When White Abarrio is at his best, it can be argued there is not a better horse out there. He proved that two years ago when he closed the season with a flourish, sweeping the Whitney Stakes and the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic while trained by Richard Dutrow Jr.

Horses can fall off form, though. The 6-year-old son of Race Day will try to show he has regained his best stride when he competes in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Now trained by South Florida-based Saffie Joseph Jr., White Abarrio will break from post-position four in a field of 12 with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard. He is listed as the second choice in the morning line at 3-1 odds. Locked, who will be ridden by John Velazquez, is the 5-2 favorite despite an unfavorable post. He drew post 11 for the 1 1/8-mile contest and will very likely be under pressure to gain early position during the short run into the first turn.

White Abarrio is owned by C2 Racing Stable, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and Antonio Pagnano. C2, which draws its name from the management team of brothers Clint and Mark Cornett, wisely targeted him in a private purchase after he broke his maiden in September 2021. C2 further enhanced its reputation when its Soul of an Angel pulled an upset in the PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last November.

The Cornetts were born in Dallas. Mark Cornett, racing manager, provided insight into White Abarrio, his view of the Pegasus, and the brothers’ keys to success during a question-and-answer session conducted on behalf of America’s Best Racing.

PEDULLA: How is White Abarrio doing?

2023 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Eclipse Sportswire)

CORNETT: He had his final breeze last week [four furlongs, :48.34, Jan. 16]. Everything went perfect.

PEDULLA: What led to the formation of C2?

CORNETT: I had gotten out of the business and focused on something else for a couple of years. My brother called me and said, ‘Let’s do something special in this business. Let’s get rolling again.’ In 2021, we formed C2. White Abarrio was the second horse we bought.

PEDULLA: Is it challenging for the two of you to work together?

CORNETT: No, not at all. It works out really good. I handle the racing side, managing the horses, and that side of the business, and he handles basically everything else.

PEDULLA: What did you see in White Abarrio that led you to purchase him?

CORNETT: We were looking for a 3-year-old prospect to run in the Kentucky Derby. I saw him run in a maiden special weight out of the one hole at Gulfstream and he did some special things.

PEDULLA: Approximately how many horses do you have, either as sole owners or in partnership?

CORNETT: About 40.

PEDULLA: How do you typically acquire horses? Are they mostly private purchases?

CORNETT: Yeah, they are private purchases. My forte is seeing something on the racetrack, whether it’s mismanagement or they are missing something or I see a horse I like, we’ll try to buy it privately. Eighty percent of our horses are bought privately.

Soul of an Angel winning 2024 Filly and Mare Sprint (Eclipse Sportswire)

PEDULLA: How was Soul of an Angel acquired?

CORNETT: It was a private purchase. She ran against us at Gulfstream. I actually saw her in the paddock. She was a gorgeous filly, the best-looking filly in the race. I watched her run and she beat us. She actually ran a nice second. Tried to buy her after that race. Couldn’t get it done. They ran her back in about three weeks in the Azeri (March 9, 2024) at Oaklawn. We made another attempt and finally got the deal negotiated.

PEDULLA: What is the key to making successful private purchases?

CORNETT: We don’t buy anything without a specific plan in mind. I’m not looking for just a horse. I have a vision of what that horse can become. We try to develop a 3-to 5-race plan.

PEDULLA: How much of an asset is it to have Saffie Joseph Jr. as your primary trainer?

CORNETT: It’s huge. We’re very big on communication. I’m managing 30-40 horses and you’ve got to get accurate information from each trainer. If you don’t, you can’t manage the horse correctly.

PEDULLA: Were you shocked when Soul of an Angel won the Filly & Mare Sprint?

CORNETT: Absolutely not. That’s why she was in there. If you see one of our horses in a race, they’re live in the spot, period. We don’t run horses in races if we don’t think we’re live in there.

White Abarrio winning the 2023 Classic. (Eclipse Sportswire)

PEDULLA: What did it mean to you when White Abarrio won the Classic?

CORNETT: It was big. He had already won the Florida Derby, a very prestigious race. He had won the Whitney, another prestigious race, and then he won the Classic. It was a major accomplishment for my brother and I. It’s really nice when you have a vision for a horse, you identified something in a horse and you map it out, plan it out, overcome a lot of obstacles to get to that race. We’re very proud of him.

PEDULLA: He returned from a layoff to dominate an allowance-optional claiming race at Gulfstream and finished a fast-closing second in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes Dec. 28 there. How do you evaluate those starts?

CORNETT: The allowance race was exactly what we wanted to see. Then we came back in the Mr. Prospector. We were unfortunate at the break. He got shuffled back. He was actually dead last, which is totally against what he wants to do. He tried to run big down the lane but just couldn’t quite get there. Galloped out great, came out of the race great.

PEDULLA: What are your expectations for the Pegasus? How do you rate your chances?

CORNETT: I think we’ll be one of the top three choices. I think it will be Saudi Crown, Locked, and us. How the horse breaks is going to be big. It’s not the longest run into the first turn, so positioning is going to mean everything here.

PEDULLA: Since you are based at Gulfstream, what would it mean to win the Pegasus World Cup?

CORNETT: I don’t know of any horse that has won the Florida Derby, the Whitney, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and the Pegasus. It’s a very prestigious race. For the horse’s career, it would mean a lot.