After Haskell, All Plans Are on Hold for White Abarrio

The plan going forward for White Abarrio  is that, right now, there is no plan.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is still digesting the disappointing performance by the son of Race Day  in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park July 23. White Abarrio finished seventh in the eight-horse Haskell and was beaten nearly 35 lengths by the winner, Cyberknife .

"You never expect to run a horse like that and get that far," Joseph said at his barn on the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course.

Joseph had thoughts of running White Abarrio, owned by C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable, in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) at the Spa on Travers Day, Aug. 27. Another possible landing spot for White Abarrio would be the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) Sept. 24 at Parx Racing. 

For now, the Joseph camp will just wait.

"In the next week, we will come up with a plan," Joseph said. "After a run like that (Haskell), you can't come up with a firm plan. That was abysmal. We really don't have the answers yet."

Joseph also said that Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking , who was third in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) June 11 and fifth in the Preakness Stakes (G1) May 21, will run next in the $500,000 West Virginia Derby (G3) at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort Aug. 6.

Joseph had been thinking about running Skippylongstocking, a son of Exaggerator  , in the $135,000 restricted Curlin Stakes at Saratoga July 29.

"We feel like we have campaigned him over his head," Joseph said. "Why not give him a chance to win a big pot? If he runs well in West Virginia, then come back and run him in the (Runhappy) Travers (G1, Aug. 27)."

Joseph is running Anthony P. Gentry's A. P.'s Secret , a son of Cupid  , in the Curlin.