A year after White Abarrio was scratched from the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in the post parade at Del Mar prompting an eventual lawsuit by his owners, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and some of White Abarrio's ownership partners return to the Breeders' Cup Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland with five pre-entries.
Joseph pre-entered Forged Steel, owned by C2 Racing Stable, Mathis Stables, and TCC Stables, in both the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and $1 million Dirt Mile. The colt earned an automatic berth to the Classic by winning the Goodwood Stakes (G1) last month at Santa Anita Park, but Joseph said Oct. 21 that the Mile is the more likely destination, based on initial expectations of where most top prospects are slated to compete. A final decision is not required until Oct. 26, when post positions are drawn.
"So talking it over to ownership group, he's obviously won a 'Win and You're In,' but we feel like the (Dirt) Mile, if it shakes up right, could be the best spot that gives him a chance to win, and we kind of want to put our horses in the right races that we have a chance to win," he said.
Joseph and his owners made a similar Dirt Mile decision last year with White Abarrio, who won the Breeders' Cup Classic two years earlier at Santa Anita when Rick Dutrow Jr. trained him. But his Dirt Mile start did not materialize last year when the stewards scratched White Abarrio on the advice of the regulatory track veterinarian.
That triggered a lawsuit against Breeders' Cup, the California Horse Racing Board, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and other defendants. The plaintiffs allege that White Abarrio was scratched because of his gait despite undergoing prerace examinations and diagnostic testing, including positron emission tomography and Sleip gait evaluations, and having a history of moving similarly.
The dispute highlights the difficult judgments regulatory veterinarians face and the financial consequences of scratches in high-value races.
Dr. Brent Cassady, the Del Mar track veterinarian who, per the lawsuit, recommended scratching White Abarrio, said in an earlier 2024 interview with Del Mar publicity that he serves as "the unequivocal advocate for the horse."
The case has seen limited movement in recent months. Motions to dismiss the plaintiffs' complaint are scheduled for hearings Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, with a case management conference set for Dec. 15. The defendants are seeking dismissal under California's anti-SLAPP statute, with SLAPP standing for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.
BloodHorse analysis of racing records shows that horses scratched by regulatory veterinarians generally take longer to return to breezes and competition than horses scratched for other reasons, if they return to racing at all. This would suggest many veterinary scratches are justified.
Beyond recovery from physical setbacks, completing requirements to be removed from a veterinarian's list of horses ineligible to compete can also delay returns to racing action.
Joseph said he disagreed with how White Abarrio's scratch was handled, waiting until the horse was on the track shortly before the race, after the horse had been evaluated repeatedly in the days leading up to the race.
In the aftermath of the scratch, "You're almost in a no-win situation with a horse like that," Joseph said. "The easiest thing to actually do is to retire him. That's the easiest thing to do, and we knew it wasn't the right thing to do because we felt the horse was good."
The connections elected to continue racing White Abarrio, who finished second to Joseph-trained stablemate Skippylongstocking in the Jan. 24 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park. He then defeated reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty and 2025 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Journalism in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) in April.
White Abarrio subsequently finished fourth in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) June 27 and seventh in the Whitney Stakes (G1) Aug. 8. He was retired shortly after the Whitney and will enter stud next year at Gainesway in Kentucky, where the son of Race Day will stand for $17,500.
Mark Cornett—who races as C2 Racing Stable with his brother, Clint—said the Oaklawn victory was key.
"Us winning the Oaklawn Handicap with White Abarrio really cemented his legacy and (helped overcome) the bad taste we had in our mouths with the Breeders' Cup and everybody else," Cornett said. "Being able to come back to that spot at Oaklawn and beat Sovereignty and Journalism and prove to the world that this is a real horse—has been a real horse. That was a big moment for us."
A career year for Joseph
Joseph has enjoyed other highlight moments in 2026. Forged Steel's Goodwood victory was one of seven grade 1s he has won this year, placing him second in North America behind five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, who has nine. Joseph's 28 graded stakes wins rank second to Brad Cox's 31.
Joseph's stable ranks fifth in North America in earnings, with $19.7 million amassed through 172 wins from 749 starts, though Oct. 22. His 54 stakes victories lead all trainers, making 2026 his most successful season in terms of prestigious stakes achievements and annual earnings.
Those accomplishments might have seemed unimaginable 15 years ago, when Joseph began training a modest stable in the United States after beginning his career in his native Barbados.
"It's been fantastic, and it's beyond me. It's the whole team," the 39-year-old trainer said. "Obviously, the horses are the first priority, then the owners, and then the whole staff that make it all possible. So grateful to be in the position. Grateful to have the horses, and all glory to God."
Among the owners who have contributed to Joseph's rise, Cornett has played a prominent role by identifying prospects for acquisition and helping assemble ownership groups. In addition to racing with his brother in C2 Racing Stable, he races independently through Turf Express Racing.
While Forged Steel, a son of Vekoma with a 6-3-3 record from 21 starts and $616,630 in earnings, was purchased as an unraced juvenile from the De Meric Sales consignment at the 2024 Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, many of Cornett's other acquisitions have come through private purchases of established racehorses.
Eunomia, who won the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) at Del Mar this summer and is pointed to the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), is one example. Mark Cornett became interested in the Tiz the Law filly after she won a first-level dirt allowance at Keeneland last fall for Jewel Box Racing and trainer Vicki Oliver, having previously raced on turf.
Cornett said he paid more than he initially thought the filly was worth based on her race record at the time, but he believed her potential justified the investment. He partnered with St. Elias Stables, WSS Racing, and Miller Racing while retaining an interest through Turf Express Racing.
"We all pulled the trigger," he said.
"It was an overpay at the time. Obviously, now it's not an overpay," he added.
Eunomia's return to Keeneland, where she has been effective on dirt, has Cornett optimistic about her chances in the Distaff. She hasn't raced since the Aug. 1 Hirsch and missed an intended start in the Oct. 3 Delaware Handicap (G3) because of muddy track conditions. Her connections didn't want to risk running her over the wet going.
Joseph's Breeders' Cup Squad
Joseph's other planned Breeders' Cup starters are Resolute Racing and Miller Racing's In Our Time in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), along with R Disaster, owned by Averill Racing, ATM Racing, and Madaket Stables, and Kerry's Kiss, owned by BAG Racing Stables, Epic Horses, and The White House Stables, in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1).
Cornett is the latter group's racing manager after helping arrange the partnership that bought Kerry's Kiss following an allowance optional claiming victory in April at Oaklawn Park. The Vino Rosso filly is 3-for-3 for Joseph and her new owners, all in stakes, since they acquired her. Cornett said she is not 100% certain she will run in the Breeders' Cup, calling the front-running filly "80/20" pending a review of past performances, anticipated race flow, and other considerations.
She earned a paid, automatic berth in the Filly and Mare Sprint with her last-out victory in the Princess Rooney Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park—a sprint Joseph has won every year since 2023.
Two years ago, C2 Racing Stable, Agave Racing Stable, and Ken Reimer's Soul of an Angel parlayed a Princess Rooney win into a follow-up score in the Filly and Mare Sprint, wins that earned her the Eclipse Award as champion female sprinter.
Soul of an Angel gave Joseph his first Breeders' Cup win. He enters this year with a 1-0-2 record from eight Breeders' Cup starters.
Speaking of his 2026 lineup, Joseph said, "We got some chances. Now we have to go win them. That's the harder part."
