HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – White Abarrio got serious Thursday morning at Gulfstream Park prepping for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The 2023 BC Classic winner zipped four furlongs in 45.94 seconds over a drying-out racetrack that was upgraded to fast after having been sealed and sloppy to start the morning.
Breaking off a half-length behind Practically Dark, an above-average work horse who has been idle since December, White Abarrio posted a 23.15 opening quarter split and could not quite get even with his mate when set down to the wire. The pair continued under urging into the turn, covering five furlongs in 58.44 before easing up on even terms after six furlongs, with White Abarrio completing that distance in 1:11.12.
“We wanted a really strong work 24 days out [from the Dirt Mile] and it was basically a five-furlong work from the half, then let him go out three-quarters,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “I put him with a very good work horse who is doing amazing since we brought him back from a layoff. I think [White Abarrio] is certainly on the right path and hopefully he’ll continue like this right up to the Breeders’ Cup.”
White Abarrio is one of five potential Breeders’ Cup starters for Joseph, along with Be Your Best (Filly and Mare Turf), Haulin Ice (Filly and Mare Sprint), R Disaster (Filly and Mare Sprint), and Rileytole (Juvenile Fillies).
Be Your Best was scheduled to work Thursday at Palm Meadows, but Joseph canceled the breeze after the track was sealed due to overnight rain.
Thursday’s work tab at Gulfstream Park also included Finding Strength, who breezed a half-mile in 47.64 for trainer Michael Yates in preparation for a start as the potential favorite a week from Saturday in the $150,000 Susan’s Girl division of the Florida Sire Stakes.
Lou the Body starts over
Lou the Body had his four-race win streak snapped when finishing second as a prohibitive 1-2 favorite against open, mid-level optional-claiming and starter-allowance company here Sept.14. The vastly improved 4-year-old figures to go postward the odds-on choice once again when taking on restricted statebred allowance opposition in Saturday’s $43,000 main event at seven furlongs over the main track.
Lou the Body began his recent streak for an $8,000 claiming tag on May 11 and subsequently changed barns twice along the way via the claim box. Currently owned and trained by Dan Hurtak, Lou the Body will be facing Florida-breds for the first time in 16 career starts.
Mayheminthepalace is the only member of the field with more victories on his résumé than Lou the Body, having registered six wins, including a 1 1/4-length triumph against bottom-level claiming foes on Sept. 20. Mayheminthepalace, a popular item at the claim box all year long, posted a career-best 81 Beyer Speed Figure for that effort while haltered for $6,250 out of the race by his current trainer, J. Kent Sweezey.
Zydeceaux is another member of the lineup coming off a victory. He dug in gamely down the stretch after having set a contested pace to register a hard-fought and much deserved head decision over Turbo competing over a sloppy track under a $25,000 claiming tag on Aug. 23. Zydeceaux is currently under the care of red-hot trainer Jose Castro, who has won with seven of the first 17 horses he has started at the meet.
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