by Marv Bachrad

Lloyd Arnold is back in racing and has come up with another standout.

Two years ago, Lloyd Arnold decided to cut back on his racing operation and sent his large stable of pacers and trotters to the Harrisburg sale. The longtime horseman, who now resides in Hartly, Del. only kept a couple of broodmares including the outstanding campaigner Sanabelle Island and Bagel Beach Boy, who was not racing at the time.

But it did not take long for Arnold to get back into racing. Last Summer, his longtime friend Tony Morgan spoke with Arnold and said there was a top young pacer for sale. Arnold bought the exceptionally fast freshman gelding Chevy Duramax who set a world record for his age, gender and gait of 1:50.3 at Springfield almost a year ago to the day.

Early in 2004, Morgan again spotted another emerging colt, Quik Pulse Mindale, and Arnold again purchased the three-year-old. Quik Pulse Mindale currently stands at the top of the sophomore division with a perfect nine-for-nine racing, earning $371,165 already this year.

Now the big Arnold year has gotten even bigger. Mako Sica, a homebred from the first U.S. crop of Badlands Hanover, from Arnold’s own Abercrombie mare, Armbro O’Casey, won a division of the Review Stakes at Springfield, Ill. on Monday, Aug. 16 in 1:51 becoming the fastest two-year-old of the season.

In the Spanish language, Mako Sica means badlands, and the colt shows much of the two-year-old speed of his sire, Badlands Hanover, who set a world record for a freshman winning the Breeders Crown in 1998.