White Abarrio

A day after nominations were released for the much-anticipated GI Stephen Foster Stakes, to be held June 27 at Churchill Downs, prime contender and reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) worked at Saratoga Sunday, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.61 in company under regular work rider Neil Poznansky. After splits of :25.25 for the first quarter and :37.24 for the three-eighths, Sovereignty galloped out six furlongs in 1:17.38. The Godolphin homebred and Bill Mott trainee is scheduled to work one more time before the $2-million highlight of early summer....

Reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief), G1 Dubai World Cup hero Magnitude (Not This Time), GI Pegasus World Cup victor White Abarrio (Race Day), and GI Pennsylvania Stakes winner Baeza (McKinzie) headline 17 nominations to what is shaping up to be a blockbuster summer event Saturday, June 27 in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs. One of seven stakes races set for that card, nominations for the 'Win and You're In' contest for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic also include the likes of Nysos (Nyquist), last...

White Abarrio (Race Day--Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief), winner of the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Classic, will join the stallion roster at Gainesway following the conclusion of his racing career, co-owner C2 Racing Stable announced via X Thursday morning. "Racing fans, we're absolutely thrilled to share that White Abarrio will enter stud at Gaineswsay Farm in Lexington, Ky after his racing career. Before he heads to the Bluegrass, he'll run next in the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs," the tweet read. Already the winner of four Grade I events and...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Michael McCarthy would like nothing more than to have the wildly popular Journalism (Curlin) return to Saratoga Race Course this summer. "It would be awfully nice if he could," McCarthy said just outside Journalism's stall at the Oklahoma Training Track Thursday morning. "Saratoga, as I keep on saying, is a magical place for horses and people alike. We would be more than happy to bring him back here if the opportunity presented itself." First things first. Journalism, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don...

The purse for Churchill Downs's marquee race for older horses, the Grade I Stephen Foster on Saturday, June 27, has been doubled from $1 million to $2 million, according to a press release from the track on Wednesday. Billed as the "Summer Showdown," the 45th running of the 1 1/8-mile dirt race for 4-year-olds--which is part of the Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' Challenge Series--will be broadcast on NBCSN and Peacock from 4:30-6:30 p.m. (all times Eastern). Five of the world's elite dirt horses have already expressed interest in...

White Abarrio (Race Day) has won four Grade I races, earned $8,445,170 and has been going strong for six years. But that hasn't been enough for his owners to reach a deal with a stud farm, or at least one they found acceptable. But that may be about to change. Mark Cornett, who is a co-owner of the 7-year-old veteran, told the TDN that negotiations are underway with three farms in Kentucky and it is expected that an announcement will be made shortly regarding where he will begin his career...

He was still somewhat Gray Abarrio when first coming on the scene, but has by now been around long enough to develop the dazzling coat appropriate to his naming. So long, in fact, that there has even been time for White Abarrio (Race Day) to brighten up his pedigree, as well. Its fundamentals remain familiar: his freakish status in the resume of his own sire, who was exported to South Korea around the time White Abarrio was sold for $7,500 as a yearling; and, conversely, the early marker he laid...

White Abarrio (Race Day) and Sovereignty (Into Mischief) both exited their one-two finish in the GII Oaklawn Handicap Saturday in fine shape and connections were considering next steps Sunday morning. White Abarrio, the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner, beat reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty by two lengths, with Journalism (Curlin), the 2025 GI Preakness Stakes winner, finishing 1 1/4 lengths farther back in third. "It's rare you get to see something like that," White Abarrio's co-owner Mark Cornett said as the 7-year-old veteran was munching hay in his...

We knew it was going to be a battle of the big three, and so it was late with White Abarrio (Race Day) pulling rank to claim the GII Oaklawn Handicap over Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief). Understandably and unsurprisingly, the seasonal debuts of both MGISW Sovereignty and MGISW Journalism (Curlin) dominated the front pages in the days leading up to this contest. For many in the editorial community, as it went for the betting public, the best horse in 2025 was the horse to beat here and...

While there isn't a definitive path yet, next-race plans are pending for GI Apple Blossom Handicap victress Claret Beret (Not This Time), according to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The Florida-based mare has since returned to the Sunshine State. She posted a 105 Beyer figure in her upset over champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) Apr. 11 and her final time of 1:42.21 was the fastest running of the race since Horse of the Year Havre De Grace in 2011. Her speed figure is the highest in the country this year for a...

Maybe a touch earlier than expected, the rematch that the horse racing world pined for has arrived as reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) will once again square off against the 2025 GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin) in the GII Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday. Both colts will be making their much-anticipated 4-year-old debuts in Hot Springs. Sovereignty turned in a spectacular season last year when he won the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Belmont Stakes and GI DK Travers Stakes. The Bill Mott trainee came down with a...

Owners Gary Barber and C2 Racing Stable have filed a suit in a California Superior Court alleging that defendants Breeders' Cup Limited, the California Horse Racing Board, and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club engaged in intentional interference with prospective economic relations, negligent interference with prospective economic relations, violation of California business & professions code, gross negligence, negligence, breach of contract, and breach of the implied  covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The matter involves the scratching of White Abarrio (Race Day), which took place just minutes before the running...