Trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. will participate in his first Grade 1 at Saratoga since the summer of 2012 when he sends out C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano's multiple graded-stakes winner White Abarrio in Saturday's $1 million Whitney.
The nine-furlong test for older horses, which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Santa Anita, has come up tough with reigning Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile-winner Cody's Wish for red-hot Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and the regally-bred Charge It for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher as headliners.
White Abarrio joined Dutrow, Jr.'s barn this spring and enters from a troubled third in the Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 10 at Belmont Park, overcoming a stumbled start to finish 3 1/4-lengths back of the victorious Cody's Wish while registering a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure.
The versatile 4-year-old Race Day colt captured the nine-furlong Grade 1 Florida Derby last year as part of a campaign that concluded with a close third-place finish in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets in December at Aqueduct Racetrack.
White Abarrio, previously trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., launched his current campaign with a pair of starts at Gulfstream Park, finishing off-the-board in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January ahead of a cut back to seven furlongs in March to annex a talented optional-claiming group that featured next-out winners Weyburn and Collaborate before joining forces with Dutrow, Jr.
Dutrow, Jr., who said he has confidence his horse can step up in trip, acknowledged that White Abarrio has a big task ahead of him on Saturday.
“That's for sure, but he's doing good. Hopefully, he's up to it,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “I've been getting to know him better. On the track he is [laid back], not in the stable. He ran big last time going a mile and he just got beat in the [Cigar] Mile. He ran a pretty big race down at Gulfstream going seven-eighths. I guess it mostly depends on who he's in with because he can get those distances.”
White Abarrio, listed at 6-1 on the morning line from post 5, will be reunited with the Spa's leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr., who was aboard for the Cigar Mile effort.
Dutrow, Jr. said he had initially planned to train White Abarrio into the seven-furlong Grade 1, $500,000 Forego on August 26, but saw an opportunity with a shorter field in the Whitney – and also a chance to sidestep the reigning Champion Male Sprinter Elite Power, who bested the talented Gunite in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap here last week.
“All the riders that have been around him really like the feel he gives them. Irad has breezed him a bunch of times and is very happy to get back on him,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “Irad thought he should have won the NYRA Mile, so we have confidence that he's going to run a big race.
“He's had plenty of time between races and after watching the sprint and knowing we'd have to tackle them two [in the Forego], we may as well take a shot for twice the money going a distance that he's won,” added Dutrow, Jr. “It makes sense to try this spot because he'd have to run his heinie off to catch those other two sprinters in the Forego. We're happy we landed in this spot.”
Although the Whitney is a change of plan for White Abarrio, Dutrow, Jr. said he is responding to his horse's cue.
“I'm just going to follow my horse. He's leading us there,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “If it wasn't here it would be the Forego and I love that race, too. We're just concentrating on the horse. He has all the t's crossed and all the i's dotted. He's just been on it. For me, to be back in the Whitney, it's a good race to be in and we're very excited about our horse.”
Dutrow, Jr. has made five previous starts in the Whitney, the last outing in 2012 with Trickmeister, who ran fifth, and the most memorable with Saint Liam, who ran second, by a neck to Commentator, as the mutuel favorite in 2005.
“I had so much confidence in Saint Liam winning that race. He was seen as the best horse in the race and we can't say that about White Abarrio when you have that other Mott horse hanging around,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “It's different. Saint Liam, after his Stephen Foster win, we were training him up to that race. This race, we we're training him for the Forego until we saw a lighter field in the Whitney and decided to go in there.”
Saint Liam finished off his 2005 campaign in style with a pair of Grade 1 wins at Belmont Park, taking the Woodward and Breeders' Cup Classic en route to honors as Champion Older Horse and Horse of the Year.
“I was disappointed when Saint Liam got beat in the Whitney because I felt like we blew an opportunity there, but if this horse gets beat, I'm not going to feel like we blew an opportunity. I feel like we're reaching up and reaching up, but our horse is telling us that we can,” Dutrow, Jr. said.
And while the odds are against White Abarrio finishing off his season with the same flourish as Saint Liam, Dutrow, Jr., who returned victorious from a 10-year suspension in July, said he already feels like a winner.
“He's such a nice horse to be able to be around and train, so I've already met what I wanted to come back for – to be around a nice horse in a big race. It's all good for us,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “We know we're going to be third or fourth choice in the race, but we feel very good about our chances.”
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