White Abarrio's Journey from $7,500 Yearling to Superstar Racehorse
When White Abarrio first walked into the sales ring as a yearling, there was little indication that he would transform into a multi-million-dollar earner, four-time Grade 1 winner, or Breeders’ Cup champ. But he possessed something that could not be seen on paper: heart, determination, and toughness.
It was these qualities that carried him through a long, sensational career, a career that has now earned him the opportunity to pass those same qualities on to his offspring at Gainesway Farm.
White Abarrio's Pedigree & Early Life
On March 18, 2019, an Into Mischief mare named Catching Diamonds had her first foal at Spendthrift Farm, a colt by Race Day. Like his multiple graded stakes-winning sire and his kingly grandsire, Tapit, this colt was born grey.
Though a handsome colt, his pedigree wasn’t exactly fashionable. Catching Diamonds had been purchased by Spendthrift Farm for $425,000 as a yearling, and they had hoped she would run similarly to her half-brother Cool Cowboy, a multiple graded stakes-winning sprinter in Dubai, but she went unplaced in her three starts.
The colt's sire, Race Day, wasn’t taking off at stud, either, and after a couple of crops with no standouts, he was exported to Korea at the end of 2019.
So, no one seemed to be interested in Catching Diamonds’ still-unnamed yearling colt when he went to the ring at the OBS Winter Mixed Sale in 2020. He brought just $7,500, purchased by Jose Ordonez and Edilberto Herrera.
Herrera and Ordonez did see something in the newly turned yearling, however, and were pleased with him as he came along at their farm, preparing to be resold as a two-year-old the following spring. He had a good attitude and was always willing to give more in his training. And while he was the boss of the other youngsters in the field, he was kind to Herrera’s daughter, Alisson.
“He was the nicest horse. My daughter loved him,” Herrera recalled (Kentucky Derby). “She would bathe him and would go get him where he was. He loved my daughter.”
After receiving his early education and training with Herrera and Ordonez, the colt was purchased by trainer Carlos Perez for $40,000 at the OBS March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale. That price would still be considered a bargain when that colt, to be named White Abarrio, began his career later that year.
Two-Year-Old Season (2021)
It was with Perez and owner Clap Embroidery that White Abarrio would begin his racing career, and he did so successfully. He soared to a 6 ¾-length victory in his debut, a six-furlong sprint at Gulfstream Park in September.
Sold privately after his impressive maiden win, White Abarrio came out next for his new connections, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and owners C2 Racing and La Milagrosa Stable, winning a one-mile allowance optional claimer by four lengths.
With such dominant performances on his record, Kentucky Derby dreams began to bloom in the minds of White Abarrio’s connections. Therefore, they sent him to Churchill Downs for an early points race, the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2), and his performance there, a good run that ended in third, kept those dreams alive.
Three-Year-Old Season (2022)
Back in Florida for Gulfstream Park’s major Kentucky Derby prep races, White Abarrio drew off to a 4 ½-length victory in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3), despite having missed two works due to a fever that swept through the Joseph barn. His connections opted to skip the Fountain of Youth (G2) to give the colt plenty of time to rest and recover, and he rewarded them with a 1 ¼-length victory in the prestigious Florida Derby (G1).
However, White Abarrio sort of fell out of form following his first Grade 1 win, and he did not win another race for the remainder of the season, though he did manage placings in the Ohio Derby (G3) and Cigar Mile (G1).
Four-Year-Old Season (2023)
Another off-the-board performance in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) started White Abarrio’s four-year-old season, but a drop in class for an allowance optional claimer allowed the handsome grey to return to the winner’s circle, this time by 4 ½ lengths.
It was not long after that, however, that White Abarrio would change barns. In early May, Saffie Joseph Jr. was indefinitely suspended by Churchill Downs Inc. after two of his horses died following races at the Louisville, Kentucky, track.
C2 Racing put out a statement 20 days later that White Abarrio would move to the barn of Rick Dutrow Jr., who had just returned from his own 10-year suspension. The owners wanted to run the horse in New York, and Joseph had made an agreement with the New York Racing Association not to run his horses in the state while the investigation was underway.
And so, with Dutrow, White Abarrio traveled to New York for the Metropolitan Handicap (G1). While Cody’s Wish ran away with the race, White Abarrio finished third, just a head behind Zandon. He turned the tables on both of those foes next out in the Whitney Stakes (G1), coming home 6 ¼ lengths in front.
