 |
|
| Staff Writer |
 |
Trainer Richard Dutrow has confirmed that connections plan to bring the recent Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, White Abarrio, to the Saudi Cup. While plans after that are a little more fluid as they look towards retaining his crown at Del Mar next November, Dutrow has also mentioned that the Dubai World Cup is a target if his charge comes out of the Saudi Cup in good shape.
Dutrow has been no stranger to success in his career, with White Abarrio becoming his fourth Breeders’ Cup winner and the second time he has claimed the Classic. Saint Liam in 2005 was his other winner of the contest.
Dubai would not be new ground for Dutrow to cover, already a winner of a pair of races on Dubai World Cup night at Nad Al Sheba back in 2008. That day, Diamond Stripes won the Godolphin Mile before Benny The Bull picked up the Golden Shaheen.
2008 was the best year in Dutrow’s career so far - his stable star, Big Brown, followed up his win in the Florida Derby with further successes in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness before he flopped in the Belmont Stakes.
There has also been a controversy for Dutrow, who only returned early this year from a suspension of a decade. To come back and be given a horse of the quality of White Abarrio within just a couple of months will have made the return to the training ranks much easier for Dutrow.
“Me and Mark (Cornett of C2 Racing) have known each other for quite a while, when he called me I was extremely excited. Anybody who will get their hands on a horse like him would be. So, I was very happy, very excited. We got a stall ready for him right away - it was just so much fun to train a good horse like that.”
The plan had always been for White Abarrio to run in the Met Mile, but things were fluid after that, letting the horse tell them where he should be going. “we wanted (to give) him enough time to get off that effort and to train the right way up to his next big race, which was the Breeders Cup. It was just kind of a decision that maybe the horse made for us.”
“When he won the Breeders Cup, it seemed like it made all the sense in the world to just settle in and let him come out of that race the right way and then start training him up to his big race (the Saudi Cup). It's just like the horse is telling us, "Man, let's go for these big races because I'm ready for him, so we're kind of just following him.”
Dutrow talks about the horse at home as one who “just doesn't stop being interested in something, and he wants you to be interested in him. He wants you watching him. He is a very clever horse.”
Santa Anita saw a different side to the horse - “he knew he was going to run because he had done that before. So, during the whole day, he was very, very quiet. He did not have his head out of his stall. He was in the back of his stall just very, very quiet. I really believe that he went into his zone.”
Sent off as favourite in California, White Abarrio travelled through the race notably well. There were early solid fractions, which saw slow finishing ones, with Irad Ortiz managing to coax enough out of his brave partner to hold off the Japanese raider Derma Sotogake by a length.
 |
Dutrow has eased off after that success, with February 25 ringed in the calendar. He is mainly jogging to give him some time off, but to keep a fair level of fitness up, it will be another few weeks before Dutrow starts to apply any pressure again in his work.
Connections are in no rush to send him out of his comfort zone, keeping him at home as long as possible before they take him out of the States. “He's going to stay in California until he ships to Saudi, which will be at least a week before the race. So, when the charter goes, we'll be on it. We'll keep him right where he's at, train him for the race there, and then we'll see how he's doing.”
Once more, the plans for the future depend on the horse himself. “If he's impressive in the Saudi Cup and comes out of it where he's looking bright. It looks like the race didn't cost him; we would have to look at this Dubai World Cup. We would love to do something like that, but it really depends on the horse.”
Interestingly, the plan is not to ship him straight back to the States but rather remain so that it cuts back on any potential hazards. “We thought this was the best approach for him to stay where he is, train, and just make one little trip instead of having to quarantine in other places.”
Where might we see White Abarrio for the remainder of 2024? “The Met Mile, depending on how he comes out of the Saudi Cup or the Dubai World Cup. I mean, we would be looking to basically do the same again, probably run in the Whitney and then the Breeders’ Cup.”
While there is a basic framework for Dutrow and his team to work towards over the next year, Dutrow is keen to maintain that the horse will tell them where he races. It will be a pleasure to see the reigning Breeders’ Cup Classic winner in the Saudi Cup and perhaps head to Meydan afterwards. Wins there would mark him down as one of the best of his generation.