Tag: Breeders’ Cup

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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Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas hasn't been shy to swing for the fences en route to surprising upset triumphs at top level. The 87-years-young conditioner will be doing just that on Saturday when he saddles multiple graded stakes winner Last Samurai in the 96th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Willis Horton Racing, Last Samurai enters the prestigious nine-furlong test for older horses from a pair of fourth-place finishes in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on July 1 at Ellis Park and the Grade 2 Alysheba on May 5 at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old Malibu Moon chestnut enjoyed a strong run of form earlier in the year at Oaklawn Park, capturing the Razorback on February 18 and the Essex on March 18 – both Grade 3 tests going 1 1/16 miles – before finishing second beaten a head in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 22.

Last Samurai will be making his Saratoga debut in the Whitney, and Lukas said the multimillionaire horse could be even more effective over the Spa main track.

“I think he cares for a little deeper surface and I think he might do even better on this racetrack,” Lukas said. “He's in top form and you don't have any excuses other than the fact that he can't run fast enough, if that's the case. But I think he'll do very, very well.”

Lukas tipped his cap to 1-2 morning line favorite Cody's Wish, who enters the Whitney – which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic – from a six-race win streak, including four Grade 1 races, and expressed appreciation for the history and importance behind the Whitney.

“I thought our horse fits here and is very much worthy of having a shot in here,” Lukas said. “I have great respect for Cody's Wish and all of them. But given the prestige of the race and the amount of the purse, it would maybe be better to take that chance and see how close we can get to these other horses and better evaluate whether we're Breeders' Cup worthy down the line. To win a Whitney or to be one-two-three in the Whitney counts double to these other stakes. It has so much prestige.”

Since the inception of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships in 1984, the Whitney has seen eight of its winners capture Breeders' Cup glory at the end of the year. Among these horses are 1986 winner and Lukas alumna Lady's Secret, who defeated males en route to a Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff triumph and, subsequently, Horse of the Year honors.

In 1990, Lukas captured the Whitney with Criminal Type who also earned Horse of the Year honors at the end of his campaign.

“When I won it with Lady's Secret against the colts, it made her Horse of the Year. That one race cemented her as Horse of the Year,” recalled Lukas. “So, I think the race is such a prestigious and important race that we're going to take a chance and lead him over there. The distance will fit him. He's a big, strong and sound horse, so why not?”

MyRacehorse's juvenile colt Seize the Grey broke his maiden on July 29 over a sloppy and sealed Saratoga main track. The gray son of Arrogate earned a 73 Beyer Speed Figure with a 1 3/4-length triumph over Dornoch – a full-brother to Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Mage – and is possible for the Grade 2, $300,000 Hopeful going seven furlongs on September 4.

“That was a tough race. Everyone liked their horse. There were six or seven guys who told me they really liked their horse,” Lukas said. “He's come out of that race strong. I've had three or four Arrogates now and in my experience with them, they seem to get better as they get older. So, I'm counting on him to get a lot better on the First Saturday in May.”

Speaking of Arrogate progeny that blossom on the first week of May, Briland Farm's Kentucky homebred Secret Oath – the winner of last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks – worked five furlongs over the Oklahoma training track Thursday in 1:00.45 in preparation for the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign on August 25 at Saratoga.

The 4-year-old chestnut filly was a last out uncharacteristic fifth in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 10 at Belmont Park after completing the exacta in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 15 at Oaklawn Park and the Grade 1 La Troienne on May 5 at Churchill Downs.

“That's one that really thrives up here. I'm so looking forward to the Personal Ensign. I don't think she's ever been this good, frankly,” Lukas said. “She has an affinity for the Oklahoma track. She worked this morning in a minute flat, and she did it without taking a breath. I'm really looking forward to running her.”

Secret Oath is out of the multiple stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Quiet American mare Absinthe Minded. She sports a record of 17-6-4-3 and $2,344,767 in earnings.

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Your basic small but select field – five 4-year-old fillies, all of them graded stakes winners – will go for a Grade 1 prize at Del Mar Saturday in the 53rd edition of the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, a mile and one-sixteenth on the main track that carries the honors of the game's top stakes event, as well as a $400,000 prize.

