and Live In The Dream held on for fourth.