New Companion Could Provide White Abarrio a Lift

The connections of White Abarrio have a secret weapon as they hope the winner of the 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) can add another score at the World Championships when he starts in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) Nov. 1 at Del Mar. That ace in the hole is a new companion for White Abarrio: Brownie the goat. "Brownie and Whitey," remarked trainer Saffie Joesph Jr. as Brownie napped in the sun and White Abarrio looked over him from his stall after an extended walk Oct. 29 on the Del Mar backstretch. "This is two months they've been companions. We've had the goat for five years. He serves different purposes for different horses, but White Abarrio's only been with him two months," Joseph said. "Some horses don't accept the goats, so you always try and see what happens. And if he's too aggressive, then you take away the goat, but they seem to bond well." Joseph said Brownie has had a calming influence on White Abarrio, who will try to close out his season with a Breeders' Cup win for owners C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber, and La Milagrosa Stable after opening the year with a victory in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park. "I think he likes having a companion, a friend to stay calm. I mean, I think that helps them a lot," Joseph said. "It's boring being in a stall by yourself. They're meant to be with other horses. You're not going to put a horse with them, it's too risky that they fight. So the closest thing you get without putting them in danger is a goat. "We use a lot of goats. We have probably, like five of them. They mainly have been placed with the fillies but with White Abarrio I wanted to try something different mentally with him, and it's worked." White Abarrio has raced well this year but has not quite been at his very top level recently. He enters off three straight fourth-place finishes in grade 1 races, the most recent being the roughly run Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course where he was bumped solidly by the shying Contrary Thinking. That caused White Abarrio to bump Mindframe, who lost jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. White Abarrio would drop back to seventh before passing two tired rivals in the stretch. He would be placed fourth after the disqualification of Phileas Fogg, who reached the wire third but was "unplaced" by the stewards. Joseph said with all that went wrong in that race, they thought it made more sense to prepare for the Dirt Mile rather than go 1 1/4 miles in the Classic. A second Breeders' Cup win for the runner who captured the Classic under the eyes of trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. would be meaningful for the connections. "It would be huge. His resume already has the Classic," Joseph said. "No horse has ever won the Classic, and then won the Mile. It's happened vice versa with Knicks Go winning the Dirt Mile then the Classic. So it's actually a pretty good little thing he could add to his resume." Joseph said plans for 2026 have not been finalized for White Abarrio and he added that the striking gray or roan son of Race Day could return to racing at age 7 next year.