Month: November 2023

Dutrow Back In the Limelight as White Abarrio Scores in the Classic

ARCADIA, CA – Babe!

After spending 10 years in exile with a very well-documented suspension, trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. is officially all the way back.

C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's White Abarrio (Race Day), a powerhouse last out winner of this summer's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga, ran to the money as the 5-2 favorite with a one-length victory for Dutrow in Saturday's $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. The 64-year-old's three prior wins at the Championships were headed by future Horse of the Year Saint Liam in the 2005 Classic at Belmont Park. The New York-based Dutrow has been back training for seven months now.

“I don't feel that I am back at the top, but I feel that the white horse is,” said Dutrow, who also trained Big Brown to wins in the first two legs of the 2008 Triple Crown. “As soon as I get stables like Todd (Pletcher) and Chad (Brown), then I'll feel like I'm back on the top. I'm going to be calling everybody tomorrow when I get done with Disneyland and say, 'Hey, I am ready for some horses here.'”

Dutrow continued, “Right now, I just feel like I'm lucky to be around him. I feel he's on the top, and I love being around good horses like that. It just makes you feel like a good horseman, and that's always what I wanted to be.”

White Abarrio, drawn kindly in post two, secured a dream spot on the inside in third as 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo)–off as the 3-1 second choice off a game win against older horses in this summer's GI Pacific Classic S.–and GI Pennsylvania Derby hero Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) absolutely tore through fractions of :22.46 and :45.73 in the 1 1/4-mile centerpiece.

Richard Dutrow, Jr. and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. celebrate after winning the GI Breeders' Cup Classic |
Benoit Photo

With Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard, White Abarrio began to make his move on the far turn and attacked the top two while three wide nearing the quarter pole. Saudi Crown was the first to blink and White Abarrio had dead aim on the pacesetter at the top of the stretch. He switched his leads right on cue and blasted off for home for a no-doubt-about-it victory while never seriously threatened by Japanese invader and G2 UAE Derby winner Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits), who was making his first start since finishing sixth in the GI Kentucky Derby. Proxy (Tapit), a narrow second in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S., came rattling home to tag Arabian Knight by a neck for third.

“Everything came out perfect,” said the hot-handed Ortiz, Jr., who won his fifth Bill Shoemaker Award after guiding home three winners on Breeders' Cup Saturday. “We handicapped that race perfectly as we thought Saudi Crown and Arabian Knight would be on the lead and we should be third. I saved all the ground on the first turn and then I was able to get in the clear on the backside. After that, it's all about the horse. To be honest, I just let him do his thing and I don't get in his way. When I turned for him, I started to ride him and he kept responding.”

Transferred to Dutrow while former trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. was under fire this spring following a pair of high-profile horse deaths at Churchill Downs during Derby week, the 2022 GI Curlin Florida Derby winner and GI Cigar Mile H. third-place finisher produced a better-than-it-looked third-place finish after stumbling at the start in his first start for this barn in the GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. at Belmont June 10. He had made only one other start since, earning a career-high 110 Beyer Speed Figure with Zandon (Upstart) and two-time GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish (Curlin) far back in second and third in the Whitney Aug. 5.

“Churchill Downs, we had an issue where they scratched our horse,” winning co-owner Mark Cornett said of the decision to change trainers. “NYRA decided they weren't going to accept the entries, nominations, and I wanted to run in the Met Mile.

He continued, “So I had to make a trainer switch. I've known Rick a long time. I know exactly what he's capable of. This horse was tailor made for him.”

Pedigree Notes:

White Abarrio, a $7,500 OBS Winter yearling turned $40,000 OBS March 2-year-old, is the lone graded winner for Race Day, a son of Tapit. Race Day previously stood at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, but was exported to Korea prior to the 2021 season. White Abarrio is one of four graded winners for the mighty Into Mischief as a broodmare sire.

The unplaced winner's dam Catching Diamonds, a $425,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase for Spendthrift, produced White Abarrio as her first foal. A half to MGSW-UAE and MSW-U.S. Cool Cowboy (Kodiak Kowboy) and to the dam of GSW Mutasaabeq (Into Mischief), the mare has an unraced 2-year-old colt named Diamond Lord (Lord Nelson), who fetched $155,000 from Lincoln Racing at last year's Keeneland September sale, and a yearling colt, also by Lord Nelson, who sold as a weanling at Keeneland November for $100,000 to Larry Hirsch. Her 2023 foal was a Yaupon filly born Apr. 15 and she was bred back to Constitution.

