Joseph proud of White Abarrio for Whitney win

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who developed White Abarrio into a Grade 1 winner before the horse was transferred to trainer Rick Dutrow due to sanctions placed upon Joseph by Churchill Downs and NYRA, said he was very proud of his former pupil after watching him dominate the Grade 1 Whitney on Saturday.

The sanctions against Joseph, which came following the sudden deaths of two of his horses in a 72-hour period at Churchill this spring, were ultimately dropped several weeks ago.

“Obviously, we won the Florida Derby with him and seeing him win the big race here justifies what we always knew, that he was a really good horse, and it was a victory that was well deserved for him,” Joseph said. “As for me, I just believe this was all part of the process of what I experienced in Kentucky. I lost the horse because of that, but it also has made me more thankful for what I have, and I know I’m going to be stronger for all of this down the road.”

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Joseph also was proud of the performance West Coast Cowboy turned in, finishing second behind Red Route One, Sunday evening in the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer.

“He ran well, he just got beat by the better horse last night,” Joseph said. “He’s really been a steady kind of horse for us and seems to be improving with each race, which is a good thing. He’ll come back here with us at Saratoga, although it’s still too early to think about what we might do with him next.”

Joseph is off to a good start at the Saratoga meet, winning with two of his first six starters, while just missing a third victory after Cape Trafalgar was narrowly beaten by the 6-5 favorite Everso Mischievous in Saturday’s 11th race.

“We’ve had a couple of winners, just missed a third, and most of the horses we’ve started have run well so far,” Joseph said. “We’ve also had a lot of races rained off the turf and had to scratch a bunch. And I feel like we could have a few more winners coming up soon.”

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