Tag: Breeders’ Cup

White Abarrio defied his 10-1 odds and romped to a 6 1/4-length score in Saturday's nine-furlong Whitney (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. In victory, he secured a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on November 4 at Santa Anita Park.

Trained by Rick Dutrow Jr. and piloted by Irad Ortiz  Jr., the 4-year-old Race Day colt stalked the early speed of Giant Game before taking command though the final turn. He opened up by five lengths at the stretch call and was never threatened by Grade 1-winning runner-up Zandon and third-place defeated favorite Cody's Wish, who had won nine of his last 10 outings, including four straight Grade 1 scores topped by a last-out victory in the Grade 1 Met Mile.

“I don't know if it's sunk in yet,” said Dutrow, who celebrated his 64th birthday Saturday. “I kept anticipating another horse to come challenge him. I felt extremely comfortable when he broke good and was laying off the speed horse–I felt any time that he wanted him, he could have him. I waited for someone to come to our horse and they never did. It was so exciting.”

Dutrow said White Abarrio, who earned a career-best 110 Beyer, was in good order Sunday.

C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano's White Abarrio was previously trained by Saffie Joseph and showed remarkable versatility to win at distances ranging from a 6 1/2-furlong maiden score in September 2021 at Gulfstream to a 1 1/4-length victory in the nine-furlong Florida Derby (G1) over the same course.

He made his last start for Joseph with a sharp optional-claiming score traveling seven furlongs on March 4 at Gulfstream Park and made his debut for Dutrow with a troubled third-place finish in the Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on June 10 at Belmont Park.

Dutrow said the horse's maturity – both mental and physical – allow him to be effective at a variety of distances.

“He is extremely cool on the track,” Dutrow said. “He absolutely loves it and he is getting stronger by the minute it seems. So, when a horse has that motor, those two things add up to a whole lot more.”

Dutrow had previously noted that White Abarrio thrives on spacing between his races and that he would likely ship the horse out west to train up to the Breeders' Cup Classic.

“I didn't have to think about it,” said Dutrow of the decision. “All you have to do is read his PPs and you'll see the more time he gets between races, the more he shows up. I'd be willing to wait four months or five months to run him. He just shows up when he's fresh. I think we'll send him out to California and get him ready out there for this race.”

Dutrow noted that he would love to see White Abarrio repeat his recent schedule in 2024.

“I guess right now we can only say that we would love to run him in the Whitney next year because we know he can get that job done – which is two turns at Saratoga,” Dutrow said. “And I would love for the opportunity to run him in the Met Mile next year because I feel that he loves that track.”

The post White Abarrio To Train Up To Breeders’ Cup Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Cogburn remained unbeaten since moving to turf, posting his third consecutive victory on the grass by overtaking Nobals in the stretch to capture Saturday's $300,000 Troy (G1) for older horses to kick off the first of five stakes on a stacked Whitney Day Card at Saratoga Race Course.

Since Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen moved Cogburn from the main track to the turf, the 4-year-old Not This Time colt rallied for a pair of five-furlong victories, winning the Chamberlain Bridge in May and the Grand Prairie Turf Sprint in June at Lone Star Park. Stretched out slightly to the Troy distance of 5 1/2 furlongs, Cogburn improved to 3-for-3 on the lawn with his three-quarter-length victory.

Before earning another winner's circle trip, Nobals led the seven-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in :21.92 and the half in :45.19 into the stretch over a yielding Mellon turf course.

Cogburn, under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., previously won over firm ground but handled the softer going with aplomb. Straightened for home, Cogburn first overtook Remuda from the outside and set his sights on Nobals, collaring him inside the final sixteenth and hitting the wire in 1:03.70.

Nobals, ridden by E.T. Baird, bested Thin White Duke by 1 1/2 lengths for second for trainer Larry Rivelli. Caravel, the 6-year-old mare who entered off a five-race win streak and went off as 1-2 favorite, finished fourth. Remuda, Mister Mmmmm and Ikigai completed the order of finish. Grooms All Bizness was scratched.

“The last two races, he'd been breaking really bad. I was really surprised when he got out on two feet, I stayed last by maybe 10 to 15 lengths, and man he closed hard,” Santana said. “I was really happy where I was today, that was all the plan. It is what I went over with Steve this morning and that horse looked like he loved the turf.

“It was a perfect trip,” he continued. “The horse has been improving and improving, more and more. He ran hard today. He really liked the turf and I'm really happy with him.”

Off at 7-1, Cogburn returned $17 on a $2 win wager. Campaigned by Clark O. Brewster and William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, he improved his career earnings to $591,710 and is now 6-2-0 in 11 career starts.

“I think obviously he has excelled on the turf, being undefeated, and gave me a great feel today,” Asmussen said. “We put him on the turf honestly because he wasn't performing as well as he trained on the dirt. He would run solid, but not as special as he seemed training.”

After handling the softer track, Asmussen said the potential for a Breeders' Cup target in November at Santa Anita could be in play, along with a potential start first in the $1-million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G2) on September 9.

“I thought Ricardo gave him just a perfect trip today,” Asmussen said. “Thankfully, he handled the soft turf. The concern was that he had run twice on very firm turf and all the rain we got yesterday — not being sure how he'd like it — but obviously it suits him well. I feel great to beat the field that we did today and now we can think big. We hopefully have a Breeders' Cup horse.”

Nobals, who won the Turf Sprint (G2) in May at Churchill Downs and William Garrett Handicap in July in his previous start, finished on the board for the fourth time in his last five starts.

“He broke great and he really ran his race,” Baird said. “He handled it great. I know it's a little soft, but he never bobbled once and didn't have a hard time handling the track at all.”

Caravel's trainer, Brad Cox, said the give in the ground was not to his charge's liking.

“It was [the yielding turf]. She's never traveled like that in her life,” Cox said. “We'll regroup. I don't know where we'll go from here.”

The post Cogburn Keeps Turf Record Perfect With Troy Victory, Halts Caravel’s Win Streak appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

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.

Source of original post