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White Abarrio after winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2023 (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – C2 Racing Stable, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Antonio Pagnano’s three-time Grade 1 winner White Abarrio put in his final breeze Thursday morning for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.
In company with regular workmate Silver Moonlight, White Abarrio went four furlongs in 48.34 seconds over Gulfstream’s main track, ranking eighth of 27 horses. It was his second work of 2025 following a bullet half-mile move in 47.81 Jan. 9.
“He worked well,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “I thought it was a very good work. He did a lot last week so we kept him in hand this time, just a little off the horse inside and he finished up well. We never really let him out today. We were very happy with it.”
Silver Moonlight is a 4-year-old Liam’s Map filly also owned by C2’s Mark and Clint Cornett that has strung together three consecutive wins starting with a maiden triumph Oct. 20 and a Dec. 27 starter allowance in her most recent start.
“He’s been working Silver Moonlight since before he came back for his allowance race,” Joseph said. “He’s done well doing it and she’s won three in a row doing it, so we’re just keeping things the same. It’s perfect.”
Work of the Day from @GulfstreamPark—Silver Moonlight (Outside), 48.44, and White Abarrio, 48.34, worked 4 Furlongs on January 16th, 2025, for trainer @SaffieJosephJr. @PegasusWorldCup pic.twitter.com/YR1pYiNPvd
— XBTV (@WatchXBTV) January 16, 2025
White Abarrio has won six of eight lifetime starts at Gulfstream including the Holy Bull (G3) and Florida Derby (G1) in 2022. He spent the summer and fall of 2023 with trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., winning the Whitney (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), returning to Joseph after running fifth in the Met Mile (G1) last June.
Making his first start in 168 days, White Abarrio romped by 10 ¼ lengths in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance Nov. 22 at Gulfstream to set him up for the Dec. 28 Mr. Prospector (G3). Also at seven furlongs, he got off slowly and raced far back before making a dramatic late run to come up 1 ¼ lengths short of multiple graded-stakes winner Mufasa.
“We’re nine days out and in horse racing that’s a lot of time, but we’re quite happy,” Joseph said. “Hopefully we can win a Pegasus.”
Joseph’s other Pegasus candidate, Daniel Alonso’s multi-millionaire Skippylongstocking, is scheduled to put in his final work Friday morning at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.
