Comeback of the year? Dutrow returns with a bang
When it comes to 2023 comebacks in any sport, it might be impossible to top that of trainer Rick Dutrow.
Seven months after he returned from a 10-year suspension largely because of repeated medication violations, he sent White Abarrio to a one-length victory in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. That had been preceded by White Abarrio’s smashing 6 1/4-length romp in the prestigious Grade 1 Whitney.
As the year winds down, Dutrow’s operation has ballooned from one horse to 57, including White Abarrio and six others being overseen by his brother, Chip, at Santa Anita. After being forgotten for a decade, the trainer of 2005 Classic winner Saint Liam and 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown is back in a big way.
“The phone is ringing off the wall,” said Dutrow, 64. “I am getting the clients that everybody wants, and I am so happy that they’re calling me.”
Messier, in a steep decline after being viewed earlier as a top Derby prospect when he won the Robert Lewis (G2) in 2022, recently was sent to him as a reclamation project by an ownership group that includes such major players as SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables. Messier comes off a third-place finish in a Dec. 7 allowance race at Woodbine for trainer Kevin Attard.
Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable recently bought in to El Capi, a son of Maclean’s Music who made a spectacular Dec. 2 debut at Aqueduct, dominating by 9 1/2 lengths on a sealed muddy track. Dutrow said he is having conversations with influential West Coast owners who are considering having horses with him at Santa Anita.
Dutrow had no immediate goals when he re-opened for business with 10 stalls at Belmont Park. Although he had won 1,811 races before his suspension, it was unclear how he would be received because of his controversial past.
“I was just interested in getting my help together and my owners together because that is what you really need. You need help, and you need owners,” he said. “I wasn’t really thinking about how well I’m going to do in the first year. It was about getting up and doing the best we can.”
He won with the first starter in his return when Prince of Pharoahs scored in an allowance race on May 6 at Belmont Park. But there was no picking up where he left off. Not after 10 years.
“When I came back, there was no way I could be as sharp as I was when I was doing it every day for so long,” he said. “There were things that were slipping away from me just because I didn’t have that sharpness.”
A swagger that some found engaging and others viewed as off-putting was gone. “When I got back here the first day, I was confident,” he said. “But not like I was.”
His brother, Chip, and a nephew, Blake, have been mainstays for him. He views exercise riders who can relay what they are feeling beneath them as critical to success. He bolstered that corps with former jockeys Pablo Fragoso and Shannon Uske.
He always will be indebted to C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable, owners of White Abarrio, for allowing him to capitalize on his second chance. He received the 4-year-old Race Day colt, a former winner of the Florida Derby (G1), shortly before the June 10 Met Mile.
The owners were intent on competing in that Grade 1 contest but were unsure whether the New York Racing Association would accept entries from Saffie Joseph Jr., after that trainer had two horses die suddenly at Churchill Downs as part of a wave of equine fatalities beneath the famed twin spires.
After White Abarrio’s third-place effort in the Met Mile, Dutrow honed in on addressing the horse’s foot problems. He attributed the runner’s stunning improvement to the handiwork of renowned blacksmith Ian McKinlay.
White Abarrio has begun working toward the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) on Feb. 24. The $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1), on March 30 at Meydan Racecourse, is another potential target.
“He’s ready already,” said Dutrow, knowing the same can be said for him as he eyes the first full year of his dramatic comeback.