Trainer Larry Rivelli. (Ryan Thompson)
2YO Filly Set for Stakes Debut in $200K Susan’s Girl; Shares Midwest Connections with Millionaire Two Phil’s
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – In the wake of their success with multiple Grade 3-winning millionaire and 2023 Kentucky Derby (G1) runner-up Two Phil’s, Patricia’s Hope LLC and trainer Larry Rivelli have another budding star in 2-year-old filly Rogue Diamond set to make her stakes debut in Saturday’s $200,000 Susan’s Girl at Gulfstream Park.
The seven-furlong Susan’s Girl, second leg in the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series for juvenile fillies by accredited Florida stallions, will be just the second start for Rogue Diamond, a bay daughter of Rogueish bred by Sunshine Ventures.
Rogue Diamond was a front-running two-length winner in her debut, a five-furlong maiden special weight Aug. 22 at Hawthorne Race Course, completing the distance in 59.42 seconds as the 3-5 favorite in a field of six.
“She’s doing good. I’ve always liked her since day one,” Midwest-based Rivelli said. “I thought she had some ability, and I wanted to keep her home the first time we ran her to make sure everything went good. She did what I thought she would do, and ever since then she’s been training awesome. Every day she’s been better and better.”
Rogue Diamond’s performance prompted Rivelli to suspend his usual inclination when it came to finding the next spot for his promising young filly.
“Normally I wouldn’t run a horse that just broke its maiden in a stake but being that it’s a sire stake it’s a little bit of class relief compared to an open stake,” he said. “This is why we got her. Hopefully she’s good enough to run in these kinds of races. I think she is. I think she’s going to surprise a lot of people.”
Co-bred and owned by Ed Seltzer, Beverly Anderson and Krista Seltzer, Rogueish was a winner of his lone start, a six-furlong maiden special weight in November 2018 at Fair Grounds for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. As a stallion he has a record of eight wins, two seconds and a third from 28 2-year-old starters.
Rogue Diamond was consigned to OBS’ 2023 winter mixed sale by Abbie Road Farm of Citra, Fla., near Ocala, but failed to meet her $3,500 reserve. She was later sold privately and sent to Rivelli.
“I’ve known Ed Seltzer since I first started training. [He campaigned] that stallion. We ended up getting the horse as a yearling from the lady that was taking care of the horse. She took over the horse and actually owned the horse,” he said. “It was just kind of a flukish thing. We look for racehorses, not necessarily for where they run, and it was in the wheelhouse. We ended up buying up two that day and she was one of them. We just put her in the program and she excelled.”
Because she was foaled in mid-June of 2022 Rivelli planned to take his time getting Rogue Diamond to the races, but the granddaughter of multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Zanjero had other ideas.
“She was a late foal so I kind of took it easy with her and she showed that she was just above average from day one,” he said. “Normally I wouldn’t have probably even run a June foal this time of year but she never took a bad step. She was perfect. That’s why I think she’s going to keep getting better.”
Ridden by Jareth Loveberry, also the regular pilot for Two Phil’s, Rogue Diamond got bumped at the start but recovered to lead every step of the way in her debut. Rated at 10-1 on the morning line, she will break from Post 2 in a field of seven Saturday under jockey Leonel Reyes.
The 4-5 favorite for the Susan’s Girl is Averill Racing’s R Morning Brew, undefeated in two starts including a 5 ½-length romp in the six-furlong Desert Vixen Sept. 7 to open the FSS series.
“I think she was just that much better than that group last time. She doesn’t necessarily have to have the lead. I got the two hole, so I’m thinking we’ll come out of there running,” Rivelli said. “I really think she can win. I know that [Rich] Averill has got a horse in there that can run. I’ve been friends with him for 20 years. I was his first trainer ever in Chicago, so I talk to him. I just talked to him the other day.”
Rogue Diamond has breezed four times at Hawthorne since her race, most recently going four furlongs in 47.60 seconds Oct. 6, after which Rivelli shipped the horse to Gulfstream to get used to her surroundings.
“She’s been there for a while. I’ve had her there so hopefully it shouldn’t be an issue. She’s coming from a different climate, so we wanted her to acclimate,” he said. “She’s happy. She was ready to run when I sent her. All her works were done so I didn’t need her to do anything there.”
Patricia’s Hope is the nom de course of Vince Foglia Sr., founder of the Chicago-area medical device company Sage Products, in honor of his wife, Pat. In 1993 the couple established a nonprofit outreach called The Foglia Foundation which they run with their two adult children: Vinnie and Kym. It was Vinnie who put the family together with Rivelli.
“Vinnie and his mom Patricia, we live four doors down from each other. We see each other twice a day every day [and talk] about anything, not just horses,” Rivelli said. “It’s really a close-knit group which makes it great. Since the beginning he’s as happy for me as I am for him. It’s a lot of fun. The family, they’re great people. They are like family, so it makes it even better when you get horses of this caliber that are winning and doing well.”
