White Abarrio decision: Breeders' Cup Classic or Dirt Mile?
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Handicap hero White Abarrio left the Oaklawn Park backstretch around midday Sunday to return to Gulfstream Park, and his connections will soon start mapping out a plan to get him to either the Breeders’ Cup Classic or Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
White Abarrio earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 111 for his two-length win in Saturday's Oaklawn Handicap, a Grade 2, $1.25 million race in which the 7-year-old shuttled through the stretch to defeat both reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty and last year’s Preakness winner, Journalism.
“It was a wow performance,” said Saffie Joseph Jr., who trains White Abarrio for C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable. “It was a fantastic race to be a part of, and to even come out on top is very gratifying for the horse for what he’s done from 2 to 7. To be that good and to give one of his best performances – in my opinion probably the best performance of his life - against those horses is truly extraordinary. It just goes to show what kind of talent he has.”
White Abarrio’s earnings moved to $8.4 million over a 26-race career with 11 victories that include the 2022 Florida Derby, 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic and 2025 Pegasus World Cup. He came into the Oaklawn Handicap off a runner-up finish in the 2026 Pegasus in January at Gulfstream.
Joseph on Sunday was pleased with how White Abarrio emerged from the Oaklawn Handicap.
“He likes this colder weather," he said. "This morning was nice and chilly. He came out of the race very well. I’m extremely happy with how he bounced out. He doesn’t seem tired. He seems full of energy, still. So, that was very nice to see.”
White Abarrio ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.49. It was the fastest Oaklawn Handicap since Geri won in 1:47.40 in 1996, according to the Oaklawn media guide that listed final times from that era in fifth-of-a-second increments. Daily Racing Form’s archived results show Geri won in 1:47.52, and that a year earlier, in 1995, Cigar won in 1:47.22. Oaklawn’s media guide lists the stakes record for the Oaklawn Handicap as 1:46.60, set by Snow Chief in 1987. The race has been run at 1 1/8 miles since 1984.
Joseph won his second Oaklawn Handicap following the 2024 running with Skippylongstocking. Skippylongstocking won this year’s Pegasus World Cup, and also took the Essex Handicap at Oaklawn. Joseph’s other stakes winners at the current Oaklawn meet include Claret Beret, who earned a Breeders’ Cup Distaff berth with her win in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom, and Haulin Ice, who became the first Arkansas-bred to surpass $1 million earnings with her win in the Downthedustyroad Stakes.
Joseph said next-race plans for White Abarrio, a son of Race Day, are to be determined.
“We’re not going to really come up with a plan for the next two weeks or so,” he said Sunday. “We’ll kind of just digest it, enjoy it, and then have to kind of decide where we put him next. There’s really nothing set.
“The plan was always to run him through the rest of the year. I would say, whatever he does, we want to get to the Breeders' Cup, obviously, the Dirt Mile or the Classic - that would be decided nearer, as we get there, but we’ll probably run twice before then.
“Spacing for him is always good. That would be the plan - to do two starts would be perfect, to either the Classic or Dirt Mile.”
White Abarrio earned $731,250 for his win in the Oaklawn Handicap to lift his earnings this year alone to $1.2 million. His win Saturday came before an estimated ontrack crowd of 35,000. Handle on the 12-race card from all sources was $13.9 million.
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