Saratoga: White Abarrio looks to be 'in the mix' in Whitney

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

White Abarrio co-owner Mark Cornett blames his horse’s dismal performance last out in the Grade 1 Met Mile on the intricacies of breaking from Saratoga’s Wilson chute. He expects his horse to rebound in Saturday’s $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1).

The 6-year-old Race Day horse, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., was bumped on both sides at the start of the Met Mile and traveled wide in finishing a well-beaten fourth in a field of five. He did not resemble the star who dominated the Whitney by 6 1/4 lengths two years ago and followed that with an emphatic Breeders’ Cup Classic triumph under then trainer Rick Dutrow Jr.

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Cornett’s C2 Racing Stable owns White Abarrio with Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable. He insisted the Wilson Chute is to blame for the forgettable Met Mile.

“That Wilson chute, I’m never running a horse out of that thing again. That thing is a disaster,” Cornett said. “A lot of horses just don’t like it. They have to be rushed the whole way out of the gate and even down the backside. To me, it plays more to sprinters carrying their speed than a true route horse.”

The chute was a unique aspect of Saratoga for many years before it was abandoned to create additional parking. It returned on a full-time basis three years ago so that one-mile races could be contested on the main track.

This year’s June 7 Met Mile was held at Saratoga as part of the Belmont Stakes racing festival to allow for uninterrupted construction of a new Belmont Park. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher had expressed his concern about having Fierceness breaking out of the Wilson chute from the rail. Fierceness placed second after failing to overtake pace-setting Raging Torrent from that position in the Met Mile on a sloppy track that had been sealed.

Cornett noted that the race’s configuration with the chute makes early position critical. “A true route horse needs to settle into a rhythm. With this Wilson chute, you can’t do that,” he said. “You’ve got to force the issue to get position right out of the gate and even down the backside so you don’t lose position. It’s just not a good setup for that type of race.”

Saffie Joseph Jr., White Abarrio’s initial trainer who had the horse returned to his care after last year’s fifth-place finish in the Met Mile at Saratoga, believes the start played a role in the latest disappointment in that race.

“With that chute, position matters,” he said. “If you are first or second, you kind of stay like that. He got his spot and they ran around there first and second. The position never really changed in the race. None of us could close.”

Joseph also made sure to credit Raging Torrent, who has been retired with a career-ending injury. “Maybe the best horse won that day,” he said. “You can’t really make excuses in this game. You’re going to have to move forward. You have to have a short memory because if you have a long memory, it’s going to drive you crazy.”  

White Abarrio is a four-time Grade 1 winner. He will break from post 7 in the Whitney with Ortiz aboard again in a scheduled 10-horse field. He is listed at 4-1, making him the fourth choice after favored Fierceness (9-5), Sierra Leone (2-1) and Mindframe (5-2). Mindframe is expected to leave the 1 1/8-mile Whitney stage to stablemate Fierceness and will be scratched to run in the Aug. 31 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga.

Joseph is confident his aging star has not lost a step. “We feel the horse is just as fast as he was at 3 or 4,” he said.

Cornett also is keeping the faith. “We just want a good, strong effort that we think he’s going to run,” he said. “We’d like to see him run anywhere from a 106 and 110 Beyer (Speed Figure). If he does that, and I think he will do that, it should put him right in the mix at the wire, depending on what the other horses run.”

Joseph also will saddle another 6-year-old, Skippylongstocking, in the Whitney. The son of Exaggerator has 11 victories in 32 starts with earnings surpassing $3.6 million. But he is winless in 10 Grade 1 tries.

“It’s a tough race, but he deserves a chance. He’s run fast enough on certain days to win a Grade 1,” the trainer said, hoping Saturday might finally be Skippylongstocking’s day.