Additionally, the Hirsch is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” challenge race that guarantees the winner an admission free berth in the $2-million Breeders' Cup Distaff, which will be run this year at Santa Anita in November.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who won the Hirsch in 2020 with Fighting Mad, will send out a pair of solid candidates in the Saturday headliner in Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor and Jill Baffert or Connie Pageler's Fun to Dream.

Trainer Phil D'Amato, who'll be in quest of his first victory in the stakes, also will saddle two of the runners in Little Red Feather's Elm Drive along with H & E Ranch's Desert Dawn. Finally, trainer John Sadler, with five notches already on his belt in the Hirsch, will send out Keith Abrahams' Kirstenbosch.

Adare Manor, an Uncle Mo offspring who has five victories and four seconds in 11 careers starts, well could be the favorite in the crucible. The speedster comes into the race off a trio of scores, the last two coming in Grade 2 stakes at Santa Anita. She figures to be on or near the lead throughout and she'll have the saddle services of her regular rider, Juan Hernandez, for the test, which goes as Race 10 on an 11-race card.

The other Baffert filly, Fun to Dream, is a California homebred daughter of the trainer's Hall of Fame stallion Arrogate out of the Maria's Mon mare Lutess. She's won six of her eight outings and is the lone runner in the lineup with a Grade 1 tally already to her credit, that coming in the La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita last December. Hernandez had ridden the filly in all eight of her previous starts, but chose to go the other way for this affair. That left the door open for veteran Ramon Vazquez to pick up the mount.

Elm Drive, who'll have Ricky Gonzalez in the tack, is a five-time winner who has gone two turns only once before with results that were not promising. She's by the Tapit sire Mohaymen out of an Indian Charlie mare

Desert Dawn, who is also by a Tapit stallion, this one named Cupid, has only won twice after 14 starts, but has a pair of seconds and five thirds that have built her earnings up to $696,525, tops among all the runners in the lineup. She'll have regular rider Umberto Rispoli aboard as she goes again in a race where she ran second last year to the top mare Blue Stripe.

Kirstenbosch is a homebred by Midnight Lute with a trio of victories and six other placings to her credit. She'll be handled by Hector Berrios in the select field. In her most recent start, Kirstenbosch finished second to Adare Manor in Santa Anita's Santa Margarita Stakes on June 10.

In the race prior to the Clement L. Hirsch, 10 3-year-olds and up will travel a mile and one-sixteenth on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course in the $150,000 California Dreamin' Stakes. The race, limited to California-breds, is having its 18th running.

First post Saturday is at 2 p.m. The California Dreamin' should go off around 6 p.m. and the Clement L. Hirsch at approximately 6:30.

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Godolphin's multiple Grade 1-winner Cody's Wish brings a six-race win streak into Saturday's 96th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney for older horses going nine furlongs at Saratoga Race Course.

The Whitney is a “Win And You're In” qualifying event for the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic on November 4 at Santa Anita and headlines Saturday's action-packed program. With five stakes consisting of purses in excess of $2.53 million, Whitney Day features two other Grade 1 events with the $600,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational for 3-year-olds going 1 3/16 miles over the Mellon turf and the $500,000 Test for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs over the main track. Also featured on the card is the Grade 3, $300,000 Troy for 4-year-olds and upward going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon turf; and $135,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure for 4-year-olds and upward going 1 1/16 miles over turf.

The Whitney has been won by subsequent Champion Older Horses Knicks Go (2021), Improbable (2020), Gun Runner (2017), Honor Code (2015), Blame (2010), Lawyer Ron (2007), Invasor (2006), Left Bank (2002), Lemon Drop Kid (2000), Victory Gallop (1999), Criminal Type (1990) and Slew o' Gold (1984). Prominent Whitney victors during the early years of the race include all-time greats Equipoise (1932), Discovery (1934-36), War Admiral (1938), Stymie (1946), Tom Fool (1953), Carry Back (1962), Kelso (1961, 1963, 1965), Dr. Fager (1968) and Alydar (1978).