It was on to California for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) for White Abarrio and his connections, and it was there that he cemented himself as one of the top older horses in the country, winning the race by one length.
Five-Year-Old Season (2024)
When a trip overseas for the Saudi Cup (G1) did not pan out well for White Abarrio, and another attempt at the Met Mile (G1) ended in a fifth-place finish, C2 Racing made the decision to send White Abarrio back to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who had been cleared and found not guilty of any violations in the Churchill Downs Inc. investigation.
White Abarrio blossomed again when back in his old haunt. He first flew to a 10 ¼-length victory in an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park, then was a fast-closing second in the Mr. Prospector Stakes (G2).
Five-Year-Old Season (2025)
Those two return races with Joseph set White Abarrio up perfectly for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), which he won in that familiar dominant fashion, crossing the wire 6 ¼ lengths in front.
“When the owners gave him back to me,” an emotional Joseph started after the race (BloodHorse). “It healed me.”
White Abarrio’s winning ways continued in the Ghostzapper Stakes (G3) that March, and he drew off to another large-margin victory, this time by 5 ¼ lengths.
After a string of fourth-place finishes in New York’s premier Grade 1s for older horses, White Abarrio returned to California, this time to take on the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1). A start in the race, however, was not to be. The horse made it all the way to the starting gate when the veterinarians decided to scratch him, sending him back to the barns in front of a confused and murmuring crowd.
Six-Year-Old Season (2026)
After that controversial scratch, White Abarrio returned to Gulfstream Park, where he finished second to his stablemate Skippylongstocking in the Pegasus World Cup (G1). An emotional Joseph embraced his horse after the race, feeling validated that he was indeed a healthy and happy horse.
It was then on to Oaklawn Park for the Oaklawn Handicap (G2), billed as the race of the year for attracting White Abarrio, Horse of the Year Sovereignty, and tough competitor Journalism. And in a moment that shocked everyone except for White Abarrio’s dedicated supporters, the grey defeated both of them by two lengths.
That turned out to be White Abarrio’s final victory, and a good one at that. After two more losses, the decision was made to retire White Abarrio to Gainesway Farm.
He had done enough. The once-$7,500 horse had earned $8,598,170 from 11 wins, three seconds, and three thirds.
White Abarrio's Retirement to Gainesway Farm
In August, White Abarrio traveled from Saratoga, New York, to Lexington, Kentucky, to begin a new chapter of his life. Alongside him came his best bud, a goat named Brownie, who had accompanied the horse on the racetrack and during his travels in the final year of his career.
After two weeks in routine isolation to ensure he did not pass any illnesses to the other stallions on the farm, White Abarrio joined the other boys outside, with his paddock placed right next to fellow fan-favorite Seize the Grey and across from his iconic grandsire, Tapit.
“So far, White Abarrio has really taken to the new life here at the farm,” Ryan Norton, Stallion Director at Gainesway Farm, said of the horse’s arrival. “I think he’s enjoying the laid-back atmosphere of not having to work out in the morning and just go out and graze and hang out with the other horses in the paddock.”
Brownie, too, has been settling into his new life. Already a favorite with the ladies who work in the Gainesway office, he’s also caught the eye of the farm’s landscapers.
“The landscaping crew has come and I think they might be using him to go around the farm and get some of these overgrown areas and let Brownie help with the groundskeeping a little bit when he’s not being White Abarrio’s roommate.”
And while only time will tell how well White Abarrio will actually do at stud, his resume and pedigree will certainly attract some attention.
“White Abarrio is kind of the modern-day war horse,” Norton said. “28 starts, over $8.5 million in earnings. We loved his longevity, we loved his soundness, and we loved his speed. He had eleven triple-digit Beyers, and ran a one and a half Ragozin in the Pegasus.”
“He’s a grandson of Tapit and he’s a grandson of Into Mischief. Those are two of the biggest breed-shaping stallions in the last twenty years in North America. Having a stallion here that comes from both of those sire lines I think is really something that breeders are going to be looking for.”
White Abarrio will now live in the same barn as Tapit, where the hope is that he will help carry on the older stallion’s bloodlines and legacy for years to come, while passing on some of his own heart and determination, the qualities that helped bring him to Gainesway Farm in the first place.
Watch our new video: White Abarrio & Brownie the Goat Settle in at Gainesway Farm
About Champions of the Track: Championing horse racing through the stories of its horses, people, and places. Our focus is on education and celebration that honors every part of the racing world.
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