Winner of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), White Abarrio returned to top form in Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park, delivering a spectacular 6 1/4-length victory. The flashy gray stalked the pace in fifth before making his move on the far turn, and White Abarrio blistered the competition while drawing clear in the stretch.
“I thought the Breeders’ Cup Classic was the best race of his life, but this was very close behind,” Joseph said. “Everything just aligned. You come up with a plan and more often than not it doesn’t work, but today it did.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. was up for Saffie Joseph Jr., and White Abarrio finished 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.05. He’s owned by C 2 Racing Stable, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and Antonio Pagnano.
White Abarrio did not go on following his Classic win, dropping all three stakes appearances during a disappointing 2024 campaign, and he was transferred back to Joseph after a well-beaten fifth in the Met Mile (G1) last June.
“He wasn’t going to come back his best form, but we came up with a plan, and everyone stuck to the plan,” Joseph said.
By Race Day, White Abarrio returned from a freshening with a romping allowance sprint win at Gulfstream in November, and he was exiting a rallying second in the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector (G3) on Dec. 18. He left the Pegasus starting gate as the 2.80-1 second choice among 11 runners.
The six-year-old horse raced closer to the pace and was kept outside horses along the backstretch, settling within a couple of lengths of Saudi Crown, who showed the way on a clear lead through fractions in :23.43, :46.68, and 1:10.79. White Abarrio overhauled the pacesetter while straightening for home and quickly drew clear.
“After he broke, it made everything easier,” Ortiz Jr. said. “His last race he did something he never did before. He came from off the pace, taking dirt in traffic, and still wanted to win. (Today) I was focused on my horse to break out of there. I was watching Saudi Crown; he’s a nice horse so I didn’t want to be too far from him. I had a great feeling going to the quarter pole because I knew I had a lot of horse. I was home. When I asked him, he really took off.”
“He needed to break,” Joseph added. “He didn’t break the last couple of times, and the break was going to be important. “He was able to get his dream trip. Once he gets into the clear, that’s when he really runs normally his best race.”
Cigar Mile (G2) winner Locked, the 9-5 favorite, got up in deep stretch to be a non-threatening second, a neck better than 9-1 Skippylongstocking, who just missed completing a Joseph exacta. Mixto came next in fourth and was followed by Saudi Crown, Steal Sunshine, Crupi, Power Squeeze, Mystik Dan, Stronghold, and Newgrange.
White Abarrio was handled early in his career by Joseph, recording his first two stakes wins, the Florida Derby (G1) and Holy Bull (G3) in 2022, and three additional graded stakes placings before being moved to Rick Dutrow early in his four-year-old season. The five-time stakes winner also counts the 2023 Whitney (G1) among his accolades.
Bred in Kentucky Spendthrift Farm, White Abarrio was purchased for $40,000 at the 2021 OBS March Two-Year-Old sale, and he’s now earned more than $6.8 million from a 20-9-2-3 record. His dam, the Into Mischief mare Catching Diamonds, counts five-time sprint stakes winner Cool Cowboy as a half-sibling.
