White Abarrio points to the Derby, but Classic Causeway ... ?

Hallandale Beach, Fla.

White Abarrio won Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby. So all systems are go for him to race next month in the $3 million Kentucky Derby.

Classic Causeway faded to finish last. Now the Kentucky Derby might not be a certainty.

“I’m just going to regroup completely here,” trainer Brian Lynch said by phone Sunday morning from Palm Meadows Training Center, 12 miles west of Gulfstream Park. “We’re going to make sure within a few days that something doesn’t show up. We’ll just let the dust settle before we start saying we’re going to go here or there.”

UPDATED: See the Kentucky Derby qualifying standings.

Lynch said he found nothing physically wrong in a routine check of Classic Causeway about 12 hours after Saturday’s race. With jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. riding, the two-time Tampa Bay Downs graded-stakes winner set an honest early pace with fractions of 23.67 and 47.24 seconds. Then he regressed to finish 21 1/4 lengths up the track from White Abarrio.

“Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the nose,” Lynch said. “Isn’t that what Mike Tyson said? The good news is we’re not looking at anything we can point the finger at. He scoped clean, and he’s come back good.”

Lynch said he and his stable will make their annual trek north to Kentucky next week. Should the decision be made go forward into the Derby, Classic Causeway already has clinched the points he needs to be one of the 20 starters.

Back at Gulfstream Park, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said White Abarrio had a normal morning-after following his fourth victory in five career starts, moving him up to second place behind Epicenter in Derby qualifying.

“He left a little bit of the feed, but that’s normal,” he said. “So far he’s been good. He had a bath already, and he walked. So far, so good.”

After reviewing the video a few times since Saturday’s victory, Joseph said he was especially pleased that jockey Tyler Gaffalione and White Abarrio were able to come from farther off the early pace than the Race Day colt ever had in his three previous wins.

“He was wide a little bit on the first turn, and he kind of dropped in to save a few lengths on the next turn,” Joseph said. “He also showed grit. (Eventual runner-up) Charge It was coming and finishing pretty strong, so he started to go on again, and that’s what you want to see.

“He showed a new dimension. We already know he can win from in front or close to the pace. He sat probably three or four or five lengths off the lead. To be versatile like that and still kick into the race was good to see.”

Joseph said he was not worried about White Abarrio drifting out in the final 100 yards of Saturday’s race. He said it was brought on when Luis Sáez and Charge It lugged inward at the same time.

“If you watch it, Sáez hits Charge It right-handed, and Charge It then lugs in," Joseph said. “It was mainly Charge It lugging in. Charge It ran huge, and he was probably getting a little tired at the end.”

Joseph said he plans to keep White Abarrio at Gulfstream Park through the end of April before shipping north in early May to Churchill Downs. That was where the colt suffered his only loss, finishing a bottled-up third to Smile Happy and Classic Causeway in the Nov. 27 running of the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2).

“He’s already had a run on the track,” Joseph said. “That’s a good thing. That day it was a trip that taught him a lot of experience. Obviously he hasn’t gotten beat since that day, so it was a trip that will do him good.”

Joseph said Sunday he had just started focusing on the potential Derby competition. In the end, he said, he would be more concerned about his horse. Actually, “concerned” is not the right word.

“I wouldn’t want to trade with anyone,” Joseph said. “I think we’re in a good spot.”