White Abarrio is again to the shape that noticed him win the 2023 Longines Breeders’ Cup Traditional. The 6-year-old skilled by Saffie Joseph Jr. blitzed the opposition to win the $2,945,400 Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, defeating slow-starting favourite Locked by 6 1/4 lengths on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.
Ridden by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who gained his third Pegasus World Cup, White Abarrio sat an ideal stalking journey and powered previous pacesetter Saudi Crown getting into the stretch. His profitable time for 1 1/8 miles on grime in 1:48.05 was the quickest within the Pegasus since Knicks Go was clocked in 1:47.89 in kicking off his Horse of the Yr marketing campaign within the race in 2021.
White Abarrio paid $7.60 to win earlier than an enthusiastic crowd at Gulfstream Park and earlier than a nationwide tv viewers on NBC.
The Pegasus gave White Abarrio a fourth profession Grade 1 victory following the Breeders’ Cup Traditional win at Santa Anita Park. He additionally gained the 2023 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course and the 2022 Curlin Florida Derby offered by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa at Gulfstream Park. The Breeders’ Cup and Whitney wins got here throughout a interval of his profession when White Abarrio was skilled by Richard Dutrow Jr..
Racing in fifth early whereas between 2-3 lengths off fractions of :23.43, :46.68, and 1:10.79 set by Saudi Crown, White Abarrio commenced his cost on the second flip, quickly gaining on chief. Heading into the stretch, the 2 runners distanced themselves from the opposite 9 opponents and appeared they might be set for a stretch duel. As an alternative, White Abarrio dominated by the lane, opening up on Saudi Crown by mid-stretch with a mile in 1:35.44 and blowing the race open within the closing furlong beneath Ortiz, the horse’s rider for the seventh straight race.
“By the point I requested him, he actually took off,” Ortiz mentioned. “He was dwelling.”
After embracing his excited employees, an emotional Joseph rushed to succeed in White Abarrio and the rider. Seeing Joseph making an attempt to carry again tears, Ortiz instructed him, “You need to be proud. You probably did a terrific job, Saffie.”
Final-out Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap offered by Twinspires.com winner Locked broke tardily as the favourite when his head was turned at the beginning from submit 10 was in a position to shut from eighth to seize second by a neck over one other Joseph trainee, Skippylongstocking.
“Sadly, from that submit you may’t make any errors, and lacking the break was actually the one mistake you did not wish to make,” mentioned Locked’s coach, Todd Pletcher, who felt colt ran “in all probability the most effective race of his life.”
Disappointing within the Pegasus was 2024 Kentucky Derby offered by Woodford Reserve winner Mystik Dan, who after stalking the tempo in third started to retreat late on the second flip to complete ninth.
Spirit of St Louis, a 6-year-old New York-bred gelding by Medaglia d’Oro, scored his first graded stakes win within the $1 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes offered by Qatar Racing on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.
Skilled by Chad Brown and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Spirit of St Louis defeated Integration by a neck in a closing time of 1:44.50 for 1 1/8 miles on the agency turf, simply narrowly off the observe file of 1:44.45 set by final 12 months’s Pegasus Turf winner Heat Coronary heart.
Brown trains Spirit of St Louis for Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and Richard Schermerhorn. It was Brown’s second victory within the race. He gained the inaugural version of the Pegasus Turf in 2019 with eventual Horse of the Yr Bricks and Mortar.
Integration completed second and Chasing the Crown was third. Mi Hermano Ramon completed fourth. – Charlie McCarthy
About an hour earlier on the cardboard, Be Your Finest sat an ideal journey proper behind the pacesetting stablemate In Our Time, grabbed the lead mid-stretch beneath jockey Edgard Zayas and held off a late cost by Sacred Want to prevail by a neck within the Grade 2 $490,880 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes offered by SirDavis American Whisky and provides dominant south Florida coach Saffie Joseph Jr. his preliminary victory ever in one of many three Pegasus Day stakes races.
“This implies rather a lot. It is our dwelling observe,” mentioned Joseph, who has gained 11 straight coaching titles at Gulfstream Park. “That is what racing is all about. It is extremely particular for us.”
Be Your Finest lined the 1 1/16 miles in 1:39.06 over agency turf and paid $16.80. Sacred Want completed second and In Our Time was third. – Bob Ehalt