 

LONGINES BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC-GI, $5,520,000, Santa Anita, 11-4, 3yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:02.87, ft.
1–WHITE ABARRIO, 126, c, 4, by Race Day
        1st Dam: Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief
        2nd Dam: Grand Breeze, by Grand Slam
        3rd Dam: Breeze Lass, by It's Freezing
($7,500 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-C2 Racing Stable LLC and La Milagrosa Stable, LLC; B-Spendthrift
Farm LLC (KY); T-Richard E. Dutrow, Jr.; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $3,120,000. Lifetime Record: 15-7-1-3, $4,946,350. Click for
the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Derma Sotogake (Jpn), 122, c, 3, Mind Your Biscuits–Amour Poesie (Jpn), by Neo Universe (Jpn). 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (¥18,000,000 Ylg '21 JRHAYF). O-Hiroyuki Asanuma; B-Shadai Farm (Jpn); T-Hidetaka Otonashi. $1,020,000.
3–Proxy, 126, h, 5, Tapit–Panty Raid, by Include. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael Stidham. $540,000.
Margins: 1, 1 1/4, NK. Odds: 2.60, 26.20, 17.40.
Also Ran: Arabian Knight, Ushba Tesoro (Jpn), Bright Future, Senor Buscador, Dreamlike, Zandon, Saudi Crown, Clapton, Missed the Cut. Scratched: Arcangelo. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by Fanduel TV.

 

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Rick Dutrow’s Comeback Is Complete With White Abarrio’s Victory In Breeders’ Cup Classic

What a long strange trip it's been.

Returning in February 2023 from a 10-year ban imposed on his occupational license by New York regulators who called him “obnoxious,” among other things, Rick Dutrow is back. In a big way.

After having an underachieving 4-year-old colt transferred to him from a trainer who also was under scrutiny by regulators, Dutrow showed he can still train a racehorse. On Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., the sport's one-time “bad boy” won the biggest prize in American racing, the $6-million, Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic with C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's White Abarrio. Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., the gray colt by Race Day got a dream trip behind dueling frontrunners Arabian Knight and Saudi Crown, taking command in midstretch and drawing out for the win. Japanese-bred Derma Sotogake finished second, a length behind the winner, with Proxy another 1 1/4 lengths back while edging Arabian Knight for third.

They were followed by a second Japanese runner, Ushba Tesoro, Bright Future, Senor Buscador, Dreamlike, Zandon, Saudi Crown, Clapton, and Missed the Cut. Arcangelo, who came into the Classic off G1 victories in the Belmont Stakes and Travers, was scratched.

“It's incredible,” Dutrow said on the NBC telecast after White Abarrio's triumph. “Incredible stuff what I'm going through right now.”

 “Everything came out perfect,” said Ortiz. “We handicapped that race perfectly as we thought Saudi Crown and Arabian Knight would be on the lead and we should be third. I saved all the ground on the first turn and then I was able to get in the clear on the backside. After that, it all about the horse. To be honest, I just let him do his thing and I don't get in his way. When I turned for him, I started to ride him and kept responding.”

White Abarrio paid $7.20 to win as the favorite after completing 1 1/4 miles on a fast track in 2:02.87. Fractions set by second betting choice Arabian Knight were quick: :22.46 for the opening quarter mile, :45.23 for the half, 1:10.28 for six furlongs, and 1:35.29 for the mile.

 “After a half in 45 and change, we were happy and we were just hoping that our horse was going to run his race at that time,” said Dutrow. “And he did. It set up really good for him.

“I felt that he was a winner all of the way around the track. He broke good. He was setting off a couple of horses in front of him, which he liked.  He came up on the outside of them. When he did that I knew we had nothing in our way, it was only a matter of someone coming to catch us. I felt good.”

Rick Dutrow and Irad Ortiz Jr. celebrate the Classic victory

The win was the seventh in White Abarrio's career from 15 starts. Bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm and a $40,000 OBS March 2-Year-Old Sale graduate, he is out of the Into Mischief mare Catching Diamonds. The near white horse began his career at Gulfstream Park with trainer Carlos Perez, winning by 6 3/4 lengths at first asking in August of his juvenile season. That victory attracted the attention of Clint and Mark Cornett, who purchased majority interest in White Abarrio privately and transferred him to Saffie Joseph Jr. in South Florida. Antonio Pagnano's La Milagrosa Stable, the original owner, retained an interest

After a third-place finish in the G2 Kentucky  Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs, White Abarrio won the G3 Holy Bull Stakes in his 3-year-old debut in 2022, followed by a victory in the G1 Florida Derby, making him a major contender for the Triple Crown. A disappointing 16th-place finish in the G1 Kentucky Derby began a six-race losing streak – all graded stakes – that didn't end until an allowance/optional claiming win at Gulfstream in March 2023.

