White Abarrio is ‘50-50’ to start Saturday at Gulfstream Park

White Abarrio has a repeat victory in the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational as his big goal next month at Gulfstream Park. That is why he is not certain to line up there Saturday.

“We’re probably 50-50 on running in the Mr. Prospector (G3),” said Mark Cornett of C2 Racing Stable, the lead owner of the 6-year-old multimillionaire.

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Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will decide this week whether to let White Abarrio start in the seven-furlong, $150,000 test, which drew eight horses. Irad Ortiz Jr. would ride from post 1. If not, the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus would be White Abarrio’s first race since a fourth-place finish Aug. 31 in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga.

“I didn’t want to pass this race up,” said Cornett, who spoke Sunday for an interview that will be part of Friday’s episode of Horse Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod. “This horse has done so good. This is the same path we went last year when he won the Pegasus. We cut him back to seven-eighths (and finished second). He just loves going from the seven-eighths, the sprint, into the mile-and-an-eighth route race. It just sharpens him up so much, so we figured we’d go ahead and probably do that.”

The alternative of going four months between races might seem daunting. Not to Cornett, whose more than three decades in the game include ongoing work as a bloodstock agent and as the racing manager for the stable he owns with Clint Cornett, his brother.

“That’s not really an issue with this horse,” Mark Cornett said. “This horse can run fresh. We just don’t want to be rushed into the race. Saffie and I talked it over. We didn’t want to miss this opportunity if we decided to run in it. It’ll probably be treated kind of as a work to get him ready for the race.”

It was not supposed to be so long between races for White Abarrio, who breezed five furlongs Dec. 11. The 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner was all set to go Nov. 1 in the Dirt Mile at Del Mar. That was before a Breeders’ Cup veterinarian ordered the scratch of White Abarrio during the post parade, reportedly because he looked off in his left foreleg. That was the lightning rod in the controversy surrounding the power of regulatory veterinarians and whether they should be more open about their decisions.

Cornett has threatened to sue.

“We’re giving the (California Horse Racing Board), Del Mar as well as the Breeders’ Cup every opportunity to provide information to us on a voluntary basis,” he said. “The CHRB up to this point is the only one that supplied us with any information. And they’re more legally bound to do that with the Freedom of Information Act, whereas the Breeders’ Cup is under no obligation to do that unless they get a subpoena or something of that nature.”

Cornett said White Abarrio’s “choppy gait” has been scrutinized closely before, but it never resulted in an 11th-hour vet scratch on one of the game’s biggest race days.

“We have to regroup,” he said. “His next major goal is the Pegasus World Cup. Now what is the best way to get him to the Pegasus World Cup? There’s only certain races that mean things to this horse at this point in his career, and the Pegasus World Cup is one of them.”

Plans for White Abarrio after next month are not certain, Cornett said. A 7-year-old campaign has not been ruled out. Neither has retirement.

As he put it, “Everything’s open.”