Inherently, horse racing is an exercise in faith, like when a horse is foaled or has the health and good fortune to make its first career start. Or, if it is one of the very fortunate few to make it into the starting gate on the first Saturday in May. However, Mark and Clint Cornett experienced another leap of faith stemming from the decision to return White Abarrio (Race Day), winner of the GI Whitney and GI Breeders’ Cup Classic while under the care of Rick Dutrow Jr., to his original trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr. And that decision proved to be on point last weekend when the 6-year-old–campaigned by the Cornett brothers’ C 2 Racing in addition to Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz-Saud and Antonio Pagnano–flew home a 6 1/4-length winner in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park.

In truth, the decision was really a no-brainer.

“It’s a crazy story. Obviously, we had to give him up,” admitted Joseph. “I knew he had to go and he went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. You have owners who had been supportive through all that time, so how could you not feel for the horse that you had been part of for so long?”

He continued, “In reality, when I got the horse back, that really meant a lot. When the horse had to go, I knew he had to go. But he didn’t have to come back. He could have gone to anybody. But that meant so much to me, I can’t thank [the owners] enough. They believed in me and that showed it.”

An impressive first-out winner for the trainer at Gulfstream in the fall of 2021, the $40,000 OBS March graduate won the next season’s GIII Holy Bull Stakes and GI Florida Derby. A lackluster 16th in the Kentucky Derby, he later rounded out the season with a close-up third in the GI Cigar Mile at the Big A. Eighth in the 2024 Pegasus, he rebounded to post an easy score in a Gulfstream allowance in March.

Forced to transfer to Dutrow after Churchill Downs indefinitely suspended Joseph following the death of a pair of his charges at the Louisville oval, White Abarrio finished third in his first outing for his new trainer in the June 8 GI Met Mile before galloping home an easy 6 1/4-length winner in the Whitney in Saratoga. Closing out his 4-year-old campaign with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita, the Kentucky-bred was shipped to Riyadh for the G1 Saudi World Cup, finishing 10th, beaten 15 lengths by Senor Buscador.

According to Joseph, another crack at next month’s Saudi Cup is among possibilities for the Spendthrift bred-horse.

It really have been a full-circle moment,” said Mark Cornett. “We never really lost faith in this horse after he shipped over to Saudi. The horse was on the plane for about 24-straight hours after he had been sitting on the tarmac in Miami. He then drew the one-hole and I told Rick [Dutrow] to go ahead and scratch the horse. He just laughed at me.”

Given some R&R before taking another stab last year’s Met Mile, he finished a flat fifth, beaten 10 1/4 lengths by subsequent champion older male, National Treasure.

“When we came back over here, in the Met Mile, I just didn’t like the situation,” admitted Cornett. “I spoke to Clint and the partners and I thought this would be a good time to send the horse back to Saffie. I thought, ‘let’s get him back to his home base, where we know loves the circuit.’”

Returned to Joseph in June, White Abarrio, who trained sparingly over the summer at Saratoga, wouldn’t make it back to the races until a seven-furlong test at Gulfstream Nov. 22.

“It was a process when he came back. He was very edgy,” recalled Joseph. “We couldn’t really get him to where we wanted him. We just took it easy with him at Saratoga and took our time with him. He just wasn’t coming around. Physically, he was fine. Mentally, he just wasn’t there. We sent him to the farm and brought him back after a month or six weeks. He still wasn’t there yet. We breezed him once or twice at Saratoga and I think, when he got back to Florida and he got back into his stall, we started breezing him again. He started to turn around. I think it was because he got back into the surroundings he was accustomed to since he was a 2-year-old.”

Bouncing away to an authoritative score in his Gulfstream return, he came up 1 1/4-lengths short of victor Mufasa in the Dec. 28 GIII Mr. Prospector Stakes, his most recent race prior to last week’s Pegasus.

“When he ran in his first allowance race back, we didn’t know what to expect. He won by 10 (1/4) lengths so that was a relief to us,” explained Joseph. “The Mr. Prospector wasn’t the original plan. It was seven furlongs like we did before [at Gulfstream Nov. 22]. So, Mark said, ‘how about we run seven furlongs again?’ I told him I thought it was a good idea. We were [originally] going to go to the [1 1/16-mile GIII] Harlan’s Holiday. But last year, he won going seven furlongs before [finishing third in the Met Mile] and he went on to win won the [nine furlong] Whitney. So, we were trying to follow that same pattern. He broke out [after running in a sprint].”

Leaving his difficulties of 2024 behind him, Joseph enjoyed a banner day at Gulfstream last Saturday, also winning the GII Inside Information Stakes with Mystic Lake and GII Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf Invitational with Be Your Best.

“In general, you win with Mystic Lake and Be Your Best, that would be a great day in its own right,” Joseph said. “To have the story unfold with White Abarrio.. It comes full circle and to end like that, it’s almost like a movie. A dream, basically.”

And despite having to watch from the sidelines as another trainer hoisted the trophy on Breeders’ Cup Day following White Abarrio’s Classic victory, it was Joseph who was at the helm after being given a second swing at it.

“It’s great to get him back to where he should be and on his day, he’s fantastic,” extolled Joseph. “Some people were saying that he just wasn’t going to come back in his best form. But everything went according to plan, and [in the Pegasus], everything went perfect. We’re really blessed to have him.”

Faith rewarded.