Cody's Wish, who boasts a record of 13-9-1-3 and field-high earnings of $2,328,530, will attempt to add a fifth consecutive Grade 1 triumph to his ledger. After launching his run of winning form in last year's Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont Park and Churchill Downs' Hanshin Cup last July, Cody's Wish defeated 2021 Champion Sprinter Jackie's Warrior in the Forego last August at Saratoga. The bay son of Curlin passed the two-turn test when capturing the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland, defeating dual Grade 1-winner Cyberknife by a head. Six months later, he commenced his 5-year-old season with more Grade 1 glory in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs on the May 6 Kentucky Derby undercard.

The son of multiple Champion-producing stallion Curlin arrives at the Whitney from a 3 1/4-length victory in the Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap where he equaled a career-high 112 Beyer Speed Figure while besting returning rivals

Zandon and White Abarrio. He will attempt to become the first horse to sweep the Met-Mile Whitney double since fellow Godolphin color-bearer Frosted [2016].

Cody's Wish vies for his first triumph past one mile in the Whitney, which will be his first start going nine furlongs since a third-place finish as a maiden during his 3-year-old campaign in July 2021 at Saratoga.

“We have reason to believe he could do it,” said Mott. “He's come a long way. He was terribly green when we ran him at three in his first few races. He just didn't know whether to go forward or that sort of thing.”

Cody's Wish brings along a heartwarming story with him being named after Cody Dorman, who was born with the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and is unable to walk or communicate without utilizing a tablet. Dorman and his family visited Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm during Keeneland's Make-A-Wish Day in 2018, where he met a young Cody's Wish, and the two instantly formed a strong bond.

“Every time you bring a horse over like this, you stand the risk of getting beat,” Mott said. “There's always somebody that's an up and coming horse and we certainly respect all the competition. This is a very good horse and hopefully for our sake, he can go on. There's a great story that goes with him with Cody Dorman, so the whole scenario turns out to be very special.”

A Kentucky homebred, Cody's Wish is out of the Tapit mare Dance Card who also produced graded stakes winner Endorsed. He is a direct descendant of influential matriarch La Troienne.

Junior Alvarado, who captured the 2014 Whitney aboard Moreno, has been aboard Cody's Wish since capturing last year's Westchester and retains the mount aboard the 1-2 morning line favorite from post 6.

“He hasn't been a great horse in the starting gate, so it's probably not a bad thing for him to be on the outside – he doesn't have to wait around in there long,” Mott said. “He's gotten just a little anxious in there and he gets a little strong-headed sometimes in the gate. It's better to be out there, I think.”

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle Whisper Hill Farm's Kentucky homebred Charge It, who was a last-out winner of the Grade 2 Suburban on July 8 at Belmont Park. The 4-year-old Tapit gray colt was in command throughout most of the 10-furlong journey, building on his advantage en route to a 4 3/4-length score while garnering a 106 Beyer.

Pletcher, who campaigned previous Whitney victors Left Bank [2002], Lawyer Ron [2007], Cross Traffic [2013] and Life Is Good [2022], said the Suburban was Charge It's most professional race yet.

“He broke alertly, rated kindly and took over when Johnny asked him to. He got into a good rhythm and stayed focused,” Pletcher said. “He's starting to put everything together consistently. It's a very tall order to go up against the best older horses in training, but we're happy with the way that he's coming into it. He's a horse that when you watch him train, you think he can do about anything.”

Charge It, the 5-1 morning line third choice, will leave from post 2 in rein to Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who piloted Pletcher's first three Whitney winners to victory as well as Commentator in 2008.

Jeff Drown's Grade 1 winner Zandon will attempt to turn the tables on Cody's Wish after finishing a late-closing second in the Met Mile for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. The son of Upstart, who finished third in the 2016 Whitney, seeks his first trip to the winner's circle since capturing the Grade 1 Blue Grass last April at Keeneland, but has finished on the board in 6-of-7 starts since that effort. He rounded out the trifecta in last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga and also finished second in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing.

Brown praised the 4-year-old dark bay for his ability to adapt to different racetracks.

“He's performed well at several tracks and luckily he's handled this track well,” Brown said. “He's just an all-around top-quality horse and I have a lot of respect for the horse. I hope he has his day to put his head in front. I know he has come up short in some really big races, but he has so much heart and tries so hard and he has so much ability that I just feel he will have his day. Hopefully, it's Saturday.”

