La Milagrosa Stable | Horse Racing Free Tips

It's been a roller coaster year for White Abarrio (Race Day), but it ended on the highest of possible notes, with a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. To talk about the Breeders' Cup, future plans for the horse, the decision to hire Rick Dutrow as the trainer and more, co-owner Mark Cornett was the Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast, which is presented by Keeneland.

With the status of Saffie Joseph, Jr. in limbo after he was temporarily banned by Churchill Downs when two of his horses died in the lead-up to the GI Kentucky Derby, Cornett, who owns White Abarrio in partnership with his brother Clint and Los Milagrosa Stable, needed to find a new trainer. He said he narrowed the choice down to two, Dutrow and Chad Brown. In the end, he thought Dutrow was the perfect fit.

“I had Rick in my mind all along,” Cornett said. “I've known him for a long time. Paul Pompa and I were really good friends. I put numerous horses in Rick's barn through some partnerships with Paul and had a lot of success. I know what a good horseman he is. He's one of the best, top five in the world, in my opinion. He was trying to rebuild his stable at the time. We were basically being forced by Churchill and NYRA to make a trainer switch. It's hard enough to manage these horses without having politics and racetracks and state vets and everybody else try to step in and make you do things you don't want to do. It was a bold move to hire Rick and I don't know too many people that would have done what we did. We have all the confidence in the world in Rick and his abilities and it all worked out.”

So far as next year's racing schedule goes, the $20-million Saudi Cup is definitely on the schedule. Cornett said there's a possibility White Abarrio could race beforehand in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

White Abarrio's Co-Owner Mark Cornett Joins Writers' Room from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

“The main goal is going to definitely be the Saudi Cup,” Cornett said. “If we were designing the perfect race for this horse it would be one turn at a mile and an eighth. And then they put the $20 million behind it. The timing of the race is a question mark. It's about four months after the Breeders' Cup. The only thing we really have to figure out is how to get him there at a peak. Do we run him in between? Do we send him over there to acclimate? Those are things that Rick and I will talk about and discuss what's the best way to win that race.”

White Abarrio's first big win on the year came at Saratoga in the GI Whitney S., but Cornett saw signs as early as May that the horse was about to take things to another level.

“I went to Churchill Downs in May and I hadn't seen him in 45 days, 60 days before that,” he said. “I couldn't believe my eyes on the physical maturity of this horse. He had probably gained 200 pounds. There was a physical transformation, from a boy to a man, which is what you want to see. He matured at the right time.”

White Abarrio | Benoit

So far as the race for Horse of the Year goes, Cornett realizes that Cody's Wish (Curlin) will likely earn the honor over White Abarrio.

“Whatever the voters decide is fine,” he said. “We're going to be around next year so we can take another shot. Maybe for Cody's Wish, it's meant to be for obvious reasons.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, XBTV.com, 1/ST Racing and Lane's End, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss touched on the heartbreaking loss of Cody Dorman, the inspiration behind Cody's Wish, who died the day after the Breeders' Cup at age 17. The team reviewed the entire Breeders' Cup program, the dominance of the New York and European stables and the poor showing by the California barns, and gave their opinions on Horse of the Year, all agreeing that it should be and will be Cody's Wish.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

The post White Abarrio Owner Mark Cornett Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's White Abarrio (Race Day), winner of Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S., will likely make his next start in the Apr. 2 GI Curlin Florida Derby, trained Saffie Joseph, Jr. confirmed Sunday morning.

“We talked it out over at dinner [Saturday] night, and I'd say its not set in stone, but he's going to straight to the Florida Derby,” Joseph said. “We don't have to decide now, but everyone was kind of on the same page to go straight to the Florida Derby. The spacing works well. He runs well fresh, and hopefully, it will set him up for the [GI] Kentucky Derby to run his best.”

A two-time winner at Gulfstream last fall, White Abarrio was making his first start since finishing third in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. last November.

“I'm very excited that he won as nicely as you could ask a horse to win a race, and it was the prep with the most depth so far. To be able to come out victorious, it was amazing,” Joseph said. “We had a little setback going into the race. We missed a couple works. You would think he should improve off that. He got a 97 Beyer [Speed Figure]. Just to think he could improve off of that–it's a good feeling.”

White Abarrio was purchased privately by brothers Mark and Clint Cornett following an eye-catching 6 3/4-length debut win going 6 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream Sept. 24.

“Mark Cornett called and said he bought a horse. I said, 'Wow, you bought that horse? He was very impressive,'” Joseph recalled. “He said, 'I bought him and vetted him already, just go pick him up when everything is cleared.' He didn't tell me he was going to buy him.”

Joseph continued, “He's an athletic horse. He's very light on his feet. He's a beautiful-moving horse. It carries over to race day, which is the main test. He saddles very professionally–cool, calm. He can get a little keen in the morning. When he gallops, he can get a little keen in the morning, but when you work him in company, he'll relax. It's a good attribute to have–to have speed but the ability to rate.”

Tami Bobo's Simplification (Not This Time), who recovered from a poor start and a wide trip to finish second in the Holy Bull, will likely start next in the Mar. 5 GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. The bay colt was coming off a wire-to-wire victory in the Jan. 1 Mucho Macho Man S.

“In the front or behind, he's a good horse,” Sano said. “The horse that won is an excellent horse. If my horse breaks good, the race could be different. The good news after the race is that he is a good horse, on the front or from behind.”

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