Whitney the Star Attraction of Weekend Stakes Slate

Three months before this fall's Breeders' Cup, numerous stakes races this weekend will provide a glimpse of leading contenders for some of the 14 Breeders' Cup races Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Five grade 1s take place in New York and California Aug. 2, with three of them—the Whitney Stakes (G1), Fourstardave Stakes (G1T), and Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1)—also being part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In. The Fourstardave awards its winner with an automatic paid berth for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T), the Clement L. Hirsch does for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), and the Whitney follows suit for the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Clement L. Hirsch participants Seismic Beauty, Richi (CHI), and Kopion are legitimate Breeders' Cup prospects, either for the Distaff or the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) over seven furlongs. Saturday's Clement L. Hirsch at 1 1/16 miles will give them a race over the track. Johannes, Deterministic, Spirit of St Louis, and Think Big lead the Fourstardave, with Johannes traveling from California to make his first start of the year in Saturday's grass race at Saratoga Race Course. He was second in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile. But the Whitney is the star stakes attraction of the weekend, with eight millionaires among its cast of 10—though one, Mindframe, is expected to scratch to await another race if his stablemate Fierceness starts. Regardless, the race is stacked. One need only examine the past performances of the competitors to see the impact they had on past Breeders' Cup Classics. White Abarrio, a 4-1 morning-line shot in Saturday's 1 1/8-mile race, won the 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park the same year he took the 2023 Whitney. A year later, Sierra Leone and Fierceness, respectively projected at 2-1 and 9-5 odds for the Whitney, were 1-2 in the 2024 Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar. White Abarrio, Sierra Leone, and Fierceness all come off defeats. Fierceness was second and White Abarrio ran fourth in the June 7 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) when running a mile distance arguably shorter than distances they prefer, and late-running Sierra Leone was second to Mindframe in a paceless June 28 Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs. He also was third in the March 22 New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) when kicking off his season. Sierra Leone—last year's champion 3-year-old male owned by Peter Brant, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook Smith—lost three starts last summer at Saratoga, always as the favorite. He ran third in the Belmont Stakes (G1), second to Fierceness in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2), and third to that rival in the Travers Stakes (G1). "His end results have been better at other racetracks, but I don't think he hates this track," said five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. "We'll see how the track is playing Saturday, and if it's playing fairly and the pace is fair, I think he has a good shot." Gary Barber, C2 Racing Stable, and La Milagrosa Stable's 6-year-old White Abarrio is the richest of the Whitney participants with more than $7 million in earnings. He is 10-2-3 in 22 starts, a record that includes a victory this year in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park for current trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Rick Dutrow trained him at the time of his 2023 Whitney and Breeders' Cup Classic success. White Abarrio is one of two starters for Joseph, the other being Daniel Alonso's 6-year-old Skippylongstocking, who to date has been a cut below the very best in the country. Joseph said he is hoping White Abarrio "brings his 'A' game again." The colt turned in a relatively flat effort in the Met Mile after exchanging bumps with Fierceness early. "Obviously it's going to be a tough race but on his day, he's as good as any of them," Joseph said. Fierceness, the champion 2-year-old male of 2023 now owned by Repole Stable, Smith, Tabor, and Magnier, is 3-1-0 in four starts on the Saratoga main track. He was second to Sierra Leone in Eclipse Award voting in the 3-year-old male division last year. His only loss over the Saratoga surface came over a sloppy track in the Metropolitan Handicap when he was jostled early coming out of the half-turn Wilson Chute used for mile races. Both White Abarrio and Fierceness project as likely pace-tracking runners in the Whitney behind speedster and 50-1 outsider Mama's Gold. Fierceness' trainer, Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, has captured four Whitneys, striking with Left Bank (2002), Lawyer Ron (2007), Cross Traffic (2013), and Life Is Good (2022). "I think it has established itself as sort of the marquee older horse race in the country next to the Breeders' Cup Classic," he said.