White Abarrio victorious in the Breeders’ Cup Classic under Irad Ortiz, Jr. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
“Redemption, Second Chances, Believing in Yourself, Believing in the Right People, Never Giving Up, Fighting Well into the last Round, Comebacks, Horsemanship, all cumulating with two statement races. The story of C2 Racing’s Mark and Clint Corbett believing in Rick Dutrow and White Abarrio is all that and more. The story of Rick Dutrow believing in himself and his gray horse is all that and more. As Rocky Balboa or Sylvester Stallone said:
“It ain’t about how hard you’re hit, it’s about how you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.”
Rick Dutrow got hit hard. He got knocked down, but Babe didn’t get knocked out. As I always say, and as I told Rick more than once over the past few years, we can always go:
“One More Round”
Will White Abarrio get and does he deserve Horse of the Year? That is a question for the NTWAB and voters but let’s remember they once had someone vote for California Chrome for turf horse, when was the last time a jockey who wasn’t the leading money winner won best jockey, some abstain from apprentice and steeplechase awards, some vote with bias and some could not pick the winner of the 1980 Woodward. Horse of the Year who knows. Champion Older Horse is a no brainer. Even they can’t mess that up.
Bottom line is The Breeders’ Cup Classic is The Super Bowl, World Series, and Stanley Cup of Horse Racing. It is our premier race and White Abarrio won it. Rick Dutrow won it after a 10 year hiatus in which during his comeback he won with the first horse he ran, a horse off the claim. The Whitney is a storied important race run at an historic racetrack during a world class meet. The best of the best run in The Breeders’ Cup Classic. White Abarrio won it. His Whitney win was as impressive a Whitney as we have ever seen. White Abarrio staked his claim on the racetrack, what happens off the racetrack is really of minor importance.
Congratulations to Rick Dutrow, C2 racing and all the connections of White Abarrio!
