White Abarrio and trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. traveled quite the circuitous route on their way to the winner’s circle in two of the biggest races for older dirt male horses in North America in 2023. But a victory in the Grade 1 Whitney followed three months later by a score in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic made White Abarrio a finalist for the Eclipse Award in the older dirt male division. When their trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was prohibited from racing in New York in the spring following the sudden death of two horses trained by Joseph in Kentucky, owners Mark and Clint Cornett needed another trainer to whom they could send White Abarrio in order to run in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap in June at Belmont Park. They chose Dutrow, with Mark Cornett having had a previous working relationship with the trainer more than a decade earlier. :: Full list of 2023 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories Dutrow, a world-class trainer, had only three months earlier returned from a 10-year suspension handed him by racing regulators in New York for a checkered history that included several equine medication violations. White Abarrio, a 4-year-old son of Race Day bred by Spendthrift Farm and purchased for $40,000 at an Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. yearling sale in 2021, was coming off an allowance win going seven furlongs at Gulfstream in March and was seemingly going to remain in one-turn races. In the Met Mile, White Abarrio ran a more-than-respectable third behind Cody’s Wish. After that race, Dutrow said he was pointing White Abarrio to the Grade 1 Forego, a seven-furlong race at Saratoga in late August. But as entry day for the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on Aug. 5 drew closer, that field was shrinking. Upon learning there may only be five horses in the race, Dutrow and the owners altered course and ran in the Whitney. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. With the heavily favored Cody’s Wish unable to see out the distance, White Abarrio, under Irad Ortiz Jr., won the Whitney by 6 1/4 lengths, giving Dutrow a fabulous gift on his 64th birthday. White Abarrio hadn’t yet cooled out when Dutrow said the colt’s next race would be the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita, three months away. “I looked at his [past performances], when he had time between races, he was very live, he ran big,” Dutrow said. By the time the field entered the starting gate for the Classic – with talented 3-year-olds Arcangelo and Geaux Rocket Ride unable to make the race – White Abarrio was the favorite. Sitting an up-close third under Ortiz, White Abarrio rallied past Arabian Knight in upper stretch and held a late-rallying Derma Sotogake at bay to win the Classic by one length. On the morning after the Breeders’ Cup, Dutrow was asked about the apparent race for divisional honors coming down between White Abarrio and Cody’s Wish. Cody’s Wish, Dutrow said, “has been going all year long and winning Grade 1s everywhere. I’m not putting my vote in for him, but if they give it to him, I will be behind him a million percent. We can do it with him next year, as long as he stays the way he is right now. He can get Horse of the Year next year.” Following the Breeders’ Cup, White Abarrio remained in Southern California to prepare for his 5-year-old campaign, which is scheduled to begin in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 24 in Riyadh. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.