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Luttrell Joins Preferred Equine Marketing

Austin Luttrell, with a background in both the Standardbred and Thoroughbred industries, has joined the team at David Reid's Preferred Equine Marketing. Luttrell served as an assistant to trainers Christophe Clement and Kiaran McLaughlin, and was a manager at Denali Stud and Donamire Farm. He also worked for Magic Millions in Australia as a bloodstock consultant. Luttrell has owned, bred and trained Standardbreds, winning his first race as an owner/trainer at his hometown track, the Red Mile and he formed and managed the Cats by 90, LLC partnership.

“I'm incredibly excited for this opportunity to work with Preferred Equine,” Luttrell said. “Preferred is a pillar in the harness racing industry, and has a growing presence in the Thoroughbred business. They operate on the highest level of quality and honesty.”

“I have tremendous respect for David Reid and the amount of hard work he puts toward getting each horse through the auction ring. I believe my dual-breed background will allow me to build on our great reputation while bringing fresh faces and ideas into both the Standardbred and Thoroughbred industries.”

Reid added, “I'm excited that Austin has agreed to join our Preferred team and I look forward to his contributions to our growing organization. With his dual-breed background and excellent work experiences with leading trainers and sales companies around the globe, he brings valuable knowledge that will help service our clients' needs into the future.”

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Florida Derby Likely Next for White Abarrio

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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Classic Empire Colt Stays Perfect in Jimmy Winkfield

Morello obliged as the 7-5 favorite in Sunday's Jimmy Winkfield S. to become the third black-type winner from his sire (by Pioneerof the Nile)'s first crop. A $250,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic juvenile off a good-looking :10 1/5 breeze, the chestnut opened his account with a clear-cut victory going a furlong shorter here Nov. 27 and was flattered when the runner-up came back to win well himself while improving by 17 Beyer points.

With an upbeat interim worktab on display, Morello broke alertly from the outermost five post before being allowed to settle off the pace and out wide. He advanced three deep outside of chief market rival Life Is Great through a :45.55 half and met with little resistance from there, pulling away by daylight and finishing in good time. Life Is Great held second.

“He broke very good today,” said winning rider Jose Lezcano. “Last time, he broke a little slow but today it was good. He was in the bridle the whole way and was really going like a good horse. I didn't have to touch him with the whip or anything. I just let him go. He had the same kick as last time.”

This was the first stakes win for the Blue Lion Thoroughbreds partnership.

“This was the plan all along. Sprint him, then take him to seven,” said the group's founder and managing partner Dave Lyon. “The allowance race we were looking at didn't go, but we thought this would be the right race to move forward. It looked like by the way he galloped out he could go longer. He handled this field pretty well and we're excited for the future.”

The GIII Gotham S. at a mile could be up next for the colt, who Lyon confirmed is named after Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.

“I'm going to let [trainer] Steve [Asmussen] and [assistant trainer] Toby [Sheets] make that decision, but I think it's a realistic spot,” Lyon said of the Gotham. “I don't think he needs too much time. That race is on Mar. 5, so we'll talk to the guys who lead the charge in the training barn and make a decision on that. We're excited, we think we have a good, quality horse.”

Morello was produced by a half-sister to the GSP dam of speedy MGISP Social Inclusion (Pioneerof the Nile). He has a 2-year-old half-sister by another son of Pioneerof the Nile in Cairo Prince who brought $16,000 at Keeneland September and a yearling half-sister by Paynter who fetched $15,000 at last month's Keeneland January sale. Dam Stop the Wedding, who was 1-for-26 lifetime and mostly competed at the bottom claiming levels, was bred back to Classic Empire last year.

JIMMY WINKFIELD S., $97,000, Aqueduct, 2-6, 3yo, 7f, 1:23.30, gd.
1–MORELLO, 118, c, 3, by Classic Empire
                1st Dam: Stop the Wedding, by Congrats
                2nd Dam: Wedding Jitters, by Runaway Groom
                3rd Dam: Classy Tricks, by Hold Your Tricks
($140,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $200,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL;
$250,000 2yo '21 EASMAY). 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Blue Lion
Thoroughbreds & Craig & Victoria Taylor; B-Robert B. Tillyer &
Dr. Chet Blackey (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Jose Lezcano.
$55,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $99,000. *Third stakes
winner for sire (by Pioneerof the Nile).
2–Life Is Great, 118, c, 3, Tapiture–Zucca, by Read the
Footnotes. O-E.V. Racing Stable; B-EVS Corp (FL); T-Robert P.
Klesaris. $20,000.
3–Beast Or Famine, 120, c, 3, The Big Beast–Twocatsintheyard,
by Andiron. O/B-Jettany Thoroughbred Corp & J.A.G. Racing,
Inc (FL); T-Penny Pearce. $12,000.
Margins: 5, 4HF, 2 3/4. Odds: 1.40, 1.95, 5.70.
Also Ran: Dance Code, Hagler. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Gamine to Visit Quality Road in 2022

Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine (Into Mischief) has been booked to Lane's End stallion Quality Road for 2022, bloodstock agent Donato Lanni confirmed Sunday.

“We had a meeting with Michael to decided what to do and we all agreed that Quality Road was the right horse to start off her broodmare career,” Lanni said. “You really can't go wrong with Quality Road–he's a very good sire.”

Acquired for $1.8 million at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Gamine won nine of 11 starts, including the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint, GI Acorn S. and GI Test S. and was named the year's Eclipse champion female sprinter.

In 2021, she added wins in the GI Derby City Distaff and GI Ketel One Ballerina S. and she concluded her career with a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint. She is once again an Eclipse award finalist as top female sprinter.

Gamine's retirement was announced in early January and the 5-year-old mare currently resides at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa Farm in Paris, Kentucky.

“She's happy,” Lanni said. “She's turned out with some fillies, she's really happy to have some buddies now at Xalapa. She's enjoying retirement.”

Asked if the champion might be offered at auction next fall, Lanni said, “We just want to get her bred, get her pregnant. We're not even thinking about that right now.”

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