HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - There was a time when trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. wasn’t even sure he would be able to make the $250,000 Holy Bull with his top 3-year-old prospect White Abarrio after the latter got sick and missed nearly two weeks of training during the crucial period leading up to the race. But not only did White Abarrio make it to the Grade 3 Holy Bull, he completely dominated the event, drawing off to a convincing, 4 1/2-length victory over the slow-starting Simplification in the first of three key Kentucky Derby preps to be decided at Gulfstream Park over the next two months.       White Abarrio, who had not started since a third-place finish behind Smile Happy in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs on November 27, missed two scheduled works during mid-January before getting in his final prep for the Holy Bull, a bullet half-mile in :47.00, on January 28. It was enough to convince Joseph to give White Abarrio a chance in the key Kentucky Derby prep, despite knowing his horse might not be quite up to his best due to the lost training time. “We were ahead of schedule all the time and I thought we could miss one work, but when he missed two we went from being ahead of schedule to being behind,” Joseph admitted after the race. “We could have waited one more week and taken him to Tampa, but I felt I’d rather run him. Even if he got beat, ran second or third, it would move him forward. You’re hoping to win, of course, but at the same time you know you’re not going in ideally prepared. That he could get tired.”    :: Want the best bonus in racing? Get a $250 deposit match, $10 free bet, and free Formulator with DRF Bets. Code: WINNING Jockey Tyler Gaffalione orchestrated a perfect trip for White Abarrio, putting him in stalking position from his outside post before completing the opening quarter-mile of the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull. White Abarrio stuck his head in front of the 19-1 pacesetter Galt shortly after six furlongs, edged clear entering the stretch, then readily extended his advantage to the end. Simplification led throughout to win the one-mile Mucho Macho Man here by four lengths on New Year’s Day and was expected to set the pace again on Saturday. Instead, he was last away from the gate after tossing his head just prior to the break. Simplification was wisely unhurried by Javier Castellano after the unfortunate beginning, rating outside horses for nearly six furlongs before unleashing a steady run that brought him to closer contention approaching the stretch. Simplification did not corner cleanly, losing some momentum at the top of the stretch, remained on his left lead down the lane but still continued on gamely to be second, finishing a head in front of the 8-5 favorite Mo Donegal, who settled into his best stride well too late. Tiz the Bomb and Giant Game, both exiting big performances on Breeders’ Cup day, were major disappointments, finishing seventh and eighth respectively while struggling far behind the leaders.     White Abarrio, a son of Race Day, is owned in partnership by C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable LLC. He completed the distance over a fast track in 1:42.80 and paid $14.00 while earning 10 additional Kentucky Derby qualifying points to go with the two points he had previously accrued for his third-place finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club. White Abarrio was given a Beyer Speed Figure of 97. “He proved today he was a quality horse,” Joseph said. “Quality horses overcome bad trainer decisions and un-ideal preparation because they’ve got quality. Lesser horses can’t do those things.” Joseph said he will likely hold White Abarrio out of the Fountain of Youth on March 5 and await the $1 million Florida Derby on April 2. “Right now I would say off of this, the ball is in our court, so why not go right to the Florida Derby?” Joseph said. “It gives him good spacing and, if he were to make the Kentucky Derby, it would be his third start this year. But we’ll talk that over before making a decision.” Trainer Todd Pletcher said he was pleased with Mo Donegal’s race, even in defeat. “I thought he finished really well, it just took him a little while to get in the clear and get going,” Pletcher noted. “The last hundred yards he was making up a lot of ground. He just kind of ran out of real estate at the end. It actually hurt us that Simplification didn’t break well because it kind of altered the fractions of the race. There wasn’t a whole lot of pace and that’s always a disadvantage at Gulfstream.”   Trainer Ken McPeek said he was willing to give Tiz the Bomb, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf three months earlier, one more chance on dirt despite the disappointing effort in the Holy Bull. Tiz the Bomb was racing on dirt Saturday for the first time since breaking his maiden at Ellis Park seven months ago. “He got a lot of dirt in his face. We’re going to give him one more try on the dirt, and if can’t do any better, it’ll be back to the turf,” McPeek said. Total handle for Saturday’s 12-race Holy Bull program was over $24.6 million, up from $21.8 million on the corresponding card a year ago. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports