Haulin Ice Named 2025 Arkansas-Bred Horse of the Year, Surpasses $1 Million

The number that circulated through the Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders' and Horsemen's Association banquet on April 3 was $1,081,500. That is what Haulin Ice has earned in 20 career starts, making the 5-year-old Coal Front mare not just the 2025 Arkansas-bred Horse of the Year but the most valuable proof of concept the state's breeding program has ever produced.

The ATBHA honored Haulin Ice for a 2025 campaign that read like a masterclass in dual-track placement. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. sent the mare to Aqueduct for the Vagrancy (G3) in May, her first career graded victory, then targeted the Princess Rooney (G3) at Gulfstream Park, where her win pushed career earnings to $958,650 and erased the long-standing record of $846,749 held by Nodouble. Back at Oaklawn this February, she settled the question of seven figures permanently: an 11 3/4-length demolition of the $150,000 Downthedustyroad Breeders' Stakes in a track-record 1:08.75 for six furlongs by a female at Oaklawn. She finished 2025 with a 5-2-0 line from nine starts and $550,900 in seasonal earnings, capping the year with a sixth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.

What one flagship runner generates ripples well beyond the winner's circle. At the same banquet, She's Smoke, Haulin Ice's dam, was named Broodmare of the Year for the second consecutive time, and Street Strategy repeated as Stallion of the Year. Bill McDowell of McDowell Farm took Breeder of the Year honors again, a sweep that illustrates how a single elite performer can concentrate recognition across an entire breeding operation and keep connections invested in the state program year after year.

The ATBHA structure amplifies that dynamic directly: the association pays owner awards, breeder awards, and stallion awards annually based on earnings at Oaklawn, meaning Haulin Ice's seven wins in nine Oaklawn starts translated into recurring financial returns for every stakeholder in her pedigree chain, from Eugenia Thompson-Benight of Sheridan, who bred her, to co-owners C2 Racing Stable, WSS Racing's William Simon, and Agave Racing Stable's Mark Martinez. Owner Cornett, a Florida resident, made clear where his loyalties lie when Haulin Ice crossed the million-dollar mark in February: "I wanted to be here when she broke it. I love this place. I love Arkansas. I've got deep roots here in racing."

Joseph offered a simpler summation of why the Hot Springs oval keeps pulling the mare back: "She loves coming home."

That attachment has a pipeline dimension. Haulin Ice's 3-year-old full sister, She's So Coal, broke her maiden by 12 lengths at Oaklawn in December, ridden by Francisco Arrieta, the same jockey who piloted the record-setter. Coal Front, himself a millionaire Oaklawn stakes winner, now has daughters in back-to-back generations producing at the highest level for Arkansas breeders.

Cornett has indicated Haulin Ice will likely run at Fasig-Tipton's November stars sale after her final campaign, which means her broodmare valuation, already transformed by the million-dollar earnings milestone and two consecutive Horse of the Year titles, will be set under a national spotlight. For breeders and owners weighing whether to keep horses registered with the state program, that sale price will serve as the clearest argument yet that the Arkansas-bred incentive structure delivers tangible, quantifiable returns.