$3 MILLION PEGASUS WORLD CUP INVITATIONAL (G1) POST RACE QUOTES

Winning Time: 1:48.05
Winning Margins: 6 1/4, NK, 1 3/4
Winning Payoff: $7.60
Fractions: :23.43, :46.68, 1:10.79, 1:35.44
Order of finish: 4-11-10-1-2-7-5-12-9-6-3

TRAINER QUOTES

Saffie Joseph Jr. (White Abarrio, 1st): “This allows you to heal because of what we went through and then we had to give up the horse at that time. And that was the correct thing. I thought what healed me a lot was when I got the horse back. That the owners would give me the horse back after he won the Breeders’ Cup Classic for a different trainer, that meant a lot to me.”

“We kind of came up with a plan, an allowance at seven furlongs and then back in the Mr. Prospector at seven furlongs. We followed the same plan that worked before we had to give him up. It’s God’s writing. That's all I can tell you. It's beyond my thinking. It's beyond my capability. All credit to the horse. Today in the paddock, he just showed everything like he wanted to do it for us. I’m grateful to White Abarrio.”

“He was showing great signs on the Ragozin sheet numbers, the same kind of progression that he was supposed to show to break through. But all of that doesn't mean anything. That's what happened. It's not what's going to happen.”

“He needed to break. He didn't break the last couple times, and the break was going to be important. And he was able to get his dream trip. Once he gets into the clear that's when he really runs normally his best race. Everything aligned today, and all glory to God. I'm just thankful to experience this.”

Todd Pletcher (Locked, 2nd, Crupi, 7th): “I thought he ran probably the best race of his life. He had his head turned at the start and got away last and it’s lot to overcome from the 10 post to begin with. He gave up a lot of position early [but] I thought he closed really well. Credit to White Abarrio, he ran a great race. He shot well clear at the top of the stretch. [Jockey] Johnny [Velazquez] said he thought he would have won if he broke with the field, but he didn’t. He’s still a very lightly raced horse. He is what we thought, that the further he goes the better he’ll get. Unfortunately, from that post you can’t make any mistakes, and missing the break was really the one mistake you didn’t want to make.”

“I thought Crupi ran hard. He kept trying. He was trying to get a little bigger piece of it. He was determined to the wire, he just couldn’t get up for a placing.”

JOCKEY QUOTES

Irad Ortiz Jr. (White Abarrio, 1st): “This horse wants to win so bad. I knew we wanted to be close, but definitely the horse helps when he breaks like that, he makes everything easier. Saffie told me after the last race, the horse did something he never did before, he came from off the pace [after a slow start], he had traffic. We had a lot of faith in him if he broke with the field today. I was very focused on my horse at the break. Then I was watching Saudi Crown, I didn’t want to be too far from him. But I never had to ask him, he was doing it by himself, he was improving his position without me asking. By the time I asked him, he really took off. He was home; I looked at the TV and I could see, he was home.”

Jockey John Velazquez (Locked, 2nd): “If you don’t break on this track, you have no chance.”

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione (Skippylongstocking, 3rd): “When Locked came up outside of me my horse kind of switched leads and shied away from him. It might have cost us a little but nonetheless I’m very proud of him. He’s definitely showing that he can change tactics. Today we were able to save ground, he went inside of horses and took some dirt no problem. If he can continue to improve like that he’s definitely got one of these with his name on it.”

Jockey Florent Geroux (Saudi Crown, 5th): “We went straight to the lead. I was nice and comfortable, setting decent fractions, and just got overtaken by the winner before the quarter pole. From there he struggled the last eighth of a mile.”

Jockey Dylan Davis (Steal Sunshine, 6th): “He ran a great race. That’s what we expected, was to come from out of it and hopefully through a hot pace. He came with a great run. I saved all the ground on both turns and gave him every opportunity and clear daylight down the stretch and he came with a big run. I was very happy with him.”