Joseph steps back with White Abarrio, Skippylongstocking

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is setting more modest targets for Florida Derby (G1) winner White Abarrio and third-place Belmont Stakes finisher Skippylongstocking.

White Abarrio, who had nothing go right when he languished in 16th in the Kentucky Derby, is being pointed toward the June 25 Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown. Skippylongstocking, who finished 6 1/4 lengths behind Mo Donegal in the Belmont, will not see the likes of him in his next major race, the Aug. 6 West Virginia Derby (G3) at Mountaineer Racetrack. Each contest carries a $500,000 purse.

Joseph is drawing a line through the Kentucky Derby in evaluating White Abarrio. “It was a weirdly run race with a fast pace, and he was hung wide the whole way,” he said. “It’s one of those races you throw out.”

Joseph, 35, already has learned a hard Derby lesson. “You’ve got to be the best horse on the day, not the best horse,” he said.

Joseph is brutally honest in his assessment of Skippylongstocking in the $1.5 million Belmont, saying he was entered with the belief that he had little chance of winning. “You always hope for it,” he said of his first Belmont starter, “but we were realistic and just wanted to get a piece of it.”

Mo Donegal’s overwhelming closing kick allowed him to defeat the filly Nest, his stablemate, by three lengths for trainer Todd Pletcher. Although Skippylongstocking helped wear down pace-setting We the People, he came in 3 1/4 lengths behind Nest with Manny Franco aboard. We the People, the Peter Pan winner, weakened to fourth.

The $150,000 check for third place allowed Skippylongstocking’s earnings to balloon to $364,600 through 11 starts. The bay son of 2016 Preakness winner Exaggerator owns two wins with a runner-up finish and a pair of third-place efforts.

“I’m not sure he’s a Grade 1 horse. He’s probably a Grade 3 horse,” Joseph said. “But he tries. He definitely tries.”

He is determined to see that effort rewarded, even if it must be against lesser company. “There are so many stakes right now. He deserves to win one of these stakes and have one of those on his resume,” Joseph said.

Skippylongstocking already has richly rewarded owner Daniel Alonso, who paid $37,000 for him at the Ocala Breeders’ Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training last spring. Joseph admitted to having concerns about the sire, Exaggerator, but he was very familiar with his War Chant dam, Twinkling.

Joseph trained Moonlite Strike, another Twinkling foal, and did well with him. Moonlite Strike took third in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and reiterated his quality by capturing the Roar Stakes at Churchill Downs last year.

Joseph kept thinking of Moonlite Strike and the success they enjoyed as he evaluated the prospects of Skippylongstocking. It was not hard to imagine Skippylongstocking taking a similar path.

“I thought it was a good chance,” Joseph said. “I took a chance on him.”

Skippylongstocking won only once through his first seven starts. “He kept stopping at one turn,” Joseph said.

Jockey Junior Alvarado played a huge role in advancing the youngster’s career. “We were on the wrong path with him. We weren’t going to run him long,” Joseph said. “Junior made us do it, and he was right.”

Skippylongstocking responded to added ground in a bigger way than anyone could have imagined. He controlled a 1 1/8-mile allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream by 3 3/4 lengths for Alvarado on March 2. It was onward and upward to graded-stakes company. He finished third to Mo Donegal in the Wood Memorial (G2), fifth in the Preakness and now third in the Belmont.

Joseph is a third-generation horseman from Barbados. He arrived in South Florida with two horses in 2011 and has built one of the strongest stables at Gulfstream Park. Earlier this year, he produced 58 victories at Gulfstream's championship meet, 12 more than Pletcher, to end Pletcher's run of 18 consecutive leading trainer titles.

Joseph takes great satisfaction in being represented in all three Triple Crown races for the first time, understanding it can help attract owners with the spending power to buy runners with top pedigrees.