Saffie Joseph Jr.

It was a tough day for the G1 Saudi Cup. Within hours of the breaking news that 2024 3-year-old male champion Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) will not run in the G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Feb. 22, the $20-million race lost another star when the owners of White Abarrio (Race Day) announced that they had also decided to keep their 6-year-old home and focus on a U.S. campaign. "We are going to bypass Saudi," co-owner Mark Cornett said. "We will stay here and...

C2 Racing Stable, Agave Racing Stable and Ken Reimer's reigning champion sprint mare Soul of an Angel (Atreides) breezed four furlongs Sunday at Gulfstream ahead of an intended tilt at the $20-million GI Saudi Cup Feb. 22. Trained by Championship Meet leader Saffie Joseph Jr., 6-year-old was timed in :47.80 seconds on the main track, ranking 13th of 70 horses. It was her third work since finishing third in the Rampart Stakes Dec. 26. "She had a good half-mile work. We put her in company to pick it up a...

Inherently, horse racing is an exercise in faith, like when a horse is foaled or has the health and good fortune to make its first career start. Or, if it is one of the very fortunate few to make it into the starting gate on the first Saturday in May. However, Mark and Clint Cornett experienced another leap of faith stemming from the decision to return White Abarrio (Race Day), winner of the GI Whitney and GI Breeders' Cup Classic while under the care of Rick Dutrow Jr., to his...

Saffie Joseph, Jr. has had some big days since he came to the U.S. from his native Barbados in 2011, but perhaps none bigger than last Saturday at Gulfstream Park. He had three stakes wins, including a score with Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhahaarar ({GB}) in the GII Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes and a win with Mystic Lake (Mo Town) in the GII Inside Information Stakes. But the one that really mattered was the victory by White Abarrio (Race Day) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes....

Hallandale, FL--As recently as last June, C2 Racing Stable, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Antonio Pagnano's White Abarrio (Race Day) was running for the come-backing Rick Dutrow Jr. after departing the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn. For Joseph, it was a tough pill to swallow given the striking grey had won a pair of graded stakes for him, including the 2022 GI Florida Derby. Give a second chance last summer to train the Grade I winner, Joseph made the most of the golden opportunity, landing Gulfstream's marquee test...

Hallandale, FL-After rounding out the 2024 season with a pair of graded victories, Mike Ryan's 'TDN Rising Star' Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) picked up right where she had left off last season, winning Saturday's GII Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park. Given a 7-1 chance to record her third straight victory, and only the fourth of her career, the 5-year-old showed a good turn of foot in the early going of the 8 1/2-furlong test, keeping leader and stablemate In Our Time (Not...

Multiple graded winners Newgrange (Violence) and Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) each recorded their final works Friday in preparation for the 1 1/8-mile, $3-million, Jan. 25 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. Newgrange, who was previously trained by Phil D'Amato and is now in the barn of Jose D'Angelo, breezed five furlongs in 1:01 at Palm Meadows. After winning the GII San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita last January, Newgrange hasn't raced since July. The five-time graded-winning millionaire's first Florida work came Jan. 8 at Palm Meadows, when he went a...

White Abarrio (Race Day), a three-time Grade I winner for C2 Racing Stable, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Antonio Pagnano, put in his final breeze Thursday morning for the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park. In company with regular workmate Silver Moonlight (Liam's Map), White Abarrio went four furlongs in :48.34 seconds over Gulfstream's main track, ranking eighth of 27 horses (video). It was his second work of 2025 following a bullet half-mile move in :47.81 Jan. 9. "He worked well," said trainer...

C2 Racing Stable, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Antonio Pagnano's multiple Grade I winner White Abarrio (Race Day) breezed Thursday morning at Gulfstream Park ahead of his next scheduled start in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Jan. 25. With regular exercise rider Vicente Gudiel aboard, White Abarrio went four furlongs in 47.81 seconds over the main track, the fastest of 23 horses at the distance. It was the first work for 5-year-old earner of more than $5.2 million since his runner-up finish in the GIII Mr....

Billed as a showdown between the classy Mufasa (Chi) (Practical Joke) and the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day), Gulfstream Park's Saturday feature, the GIII Mr. Prospector Stakes at seven furlongs, didn't disappoint. Mufasa got a perfect stalking trip which turned into a resounding win, while White Abarrio was slow out of the gate and trailed early before making a late run that couldn't quite catch Mufasa in the stretch. Little Vic (Practical Joke), the 2023 GIII Tom Fool Handicap winner, was third. Winner of the...

Drawn in the 10-hole for this next stop on his comeback tour, MGISW White Abarrio (Race Day) will tackle 11 others in Saturday's GIII Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park all while keeping an eye on the GI Pegasus World Cup in January. The class of the field with the numbers and earnings to match in this seven-furlong contest, White Abarrio was given 3-5 morning line favoritism to work with despite likely being lower when the gates open. After his 10 1/4-length romp last out Nov. 22 against local optional...

If a Saturday of racing under palm trees and warm, sunny skies sounds just like something on your holiday wish list, look no further than Gulfstream Park's Pegasus Preview Day with three graded stakes on offer ahead of January's main event, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational held Jan. 25. On the dirt, a trio of 3-year-olds will face older horses in the 1 1/16-mile GIII Harlan's Holiday Stakes. Spendthrift Farm's Tuscan Sky (Vino Rosso), who won three of his first five starts including a 6 3/4-length romp in the Pegasus...