Breeders' Cup: White Abarrio owners seek inquiry into scratch

C2 Racing Stable and Gary Barber issued the following statement Tuesday regarding the post-parade scratch of White Abarrio from the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile by track veterinarians at Del Mar on Saturday.

As the co-owners of White Abarrio, we are deeply concerned by the decision of the Breeders’ Cup to scratch White Abarrio from the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile only minutes before he entered the starting gate. White Abarrio had a PET scan at the Breeders’ Cup request, which resulted in findings normal for a race horse in training. He was also examined every day by Breeders’ Cup veterinarians in the week leading up to the race, including on the morning of the race and the veterinarians deemed him fit to race. No problems were noted in the paddock pre-race and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. stated that White Abarrio warmed up “perfectly” on the track. Despite this fact, for reasons that remain unknown, the Breeders’ Cup directed that White Abarrio be scratched right before the race was set to run. 

To be clear, the health and safety of our equine athletes is always of paramount importance. On that point, all parties can agree. If there were any facts or circumstances to support the notion that White Abarrio was in any way unfit to race, we would wholly support a decision to scratch him. However, in this instance, there is no such evidence. Based on what we know to date, we are very concerned that the decision to scratch White Abarrio was completely unjustified. It was certainly made for reasons that are unknown to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and the ownership  group. White Abarrio has raced 24 times throughout his career, and we always take the utmost precaution to ensure he is healthy, as evidenced by our full compliance with the pre-race examination protocols. 

Given the foregoing, C2 Racing Stable LLC and Gary Barber have retained counsel and have asked for a full and transparent investigation into this matter. We have requested that the Breeders’ Cup, the California Horse Racing Board, and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club preserve and disclose all relevant documents related to White Abarrio being scratched.  

Until such time as we determine next steps, we will not be answering any questions or making  any further comments related to this matter.