C 2 Racing Stable, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Antonio Pagnano’s Kentucky-bred White Abarrio ranged up to free-running pacesetter Saudi Crown midway on the far turn, drew on even terms straightened for home and opened up in impressive fashion through the stretch to register a stakes-record 6 ¼-length triumph in Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park.
White Abarrio completed the distance in 1:48.05 over a fast main track to surpass the previous largest margin of victory, 5 ¾ lengths, set by City of Light in 2019. He was ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr.
“We had a lot of faith in him today,” Ortiz said. “The whole way around he felt like a winner.”
Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., White Abarrio previously won Gulfstream’s signature race, the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) in 2022. White Abarrio earned his fourth Grade 1 victory and first since the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), during a five-race stint with trainer Rick Dutrow Jr.
“I thought the Breeders’ Cup Classic was the best race of his life, but this was very close behind,” Joseph said. “Everything just aligned. You come up with a plan and more often than not it doesn’t work, but today it did.”
Ortiz described his winning trip aboard White Abarrio.
“After he broke, it made everything easier,” Ortiz said. “His last race he did something he never did before. He came from off the pace, taking dirt in traffic, and still wanted to win. Today I was focused on my horse to break out of there. I was watching Saudi Crown; he’s a nice horse so I didn’t want to be too far from him. And I had a great feeling going to the quarter pole because I knew I had a lot of horse. I was home. When I asked him, he really took off.”
White Abarrio a “Once-in-a-Lifetime Horse”
White Abarrio was purchased privately following a 6 ¾-length debut triumph in September 2021 at Gulfstream and moved to Joseph. He won four of the next 11 starts including the Florida Derby and Holy Bull (G3) and was second in the Ohio Derby (G3) and third in the Cigar Mile (G1). Eighth in the 2023 Pegasus World Cup, he was sent to Dutrow in New York in the summer of 2023 and won the Whitney (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic before returning to Joseph after finishing 10th last year in the Saudi Cup (G1) and fifth in the Met Mile (G1).
White Abarrio, a son of Race Day, improved his record to 9-2-3 and boosted his bankroll to $6,879,850 from 20 starts. He was bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime horse,” Clint Cornett, co-owner said. “We’re just ecstatic.”