Mufasa upsets slow-starting White Abarrio in Mr. Prospector

Mufasa, exiting a disappointing effort in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, rebounded in a big way with a 1 1/4-length upset of multiple Grade 1 winner White Abarrio in Saturday’s $165,000 Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

In the 70th running of the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector for 3-year-olds and up, Mufasa ($10.20) got an ideal stalking trip from jockey Tyler Gaffalione. He pounced on three-time Grade 3-winning pacesetter Super Chow in the stretch and rocketed past to finish with a time of 1:22.47 over a fast main track, giving Gaffalione his third winner of the afternoon.

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“I think White Abarrio is no doubt a great horse, but he’s not a sprinter. He can sprint, because he’s really good,” winning trainer Nacho Correas said. “I told (Gaffalione) to just go and stay second. I don’t want dirt on his face, period.”

Gaffalione kept Mufasa in the clear three wide in third as Super Chow took the early initiative as expected and went the opening quarter-mile in 22.77 seconds pressed by Grade 3-placed Playmea Tune. Mufasa moved up to second midway around the far turn following a half-mile in 45.41 seconds and assumed the lead at the top of the stretch as Super Chow began to fade.

Already a Grade 3 winner, Mufasa opened up once set down for a drive. White Abarrio, who hesitated at the break under Irad Ortiz Jr. and encountered some early trouble, rallied from far back to edge 71-1 long shot Little Vic by a neck for second. It was 3 3/4 lengths back to Caramel Chip in fourth followed by Playmea Tune, Super Chow, Mr Skylight, Illuminaire, Real Macho and El Principito. Gordian Knot and Shaq Diesel were scratched.

“He’s a tremendously talented colt,” Gaffalione said about Mufasa. “He put me in the game, put me where I needed to be, traveled great throughout, gave me a ton of confidence coming into the stretch and finished the job well.”

Correas admired the way Mufasa bounced back after being no factor finishing 11th in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, which was contested around two turns at Del Mar. In back-to-back starts before making the trip to California, the 5-year-old won the Vosburgh (G3) at Aqueduct and a Colonial Downs optional-claiming allowance by eight lengths combined.

“I saw the horse that I saw in the Vosburgh, and I saw in the race at Colonial Downs,” Correas said. “I thought that was probably my mistake thinking it was better to go two turns than stay sprinting. We talked with the owners, and that was the decision we made, probably not the right one. We’re going to try to keep him sprinting and see where he takes us.”

Gaffalione was thrilled to keep the mount on Mufasa, whom he rode for the first time in the Breeders’ Cup. The Mr. Prospector was the fifth start for Mufasa since coming to the U.S. from his native Chile, where he also was a Group 3 winner.

“I fell in love with him the first time I saw him,” Gaffalione said. “I got to watch a couple of replays and got to run against him, and then when I got on him, I got obsessed with him. I called my agent (Matt Muzikar) right away and said we’ve got to ride this one. I’m just so fortunate to keep the mount. Ignacio is so good. He’s done a great job with this horse.”

White Abarrio, a $5,213,350 earner who won the 2022 Florida Derby (G1) and the 2023 Whitney (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), was racing for just the second time off a 5 1/2-month break between starts. Those came since his return from Rick Dutrow to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. after a fifth-place finish in the June 8 Met Mile (G1) at Saratoga.

Owned by Carlos Saavedra and Stud Vendaval, the 5-year-old son of Race Day launched his comeback with a 10 1/4-length, optional-claiming allowance romp Nov. 22 at Gulfstream, also sprinting seven furlongs. He has six wins and one second in eight lifetime tries over his home track.

“Irad said he raised his head right before (the gate opened). They settled him again, and he did it as they opened the gate,” Joseph said. “Last time he broke a little tardy, too. I don’t know if he wasn’t settled, but that’s racing. He took a lot of dirt. He came from an impossible position, in my opinion, and he got pretty close. Credit the winner for holding on.

“You always want to win. Did we think we were going to win before the race? Yes. But considering the circumstances, he ran hard. I looked back at a certain point and I was, like whoa. I couldn’t believe how far back he was. He’s never been that far back in his life. As much dirt as he took, I was happy to see him run through that. He looked like he was finishing as good as you can finish.”