Ken Weingartner

Hightstown, NJ — Patience is a virtue in the breeding business, which Richard Arnold fully appreciates. Arnold spent more than a decade building a successful cattle farm in Tennessee, and decades later, added a Standardbred breeding operation at his Willow Oak Ranch.

He purchased his first yearling, a trotting filly named Mississippi Beauty, in 2010. When her racing career was cut short by injury, she became an early member of the Willow Oak Ranch broodmare band. Her first foal was Mississippi Storm, a Grand Circuit-winner of nearly $900,000. Her next was the filly Cardinale, who after her career on the track ended, remained with Arnold and was bred to Muscle Hill.

The resulting colt, Mars Hill, competes Friday for Willow Oak Ranch in the $420,000 Peter Haughton Memorial for 2-year-old male trotters at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Mars Hill, who will have Todd McCarthy in the sulky for trainer Tony Alagna, has won three of five races and earned $144,330. He heads to the Haughton off a second-place finish behind T C I in the William Wellwood Memorial.

T C I, from the stable of trainer Ron Burke, is the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the Haughton. Mars Hill is the 9-2 third choice behind Marcus Melander-trained Security Protected at 3-1.

Mars Hill’s victories include two preliminary rounds of the New Jersey Sire Stakes and his Wellwood elimination (above). New Image Media photo.

Mars Hill’s victories include two preliminary rounds of the New Jersey Sire Stakes and his Wellwood elimination.

“He’s a nice, honest horse,” Arnold said. “He’s a bigger version of Mississippi Storm. When he races, he looks like him. When you ask him, he lowers his head and digs in. That’s kind of the personality the second dam had, and most of her colts have been that way. So, we knew he would have some determination, and he’s got some talent and he’s got a good gait. Hopefully, he will just keep getting better.

“Tony has liked him from the beginning. There’s a lot of really good 2-year-old trotting colts out there, and fortunately, he’s one of them. We’re just happy to watch him race.”

Mars Hill is named after a small town in western North Carolina.

“Our daughter lives near there and it’s close to a place that we like to go to for lunch with her,” Arnold said. “I just thought it would be a really cool name for a Muscle Hill son.”

Arnold took his time getting involved in breeding racehorses, much as he did when he started his cattle farm in the early 1980s. He tries to keep his broodmare group to around 20 horses, predominately homebred.

Willow Oak Ranch also bred 3-year-old trotter Osceola, a starter in this year’s Hambletonian and standout on the Ontario circuit for trainer Gregg McNair.

“If you have any kind of plan, it takes 10 or more years to implement it because it takes a while to see what’s working and get the animals you want,” Arnold said. “It’s a fun business, but you have to be in it for the long haul. Whatever it takes, it takes, and you have to be willing to wait on them. Nature refuses to hurry up.

“That’s really the hardest part of this business because all of us want to see results as soon as we can. That’s natural, that’s human nature. That’s where being in the cattle business helped me because it took us about 12 years to get the kind of bulls we needed. You can’t get in too much of a hurry because the horses don’t care.”

Arnold is enjoying the experience with Mars Hill, whose stakes schedule the remainder of the season could include the Madison County, Bluegrass and International Stallion stakes, Breeders Crown, and Valley Victory.

“I’ve had very few horses at this level, but when you get to this level, there’s a lot of variables because they’re all good,” Arnold said. “They’ve all got speed, they’ve all got talent, so you need a little luck and your drivers and trainers getting them in the right place.

“We’re just happy he can compete in some of these better races. I like being involved with competitive animals, and he’s a competitive horse, so it’s a lot of fun.”

The Haughton is part of a 14-race card at Hoosier Park that also includes the $400,000 Jim Doherty Memorial for 2-year-old female trotters. The Haughton and Doherty were held previously at The Meadowlands.

As was the case last year, the Haughton and Doherty will offer “Win and You’re In” status for the 2023 Breeders Crown. The official winner of each race, if Breeders Crown eligible as of June 1, will advance directly to their respective final, with no starting fee, and the opportunity to draw for post one through five.

This year’s Breeders Crown will be hosted by Hoosier Park in late October.

Racing begins at 6:15 p.m. (EDT) at Hoosier Park. The Doherty is race 10 and the Haughton is race 12. For free daily programs, visit the track’s website here.