Rick Dutrow Jr.

Trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. had the spot picked out immediately following Igniter (Volatile)'s impressive maiden win going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Sept. 27. "Right away I said, 'Man, we got to sit on him and run him in the Remsen,'" Dutrow said. "'If he's looking for two turns, he's gonna be one of the ones.'" Igniter is one of 12 set for a fantastic renewal of the GII Remsen Stakes going 1 1/8 miles at the Big A Saturday. Drawn in post seven with Manny Franco in the irons,...

Closing relentlessly after a slow start, Hill Road (Quality Road) ran down the Rick Dutrow Jr. pair on the lead to win the GIII Peter Pan Stakes and stamp his ticket for a date with the final jewel of the Triple Crown in June. First profiled by our colleagues in TDN Europe after a sparkling debut in Ireland for trainer Adrian Murray last year, which snagged him 'TDN Rising Star' honors, the connections stepped him up into elite company in mid-September when his next start came in the G1 Vincent...

A competitive group of 3-year-olds have signed on for Saturday's GIII Peter Pan Stakes, headlining a quartet of graded stakes at the Big A Saturday. Attempting to rebound off a last-out fourth as the favorite in the GII Wood Memorial Stakes in April, St Elias Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Captain Cook (Practical Joke) will try to revert to the form that saw him win a pair of tests at the New York oval. Sixth going six panels at Churchill in his career debut for Norm Casse last October, the bay...

Linda Rice led all trainers and owners at the Aqueduct winter meet, which began Jan. 1, and Manny Franco topped the leading riders list as the circuit swaps over to the spring meeting starting Thursday, NYRA announced Sunday afternoon. Rice claimed 51 wins as a trainer to capture the title for the third consecutive year since the 2023 meet, and secured her fifth winter title overall. Her record of 217-51-38-29 was good for a win rate of 23.5% and an in-the-money strike rate of 54.38%. Meet highlights included Sand Devil...

St. Elias Stable's Captain Cook (Practical Joke), winner of Saturday's Withers Stakes at the Big A, is expected to make his next start in the GII Wood Memorial Apr. 5, according to trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. Sunday. The Wood awards the top-five finishers 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby points, respectively. "He's got a big step forward next time when we run him back in the Wood, but he's got plenty of time and we love that--so does he," Dutrow, Jr. said. "He'll be running back over a track he's won two races...

Inherently, horse racing is an exercise in faith, like when a horse is foaled or has the health and good fortune to make its first career start. Or, if it is one of the very fortunate few to make it into the starting gate on the first Saturday in May. However, Mark and Clint Cornett experienced another leap of faith stemming from the decision to return White Abarrio (Race Day), winner of the GI Whitney and GI Breeders' Cup Classic while under the care of Rick Dutrow Jr., to his...

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...

White Abarrio (Race Day), winner of the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Classic, is scheduled to return to action next Friday at Gulfstream Park. The 5-year-old is entered in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance, in which he is scheduled to make his first start since returning to trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.'s stable. White Abarrio was 10th in the G1 Saudi Cup Feb. 24 and fifth in the GI Metropolitan Handicap June 8 at Saratoga. He had previously won the 2023 GI Whitney Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Classic after being transferred...

Big Brown (Boundary), impressive winner of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness Stakes, has arrived at Old Friends in Kentucky where he will live out his days. Bred in Kentucky by Monticule LLC, Big Brown was a $60,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling and was purchased by the late Paul Pompa, Jr. for $190,000 at the Keeneland April Sale in 2007. Winner of a two-turn turf maiden by better than 11 lengths for trainer Patrick Reynolds, Big Brown made his next start for Rick Dutrow, Jr. after IEAH Stable joined the...

Before anything else, first and foremost we need to acknowledge the unfathomable legacy of Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister) as second dam of both colts denied in an agonizing three-way finish to the GI Kentucky Derby. The odds of that coincidence, for all her elite blood and performance, are best be left to an actuary. In the meantime, however, we should salvage the contrasting narratives aptly condensed, in what remains the definitive test of the American Thoroughbred, by her two grandsons. For our collective obsession with first place is such...

Brothers Mark and Clint Cornett, who race under the name of C2 Racing Stable, have taken on HRH Prince Faisal Bin Khaled Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia as a partner in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day). The 5-year-old will make his next in the Feb. 24 running of the G1 Saudi Cup. Mark Cornett said that C2 remains the majority owner, but declined to say how big of a percentage was sold. The story was first reported by the Daily Racing Form's...

ARCADIA, CA - Babe! After spending 10 years in exile with a very well-documented suspension, trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. is officially all the way back. C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's White Abarrio (Race Day), a powerhouse last out winner of this summer's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga, ran to the money as the 5-2 favorite with a one-length victory for Dutrow in Saturday's $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. The 64-year-old's three prior wins at the Championships were headed by future Horse of the Year Saint...