HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The connections of White Abarrio and Sierra Leone, the winners of the 2023 and 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classics, respectively, and currently the two top rated older handicap horses in North America, have announced their intentions to bypass the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 22 and concentrate on campaigning their horses in the United States the remainder of the year.    White Abarrio left little doubt he’s returned to peak form by drawing off to a convincing 6 1/4-length victory over Locked to launch his season in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25. White Abarrio returned to the barn of his original trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr., last summer after having won both the Breeders’ Cup and Whitney Handicap in 2023 with trainer Rick Dutrow. Sierra Leone, who is trained by Chad Brown, has not started since defeating Fierceness by 1 1/2 lengths in the 2024 Classic, a performance that clinched him divisional honors as the top 3-year-old male last season. Mark Cornett, whose C2 Racing Stable is the principal owner of White Abarrio in partnership with Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Antonio Pagnano, said the decision to bypass the rich Saudi Cup was obviously not an easy one. :: Get Gulfstream Park Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day. “It’s a very tough decision, especially when you factor in that Prince Faisal owns a piece,” Cornett said. “But at the end of the day we have to do what’s best for the horse. Coming off that big race it’s a little much to ask of him to ship 16 hours and run again in 30 days. We already did that once and it wasn’t a great experience. “He’s not the best shipper anyways, and when you add up the potential bounce factor and not being able to breeze over the track like we’d want, that’s basically three strikes against us.”          Cornett said White Abarrio, who finished 10th, beaten 15 lengths, in the 2024 Saudi Cup, will make his next start in the Grade 3 Ghostzapper at Gulfstream Park going 1 1/16 miles on the March 29 Florida Derby undercard. “The plan is to point for the Ghostzapper as a prep for the Met Mile, with the Whitney and Breeders’ Cup Classic our two long-range goals during the second half of the season,” Cornett said. Cornett is also the principal owner of Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner and recently elected Eclipse Award champion Soul of an Angel, whom he said remains under consideration for the Saudi Cup. “We’re still waiting on an answer for the filly,” said Cornett. “With White Abarrio and Sierra Leone out, that should move her to first alternate, although we’ve been having a tough time getting information from the Saudi officials regarding who is ahead of us and what our status is. “But our preference at the moment is to take her over there. Her situation is entirely different from White Abarrio. We know she’s a good shipper and she’s ready to go if she can get in.” Brown confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Sierra Leone, the champion 3-year-old male, missed a workout over the weekend due to a foot abscess. The story was first reported by the Thoroughbred Daily News. Brown told Daily Racing Form’s David Grening the abscess has blown out and “looks good now,” adding, “he’s back on the track but the timing was bad. I didn’t have much room for error, we were on a tight schedule because we rested the horse after the Breeders’ Cup, which is what I wanted to do.” :: Play Gulfstream Park with confidence! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports available now. Brown also said he has ruled out the $12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan on April 5 for Sierra Leone because he doesn’t want to run him 1 1/4 miles off the layoff. Brown added that  Sierra Leone will now be pointed to the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap on April 19 followed, perhaps, by the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs.    Trainer Todd Pletcher reported Wednesday that Locked remains under consideration for the Saudi Cup, with the defections of White Abarrio and Sierra Leone suddenly making the trip a more attractive proposition to the ownership group of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm. “We’re kind of monitoring everything, getting a line on the field, seeing how he’s doing,” Pletcher said. “We’ll probably give him a breeze Friday or Saturday. It’s back in four weeks. But take Sierra Leone and White Abarrio out, it's $20 million, that’s why we’re continuing to analyze it.” - additional reporting by David Grening :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.