Haulin Ice Wins Downthedustyroad at Oaklawn, First Arkansas-Bred Over $1 Million

Haulin Ice, a 5-year-old mare by Coal Front, turned Oaklawn Park into her personal payday on Feb. 20, 2026, winning the $150,000 Downthedustyroad Breeders’ Stakes by 11 3/4 lengths and pushing her career bankroll past $1 million, the first time an accredited Arkansas-bred has reached that milestone. The emphatic victory left Caliente Star second as Haulin Ice coasted clear in the six-furlong state-bred test.

The mare entered the weekend with $998,250 in career earnings and the Downthedustyroad return blew that past the $1,000,000 barrier. Oaklawn’s six-furlong event served as a straight-line boost in both purse and prestige; the win was recorded as an 11 3/4-length romp and immediately stamped her as the state’s richest accredited runner in history.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who took over the mare after a private purchase in spring 2024, has built Haulin Ice into a stakes machine, she has collected six stakes victories for Joseph. Joseph kept close to home with the mare: “She’s back at her favorite place – Oaklawn,” he said, adding that “she loves Oaklawn.” Haulin Ice began her career at Oaklawn for Lindsay Schultz, making her first five starts for Schultz before the ownership change sent her to Joseph’s barn.

Oaklawn has been fertile ground: Haulin Ice owns a 6-2-0 record in eight lifetime starts at the track and had bankrolled $612,050 there prior to Friday’s win. Joseph has used Oaklawn targets strategically; he said the Downthedustyroad would be a prep for the six-furlong Matron Stakes, a $250,000 race scheduled for March 27 at Oaklawn, a race Haulin Ice dominated in open company last year, rolling to a front-running five-length victory.

The mare’s run to a million capped a recent stretch that included a victory in the Princess Rooney Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park on Sept. 20, which already made Haulin Ice the leading accredited Arkansas-bred money winner before Friday’s surge. That pushed her past a long-standing benchmark: Nodouble previously held Arkansas-bred earnings distinction with $846,749 set in 1970.

Joseph’s Oaklawn plans go beyond Haulin Ice. He also has White Abarrio, a multiple Grade 1 winner, aimed at the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on April 18, keeping Joseph prominent in the meet’s big-money picture. For Haulin Ice the immediate trajectory is clear: the Downthedustyroad provided a dominating statement, the first seven-figure check for an accredited Arkansas-bred, and a runway into the Matron Stakes as she chases another stakes payday.