The last few weeks have been and will continue to be important ones for Mark Cornett's C2 Racing Stable, which he owns alongside his brother Clint. A few weeks ago, the Cornett brothers won the GI PNC Bank Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint with longshot Soul of an Angel (Atreides).
And later this week, their stable's star, GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day), will have first start since finishing a disappointing fifth in the GI Metropolitan Handicap June 8. He'll run in an allowance race Friday at Gulfstream Park, one that will, Cornett said, go a long way toward determining his future.
To talk about White Abarrio, Soul of an Angel and why, with White Abarrio, they have been playing musical chairs when it comes to their trainers, Mark Cornett joined our team this week on TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland.
“Not only does [White Abarrio] have to run well Friday, he's got to run great,” Cornett said. “We got a lot of balls in the air right now. We've got the Japanese looking at him to buy him as a stallion prospect. So, that's one option we've got. Then we have a partner on the horse, [His Royal Highness] Prince Faisal [bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud]. The whole point is we're here in this race to run him one more year and then turn him over to the breeding shed.”
White Abarrio was trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr. for about a year-and-a-half before he was replaced by Richard Dutrow, Jr. The Cornetts did not want to replace Joseph but their hands were tied when he was temporarily banned by Churchill Downs because he had two horses euthanized during a period in 2023 where horse safety had become a huge issue for Churchill. Neither horse passed away due to a musculoskeletal injury.
At first, it appeared to be a smart move as Dutrow was able to win the 2023 GI Whitney Stakes and the Classic with White Abarrio. But he wasn't the same horse when kicking off his 2024 campaign. He was tenth in the GI Saudi Cup and a non-threatening fifth in his return trip to the Met Mile.
“I just wasn't happy after the Met Mile performance,” Cornett said. “I'm big on getting information. I manage all my own horses for the stable C2. And if you can't get accurate information, it's puts you in a bind on managing the horse. Whether it's running times, whether it's running in the right race, mapping out a campaign, selling the horse at the right time. Whatever it is, you have to get accurate information. It's the very small details that matter in this business. If you can't get the small details right, then you're at a disadvantage.
“One thing Saffie and I built up is a relationship where I get very accurate information and what he tells me turns out to be the case,” said Cornett. “When I buy a horse, I have expectations for that horse and what I think the horse can accomplish. We have a very good dialogue and game plan on that. Information is the key to clicking on all cylinders.”
Soul of Angel has improved dramatically in her last two starts and it appears the reason why is the decision to turn her back to sprinting. Prior to the Breeders' Cup, she earned her ticket by capturing the Princess Rooney Stakes at Gulfstream, which was also at seven furlongs.
“I told Saffie when we bought her that one turn is what we want to do,” he said. “How short? We don't know, but let's take a shot in the [GII] Ruffian [Stakes], which she won. That kind of proved our thought process there. She ran so good there, but there were really no one-turn races coming up. So what we decided to do is stretch her out around two turns. She ran okay in the Personal Ensign. But, yes, the Breeders' Cup win proved she's much better around one turn.”
In our 'Breeding Spotlight' section we looked at the WinStar stallion Nashville, and in the 'News You Can Use' segment, presented by Darley Europe, Emma Berry joined to discuss the European foal and breeding stock sales.
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, WinStar, Darley America, the KTOB and XBTV.com, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss expressed their opinions on the comeback of GISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), a daughter of the great Beholder.
Making her 2024 debut, the filly lost by a nose against optional claimers at Del Mar on Friday, Nov. 15 when she was beaten by the undefeated Sandy Bottom (Omaha Beach). Moss and Finley said they were disappointed by the effort, while Cadman said she expects to see a much-improved Tamara when she contests the GI La Brea Stakes next month in Arcadia.
Sticking with the California theme, Santa Anita ran a pair of stakes races for 2-year-olds over the weekend and even though he did not win either of them, Bob Baffert dominated the entries.
The Hall of Famer had four of the five starters entered in Saturday's Desi Arnaz Stakes at the seaside oval. Though this is clearly not his fault, Baffert's dominance is a problem. To have one trainer control so many top horses can lead to nothing short of an unappealing racing product.
What can be done about it? Probably nothing.
But Moss suggested that tracks should look into a rule that would put a cap on how many different horses a trainer can run during a given meet.
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