Joseph was planning White Abarrio's 4-year-old campaign when two of his horses suffered sudden deaths at Churchill Downs, prompting officials there to put him under suspension. The New York Racing Association followed suit. The Cornetts, unclear on how long the suspension would last and whether he would be eligible to train in other states, opted to transfer the horse to Dutrow, who was scraping to put together a stable after his lengthy forced absence from the game.

“Churchill Downs, we had an issue where they scratched our horse,” said Mark Cornett. “NYRA decided they weren't going to accept the entries, nominations, and I wanted to run in the Met Mile. So I had to make a trainer switch. I've known Rick a long time. I know exactly what he's capable of. This horse was tailor made for him. The horse at the time, in the middle of May, had blossomed like a horse I'd never seen — physically, girth, shoulder, hip — everything came together for this horse. … I called and talked to Rick. We probably talked for 30 minutes, and I decided to pull the trigger. So that's how that happened.”

Dutrow immediately began pointing White Abarrio for the G1 Metropolitan Handicap at one mile on Belmont Stakes day, with the colt finishing third behind Cody's Wish and Zandon after stumbling at the start. He came back two months later with an impressive 6 1/4-length win over Zandon and Cody's Wish in the G1 Whitney going 1 1/8 miles.

Dutrow then opted to train White Abarrio up to the Breeders' Cup Classic, thinking the horse ran best with plenty of time between races. He shipped the horse to Santa Anita early and began to blossom, buoying Dutrow's confidence. But a final workout before the Classic was delayed by veterinarians for several days after White Abarrio demonstrated some tenderness in a foot. That hurdle was cleared and White Abarrio's five-furlong breeze on Oct. 27 in :59.80 – his fifth drill over the Santa Anita surface – drew raves from clockers.

This was Dutrow's second Classic win, the first coming in 2005 with Horse of the Year Saint Liam, and his fourth overall in Breeders' Cup races.

“I don't feel that I am back at the top, but I feel that the white horse is,” Dutrow said. “I'm just hanging around him. As soon as I get stables like Todd (Pletcher) and Chad (Brown), then I'll feel like I'm back on the top. Right now I just feel like I'm lucky to be around him. I feel he's on the top, and I love being around good horses like that. It just makes you feel like a good horseman, and that's always what I wanted to be.

“I don't have a stable packed with good horses, and that's really what I want, and I'm going to be striving for it,” the trainer added.  “I'm going to be calling everybody tomorrow when I get done with Disneyland and say, 'Hey, I am ready for some horses here. Can you guys send me some horses?' Believe me.”

The post Rick Dutrow’s Comeback Is Complete With White Abarrio’s Victory In Breeders’ Cup Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Frankie Dettori rolls back the years by guiding Inspiral to last-gasp victory in the Breeders’ Cup in California – as he hails his ‘brilliant’ horse after reversing his decision to retire

Held up towards the rear of mid-division for her first attempt at 10 furlongs, Dettori angled Inspiral out for a run rounding the far turn and flew home to deny Aidan O'Brien's Warm Heart.

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Auguste Rodin Pretty As a Picture in the BC Turf

Announced as a season-ending target long before such announcements are typically made, the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf proved fertile ground for the Coolmore partners' Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who enjoyed what turned out to be a dream trip beneath Ryan Moore, got through when the real running commenced at the head of the lane and charged to the wire to defeat top U.S. hope Up to the Mark (Not This Time). It was a sixth victory in the mile-and-a-half second-richest race on the card for trainer Aidan O'Brien–three of which have occurred at Santa Anita–and first since Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) took the 2016 renewal at the 'Great Race Place' under a heady ride from Seamie Heffernan. O'Brien now sits on 18 Breeders' Cup winners overall, while Ryan Moore was riding his 14th championship winner.

Sent off the 5-2 chalk on the strength of a season that has included victories in the G1 Derby at Epsom, the G1 Irish Derby and the G1 Irish Champion S., the son of 2017 Filly & Mare Turf runner-up Rhododendron settled in about midfield for the run down the hill, but jinked noticeably to his right when not handling the dirt crossing particularly well. Rebalanced when linking back up with the turf course, he was maneuvered down towards the inside before the field made their way under the wire with a circuit to travel.

