HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - In a performance reminiscent of his victories in the Whitney and Breeders’ Cup Classic during his outstanding 2023 campaign, White Abarrio exploded through the final quarter-mile to a dominant, 6 3/4-length victory over the slow-starting, 9-5 favorite Locked Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. White Abarrio’s stablemate Skippylongstocking finished third. White Abarrio’s incredible performance - his margin of victory was the largest in the nine-year history of the Pegasus World Cup - gave trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. his third graded stakes win on the card, following earlier victories in the Grade 2 Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf with Be Your Best and the Grade 2 Inside Information with Mystic Lake. White Abarrio has now come full circle after beginning his career and winning the Grade 1 Florida Derby with Joseph in 2022, before being transferred to trainer Rick Dutrow near the midway point of his 4-year-old season in 2023. It was a decision, Joseph acknowledged, that the ownership group, led by Mark and Clint Cornett’s C2 Racing Stable, had to make at the time. “When the horse (White Abarrio) left, I knew he had to go," Joseph said. "But he didn’t have to come back to me,” Joseph said, his voice cracking with emotion. “They (the owners) supported me through that time and when I got the horse back that meant so much to me. They believed in me, that showed it, and I can’t thank them enough.”    :: Get Gulfstream Park Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  Joseph was brimming with confidence in White Abarrio heading into the Pegasus World Cup, coming off two seven-furlong prep races and considering the way he had been training in the weeks leading up to the race. His lone concern was whether White Abarrio would break cleanly after having left the gate tardily in each of those two previous starts. But any angst Joseph had was alleviated immediately after the gates opened for the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus, with White Abarrio jumping out alertly under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., who put his horse in a perfect striking position on the outside and about three lengths off the pacesetting Saudi Crown on the clubhouse turn. White Abarrio advanced readily to closer contention three wide around the second bend, engaged the leader entering the stretch, then drew off with complete authority while kept under steady encouragement by Ortiz to the end. Locked, far and away the least-experienced member of the field, was bet to favoritism despite breaking from an unenviable position in post 10, considering the short run to the first turn. He then had his chances further compromised after coming away last at the start. Locked was eased over some toward the inside by jockey John Velazquez on recovering after the break before dropping about eight lengths off the leader in the run down the backstretch. He angled five wide while put to a drive approaching the stretch, responding to steady pressure to ultimately overtake Skippylongstocking by a neck to be second-best. Mixto finished fourth, another 1 3/4 lengths behind Skippylongstocking. He was followed, in order, by the tiring Saudi Crown, Steal Sunshine, Crupi, Power Squeeze (the only filly in the field), Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, Stronghold and Newgrange, who was eased. White Abarrio, a 6-year-old son of Race Day owned in partnership by C2 Racing, Prince Faisal bin Kahled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Antonio Pagnano, completed the distance over a fast track in 1:48.05 (109 Beyer Speed Figure) and paid $7.60. “It took a while to get him back where he needed to be," Joseph said. "He didn’t have to come back to his best form. We came up with a plan and everybody stuck to the plan. It was important that he broke today and when he did, Irad got him in the clear and when he gets in the clear, it’s normally when he runs his best race. I thought the Breeders’ Cup Classic was the best race of his life. This was close behind.”        Trainer Todd Pletcher said, under the circumstances, he felt Locked ran the best race of his life in the Pegasus World Cup even in defeat. “He had his head turned at the start and got away last. It was a lot to overcome from the 10 post to begin with. From that post you can’t make any mistakes and missing the break was the one mistake you didn’t want to make,” Pletcher acknowledged. "He certainly gave up a lot of position early. I thought he closed really well. White Abarrio ran a great race. He shot well clear at the top of the stretch. Johnny (Velazquez) thought he would have won if he broke with the field. But he didn’t. He’s still a very lightly raced horse and proved what we thought. The farther he goes, the better he’s going to get.” Ortiz said having White Abarrio break as well as he did made everything a lot easier for him the rest of the way. “We had a lot of faith in him if he broke with the field,” Ortiz noted. “I was very focused on my horse at the break. Then I was watching Saudi Crown. I didn’t want to be too far from him. But I never had to ask him, he was improving his position and doing it all by himself. By the time I asked him, he really took off. He was home.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.