Easy call: White Abarrio's owners learn from experience

Hallandale Beach, Fla.

When Mark Cornett had to decide on White Abarrio’s next start, he ultimately chose between the Grade 1, $20 million Saudi Cup and Saturday’s $165,000 Ghostzapper (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The racing manager for C2 Stable took a startling path, declining a shot at the Saudi Cup’s $10 million winner’s share. His four-time Grade 1 winner is listed as an overwhelming 1-9 favorite for the 1 1/16-mile Ghostzapper.

The verdict speaks to the travel and travails White Abarrio endured en route to a dismal 10th-place finish in last year's Saudi Cup. The experience was so poor that Cornett told Horse Racing Nation he would not send a top-flight horse to the Middle East again.

“No. I don’t think I’d send a horse over there, not of this caliber,” he said. “I might consider sending a ‘B’ stringer over there and taking a shot, but not one of the best horses like this.”

The 6-year-old son of Race Day boasts Grade 1 triumphs in the Florida Derby, Whitney, Breeders’ Cup Classic and, in his last start, the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

Last year's Saudi Arabia venture was in trouble from the start. The horse’s first travel leg involved a six-hour flight from Los Angeles to Miami, where additional horses were to be boarded. According to Cornett, he was assured that the stop would not be longer than an hour and a half.

“That turned into eight hours on the tarmac, and then it was a 16- to 18-hour flight,” he noted. “That’s not good for anyone. If I was on that plane, I wouldn’t want to do anything when I got off.”

Cornett believes U.S.-based runners face an uphill battle when they compete in Saudi Arabia or Dubai. “The Japanese and all of them have an advantage. They are used to shipping over there, and it’s not as far,” he said. “United States horses are at a huge disadvantage to go over there.”

A punchless White Abarrio finished fifth in the Met Mile (G1) last June 8 in his first start back since his return from halfway around the world. He was removed from trainer Rick Dutrow after a five-race campaign that included Whitney and Breeders’ Cup Classic triumphs and returned to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. at his South Florida base.

Joseph said of the harder-than-expected Saudi journey, “It messed his whole year up.” White Abarrio was given much-needed time off from June 8 until he won an allowance optional claiming race Nov. 22 at Gulfstream.

Cornett cited numerous factors in explaining why he chose the Ghostzapper as a prep for the Met Mile, among them the opportunity to run out of his own stall, the horse’s stellar 8-for-10 success at Gulfstream and what he believes will be ideal spacing leading into the June 7 Met Mile at Saratoga.

White Abarrio, owned by C2, Gary Barber and Antonio Pagnano, looks almost unbeatable in a huge Saturday of racing for C2. Cornett and his brother Clint, the other half of C2, took a financial stake in Florida Derby starter Neoequos after the Florida-bred son of Neolithic surrendered the lead in finishing third in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth (G2). He will break from the rail in the Florida Derby with Edgard Zayas aboard.

“We’re very happy with the position we’re in. We like the 1 hole,” Cornett said. “We think we have a shot in here based on the horse’s gradual improvement. We think he will improve again.”

C2 also has two formidable starters in the 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), The Queens M G and Paradise City, both trained by Joseph. The Queens M G will attempt two turns for the first time amid high expectations.

“We think she’ll go out there and you might see something special,” Cornett said. He called the hard-trying daughter of Thousand Words “one of the best gallopers I’ve ever seen.”