Racing with cover on the back of 2022 G1 Dubai Sheema Classic hero Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) as they reached halfway, Auguste Rodin was always moving sweetly and continued to follow the move of the Japanese raider past the half-mile peg and around the turn. When Cristian Demuro opted to let Shahryar drift away from the inside nearing the quarter pole, Moore gladly seized upon the opportunity to allow his mount to creep forward into striking position. Long-time leader Balladeer (Distorted Humor) still held the call after the opening 10 furlongs, but he hung to his right off the final corner and that was all that Moore and Auguste Rodin needed, as they hit the hole under a full head of steam and pinched a break before holding Up to the Mark in the run to the winning post. Shahryar, the son of 2011 Filly & Mare Sprint heroine Dubai Majesty, was a good third to complete a posthumous one-three finish for Deep Impact.

Despite the ease with which he won, the winning ride was far down in the playbook, said Moore.

“Ending up [on] the rail was like Plan F and I had to make the best of the opportunities,” he said. “My horse was getting a bad trip. He won because he's so good, I made the right call to stick to the rail but could have easily not been.

“The race didn't go to plan. The first part of the race was messy as everyone was in each other's way and I didn't really like where I was. All I wanted to do was get the horse to find his rhythm and he got there so quickly and easily and once he got to the front that's all he does. Considering how the race went against him it was probably his best performance. He's vindicated himself now. He had things do against him today and he overcame them.”

Pedigree Notes:

Auguste Rodin's granddam is Halfway To Heaven, purchased by Coolmore out of the 2006 Goffs Orby sale and winner of three top-level contests, including the 2008 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas. The mating that resulted in Auguste Rodin–quite simply a match made in heaven.

Rhododendron was among what became the final book of mares that visited the legendary Deep Impact in 2019 and Auguste Rodin is the second Breeders' Cup winner in three years for the late stallion, joining 2021 Filly & Mare Turf victress Loves Only You (Jpn).

The first foal for his dam, a sister to the globetrotting seven-time Group 1 winner Magical (Ire) and Irish Group 3 winner Flying the Flag (Ire), Auguste Rodin is bred on the same cross over Galileo responsible for English and Irish Oaks heroine Snowfall (Jpn) and G1 English 2000 Guineas hero Saxon Warrior (Jpn)–sire of 2022 Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road (Ire)–in addition to the additional group winners Cantabile (Jpn), Vanquish Run (Jpn), Harajuku (Ire) and Drumroll (Ire).

There is a plethora of black-type under MGSW third dam Cassandra Go, as Halfway to Heaven's Group 3-winning half-sister Theann (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) is the dam of U.S. Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and GSW sire Land Force (Ire) (No Nay Never).

Rhododendron's most recent offspring is a Dubawi (Ire) colt foaled Feb. 10.

Saturday, Santa Anita Park
LONGINES BREEDERS' CUP TURF-GI, $3,680,000, Santa Anita, 11-4, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:24.30, fm.
1–AUGUSTE RODIN (IRE), 122, c, 3, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
1st Dam: Rhododendron (Ire) (Hwt. Older Mare-Eng- at 7 – 9 1/2 f., Hwt. Filly-Ire, Hwt. Older Mare-Ire- at 7 – 9 1/2 f., Hwt. Older Mare-Eur- at 7 – 9 1/2 f., G1SW-Fr, MG1SW-Eng, GSW & G1SP-Ire, GISP-USA, $1,786,763), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Halfway To Heaven (Ire), by Pivotal (GB)
3rd Dam: Cassandra Go (Ire), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
O-Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan P. O'Brien; J-Ryan L. Moore. $2,080,000. Lifetime Record: MG1SW-Eng & Ire, 10-7-1-0, $4,958,538. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Up to the Mark, 126, c, 4, Not This Time–Belle's Finale, by Ghostzapper. ($450,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC; B-Ramspring Farm (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $680,000.
3–Shahryar (Jpn), 126, h, 5, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Dubai Majesty, by Essence of Dubai. O-Sunday Racing Co. Ltd.; B-Northern Farm (JPN); T-Hideaki Fujiwara. $360,000.
Margins: 3/4, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.50, 3.40, 25.50.
Also Ran: Gold Phoenix (Ire), King of Steel, Onesto (Ire), War Like Goddess, Mostahdaf (Ire), Balladeer, Adhamo (Ire), Broome (Ire). Scratched: Bolshoi Ballet (Ire), Get Smokin.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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