There has never been any shortage of compelling stories in Thoroughbred racing and Aug. 5 at Saratoga Race Course seemed destined to be a day rife with them.
The day included the story of the undefeated New York State-bred Maple Leaf Mel , trained by cancer survivor Melanie Giddings and owned by Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells, going for grade 1 laurels in the Test Stakes (G1).
Then, two races later, the day offered Cody’s Wish , America’s No. 1 horse and the namesake of Cody Dorman, the courageous 17-year-old suffering from Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, starring in the featured $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1).
Yet at day’s end, the stories people in the Whitney Day-record crowd of 43,788 will remember most will bear little resemblance to those cheery, feel-good stories.
On a day when Maple Leaf Mel suffered a fatal breakdown when she was just yards away from winning, Cody’s Wish’s attempt to notch an initial win at a 1 1/8-mile distance went awry as Godolphin’s 5-year-old homebred son of Curlin finished a well-beaten third at 2-5 odds, 10 lengths behind White Abarrio in the Whitney.
“It was a tough day for the sport,” said Irad Ortiz Jr. “Losing that filly was a big loss.”
As it turned out, it was a memorable 64th birthday for trainer Rick Dutrow who recorded his first grade 1 win since 2012—a gap explained by a 10-year suspension for multiple drug violations that ended in January—when he sent out 10-1 shot White Abarrio ($22.40) to capture the Whitney by a decisive 6 1/4-length margin.
“It’s the best present I’ve ever had for my birthday,'” Dutrow said. “I am happy, very happy.”
The victory earned C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano’s roan colt a free, “Win and You’re In” spot in the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), and while Dutrow said White Abarrio would run next at the World Championships, he was uncertain if the son of Race Day would run in the $6 million Classic at 1 1/4 miles or the $1 million Dirt Mile (G1). The Breeders’ Cup is at Santa Anita Park this fall.
“We are looking at the Breeders’ Cup. We’ll see how the horse comes out and wherever we go we’ll have confidence he’ll run big,” said Dutrow, a winner of three Breeders’ Cup races prior to his suspension.
White Abarrio arrived in Dutrow’s barn in late spring after original trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was suspended by Churchill Downs following the mysterious deaths of two of his horses. The 4-year-old was a grade 1 winner for Joseph, taking the 2022 Florida Derby (G1), and displayed that kind of ability to Dutrow when he debuted for his new trainer with a third in the June 10 Metropolitan Handicap (G1), 3 1/4-lengths behind the victorious Cody’s Wish and a head behind Zandon , second in the Whitney.
“Once he ran in the Met Mile, we saw his potential. He ran huge there,” said Dutrow who supplemented White Abarrio to the Whitney after considering the Aug. 26 seven-furlong Forego Stakes (G1) until he watched powerhouse sprint performances by Elite Power and Gunite in last week’s Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1). “We were confident he would run big; not confident he’d beat anyone.
“He overwhelmed us,” he added about the produce of the Into Mischief mare Catching Diamonds bred by Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky. “He overwhelmed the crowd. He ran the race of his life and we weren’t expecting that. We got lucky. It was a great day for us. Maybe it will convince people to send me more horses.”
For Cody’s Wish, the Whitney ended a six-race winning streak—all at distances of seven furlongs or a mile—and trainer Bill Mott believed the added distance caught up with the 2022 Dirt Mile winner.
“I’d have to deduce it was the distance right now. He had a good trip. He had nothing in his way. I have no excuses. I thought he was close enough to the pace, he was on the bridle traveling well,” the Hall of Famer said. “On the turn he started moving, but it wasn’t the same acceleration that you saw at shorter distances. It was a totally different type of run.”
Cody’s Wish broke last in the field of six Saturday but was only about four lengths behind as Giant Game led through a half-mile in :48.27 with White Abarrio second. As Giant Game gave way on the final turn, Ortiz moved White Abarrio to the front and he quickly opened up.
Jeff Drown’s Zandon rallied three wide and Cody’s Wish moved outside of him, but neither had enough momentum to keep up with White Abarrio, who led by five lengths at the eighth pole and extended the margin while crossing the wire in 1:48.45.
“I knew he was ready. I was working him before this and he was so positive on the horse. I knew he was going to break good and I could sit second or third from there. That’s what I did. The horse was ready and he took me all the way to the quarter pole nice and easy; and when I asked him, he was there for me,” Ortiz said.
Zandon, a son of Upstart trained by Chad Brown, was runner-up by 3 3/4 lengths over a tiring Cody’s Wish.
“The winner was best today,” said Jose Ortiz, who picked up the mount from a sidelined Joel Rosario on the consistent Zandon, who has won or placed in six grade 1 stakes.
White Abarrio won for the sixth time in 14 starts and pushed his earnings to $1,826,350. Bought for $40,000 from the Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds consignment at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, he is the only one of Catching Diamonds’ five foals to race. Her most recent offspring are a yearling Lord Nelson colt and a Yaupon 2023 filly.
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