White Abarrio pressed the early pace before taking a slim lead in early stretch, then bounded clear to win the $1-million Whitney (G1) at 10-1 odds in a major coup for trainer Rick Dutrow while odds-on and sentimental favorite Cody's Wish was third.
Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., White Abarrio won by 6 1/4 lengths. Zandon was second, 3 3/4 lengths in front of Cody's Wish, who entered on a six-race win streak. Early pacesetter Giant Game faded to fifth in the six-horse field.
White Abarrio returned $22.40 after covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.45.
With the victory, C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano's White Abbarrio earned an automatic, fees-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) in November at Santa Anita.
The 4-year-old Race Day colt joined Dutrow's barn earlier this year and entered the Whitney from a troubled third behind Cody's Wish in the Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on June 10 at Belmont Park in his first start for Dutrow. Saturday's victory marked his sixth from 14 career starts and second at the Grade 1 level following his Florida Derby triumph last year for previous trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
'I can't describe what it means to me,” said Dutrow, a Kentucky Derby- and Breeders' Cup-winning conditioner who in February was granted a trainer's license by New York regulators after a 10-ban for various rules violations and suspensions.
Spendthrift Farm bred White Abarrio in Kentucky from the Into Mischief mare Catching Diamonds.
Whitney (G1) Quotes:
Rick Dutrow Jr., winning trainer of White Abarrio: “Very, very happy for everybody involved. The owners trusted me to train the horse and now we get to go further with him now. We can even think about the Breeders' Cup Classic. After we've been looking at him and trying to figure him out, he runs huge between two and three months. Today was two months, last time he ran was about three months. He ran big last time, even though he didn't get the money, we were extremely happy. Now we get to think about going even further in the mile and a quarter or the [Dirt] Mile. We're sitting in a good spot. We're very happy.
“If they [Elite Power and Gunite] would have both run up the track [in last Saturday's G1 A.G. Vanderbilt], then maybe we would have [gone to the seven-furlong Grade 1 Forego on August 26]. But those two horses ran their races. Even if we went to the Forego, we would not have been afraid to do that. We would have went in with confidence because we have a nice horse.
“We didn't have confidence to win, this race we had confidence we were going to run big. He had been training so well. I breezed him this morning. In his last breeze at the training track at Belmont, he went really slow. That was not by design for this race. I said, 'Man we missed a really good breeze, let me just breeze him this morning to make up the difference.'
“We're headed towards the Breeders' Cup the right way and that's a thrill. We don't want to run him again, we want to go straight to the race.”
On targeting the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic or Grade 1 Dirt Mile: “We have to see how the younger horses run in these other races, talk to the owners, see how the horse comes out of it. Wherever we go, we're going to have confidence that he's going to run big.”
Irad Ortiz Jr., winning jockey aboard White Abarrio: “He broke so sharp in the Metropolitan and ran good last time. He got a good position and then they moved around him and he had to wait a little bit and almost finished second. He got beat by a nice horse [Cody's Wish]. I thought with that race and Rick [Dutrow] giving him the break straight to this race, I knew he was ready. I was working him before this and he was so positive on the horse. I knew he was going to break good and I could sit second or third from there. That's what I did. The horse was ready and he took me all the way to the quarter-pole nice and easy; and when I asked him, he was there for me.
“I started working the horse as a favor. He asked me if I could do it, even if I didn't ride it, and I said no problem, so we got him ready for the Metropolitan and he ran big. He told me he would run big and to keep working the horse. I said alright, fine. It's no problem with me. I was happy. Rick is a great person and he's been good with me. He told me he was going to the Forego and then he ended up in this race. My agent told me one day before the race that White Abarrio was going to run and we're going to ride it. I said, 'OK,' and here we are.”
Jose Ortiz, jockey of runner-up Zandon: “He [trainer Chad Brown] just said to ride loose. I have been around the horse a long time, I know him and rode him in Louisiana [to a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Risen Star]. He [Brown] gave me the confidence and I think we had a great trip. The winner was the best today.”
Junior Alvarado, jockey of third-place and beaten post-time favorite Cody's Wish: “He jumped OK and the second jump, I don't know, the ground broke underneath and he felt very awkward from behind. That might have taken a little out of me, but I don't think he ran his race today. It might have been the distance. When I hit the three-eighths pole, I was very worried. I had never got this feeling with him before and today I knew I was in trouble. I tried to keep him confident to keep him going, but right when he switched to the right [lead], he got flat on me. I had to ask him at the three-eighths and start riding and he started picking it up, but he wasn't quite as fast as I wanted.”
John Velazquez, jockey of fourth-place Charge It: “We didn't break good enough and kind of got behind the horses. He kind of stayed the same pace the whole way around.”
On why he didn't fire: “I didn't have anywhere to go. Then when I let him go, it took him a long time to get going. It was too much to do.”
Luis Saez, jockey of fifth-place Giant Game: “He broke pretty sharp. He felt pretty nice. When we came to the top of the stretch, he was trying. He gave it all he could. The winner came and was much the best.”
Flavien Prat, jockey of sixth-place Last Samurai: “I really had a good trip, I have no excuse.”
Winning margin: 6 1/4 lengths
Final time (1 1/8 miles): 1:48.45
Fractions: :24.41, :48.27, 1:11.81, 1:36.29
Full order of finish: 5-1-6-2-3-4
The post White Abarrio Upstages Cody’s Wish With 10-1 Triumph In ‘Win & You’re In’ Whitney appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
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