White Abarrio upsets Sovereignty, Journalism in record Oaklawn Handicap win

White Abarrio blew up the script at Oaklawn Park, turning a billed Sovereignty-Journalism rematch into a statement win for the veteran and stopping the clock in 1:47.49, the fastest Oaklawn Handicap run since 1996. The 7-year-old gelding paid $9.20 to win and used a perfect ground-saving trip to beat two of the sport’s most recognizable older-horse names by two lengths.

Sovereignty, the 2025 Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Colt, broke sharply and took the field along through an opening quarter in :23.13 and a half in :47.03. Journalism stayed in range, but White Abarrio sat third on the rail, relaxed through six furlongs in 1:11.27, then unleashed his move on the far turn. Irad Ortiz Jr. angled him out from the grandstand side and the Gray Rocket finished with authority, pulling away while the rest of the six-horse field trailed by nearly eight lengths.

The result came in the 84th running of the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap before an estimated crowd of 35,000 on a cloudy, cool afternoon in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Oaklawn called it a “Race for the Ages” that turned into a “Race for the Aged,” and the phrase fit. White Abarrio carried 121 pounds, two fewer than Sovereignty’s 123, while Journalism carried 119 in a race that had been framed all week as a showdown between the two 2025 stars.

Instead, the older horse took over the conversation. White Abarrio, who entered with $7,713,920 in career earnings and a record of 25 starts, 10 wins, 3 seconds and 3 thirds, already owned major-race credentials from the 2022 Florida Derby, 2023 Whitney, 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic and 2025 Pegasus World Cup. Now he added another emphatic graded-stakes win and reinforced his place near the top of the older-horse division as spring turns toward summer.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. got another Oaklawn breakthrough after winning the 2024 edition with Skippylongstocking, and owner Mark Cornett’s pre-race confidence aged well. “We’re not scared of competition,” Cornett said. White Abarrio backed that up by beating the last two major headliners in the race and posting a time that DRF and Horse Racing Nation noted was the swiftest Oaklawn Handicap since Geri ran 1:47.40 in 1996, with Cigar’s 1:47.22 in 1995 still the benchmark.

For Sovereignty and Journalism, the loss was not just a setback, it was a reminder that the hierarchy can shift quickly once the pace and trip belong to a proven older horse. For White Abarrio, it was proof that the division still runs through him when the setup is right.