Bred in Kentucky by Brereton C. Jones, the $170,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the Creative Cause mare Memories Prevail, who is a half-sister to dual graded stakes-winner Cairo Memories.

Joel Rosario, a two-time Whitney winning rider, will ride Zandon from post 1. He is the 9-2 morning line second choice.

Trainer Dale Romans will seek his first Whitney triumph since Roses in May [2004] when he sends out West Point Thoroughbreds and Albaugh Family Stable's Giant Game [post 3, Luis Saez, 20-1]. The 4-year-old dark bay showed newfound frontrunning dimensions in a victory two starts back in a 1 3/16-mile allowance on May 11 at Churchill Downs and parlayed that style into a three-quarter length triumph in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Cornhusker on July 8 at Prairie Meadows.

Like Giant Game, Roses in May also entered the Whitney from a Cornhusker conquest.

“History repeats itself, and we're trying to do it again,” Romans said.

Giant Game was highly regarded during his juvenile season, which included a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar at 21-1 odds. He finished eighth in both of his starts at 3 in Gulfstream Park's Grade 3 Holy Bull last February and Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby last March before a 10-month respite.

“It was never anything serious. He just had some nagging things that kept him off track,” Romans said. “He's finally back training and running on a regular basis. I think we're going to see even better out of him. He looks really good. He came in and jogged great. He looks like he's ready to roll.”

From the final crop of prolific stallion Giant's Causeway, Giant Game is out of the multiple stakes-placed More Than Ready mare Game for More, and is a half-brother to dual graded stakes-winner Isotherm. He was a $500,000 purchase at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale.

C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano's White Abarrio [post 5, Irad Ortiz, Jr. 6-1] ran a career-high 106 Beyer when third to Cody's Wish in the Met Mile in his first start for trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr.

The 4-year-old gray son of Race Day was previously a 4 1/2-length winner of a one-turn mile allowance on March 4 at Gulfstream Park over next out winners Weyburn and Collaborate. White Abarrio boasts a prominent win going the Whitney distance in last year's Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, which came before finishing 16th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.

Bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm, White Abarrio is out of the Into Mischief mare Catching Diamonds, who is a half-sister to multiple Group 3-winner Cool Cowboy.

Legendary Hall of Fame horseman D. Wayne Lukas will pursue his first Whitney victory since saddling Criminal Type in 1990 when sending out Willis Horton Racing's Last Samurai [post 4, Flavien Prat, 15-1].

The 5-year-old Malibu Moon chestnut won last year's Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap while being trained by Dallas Stewart and captured this year's Grade 3 Razorback in February and Grade 3 Essex in March, both at Oaklawn Park, for Lukas. He enters from a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on July 1 at Ellis Park.

Through a record of 27-6-5-4, Last Samurai has banked $2,178,614 in lifetime earnings. Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Last Samurai was bought for $175,000 at the 2020 OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. He is out of the graded stakes placed First Samurai mare Lady Samuri.

The Whitney is one of Saratoga's marquee events and pays homage to one of the Spa's most influential families, who for generations has had a profound effect on horse racing in upstate New York and nationwide. The prominent Whitney family's involvement in thoroughbred racing began with Jockey Club co-founder William Collins Whitney, who began owning thoroughbreds in 1898. John Hay “Jock” Whitney and Helen Hay Whitney campaigned horses under the moniker of Greentree Stables, who hold the record for most victories in the family's namesake race with six winners. Harry Payne “H.P.” Whitney won the 1930 Whitney with Whichone, while his son Cornelius Vanderbilt “C.V.” Whitney owned Whitney winners Equipoise [1932], Counterpoint [1952], State Dinner [1980] and Silver Buck [1982]. Horses owned by members of the Whitney family have gone on to win nearly every major horse race in North America, including all three American classics. Marylou Whitney carried on the legacy until her passing in 2019.

The Whitney is slated as Race 10 [5:42 p.m. Eastern] on Saturday's 12-race card. First post is 12:35 p.m.

The FOX Sports family of networks will present expansive coverage and analysis of Whitney Day beginning with Saratoga Live on FS2 at 12:30 p.m. Coverage then picks up on FOX SARATOGA SATURDAY which will air from 3-6:00 p.m. on FOX. Saratoga Live will complete the live coverage of Whitney Day on FS2 from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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