After participating in Thoroughbred racing as an owner/breeder for the past 35 years, Joe Benight never takes anything for granted. He knows that the business takes as much as it gives. With that in mind, Benight didn't dither when presented with a solid price during the spring of 2024 to sell Haulin Ice, a homebred raced by he and his wife, Jeannie. He accepted the offer.
Since then, Arkansas-bred Haulin Ice, a daughter of Coal Front, has won five stakes for her new connections, including the May 4 Vagrancy Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack. The 4-year-old, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., is entered in the Sept. 20 Princess Rooney Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park for owners C2 Racing Stable, Paul Braverman, Miller Racing, and Timothy Pinch.
A victory in the $200,000 Princess Rooney, a designated Breeders' Cup Challenge Series event, would earn Haulin Ice a fees-paid berth into the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.
Some people might be kicking themselves for selling, but Benight still remembers an unfortunate turn of events in 2011, when he left a tempting offer on the table for his wife's undefeated 2-year-old, Arkansas-bred Tricky Suspect. Two weeks after making the decision not to sell, the precocious stakes winner contracted colitis and died.
"It's always hard (deciding whether to sell or not)," Joe Benight said, "but it helped my decision to sell Haulin Ice because I turned down a lot of money before with Tricky Suspect. Things like that happen, and you remember them.
"I also knew that Saffie would be training Haulin Ice, and knew she would get a lot more opportunities to run than I would have given her, because I would have probably turned her out after last year's Oaklawn meet ended. I also still have the mare."
Haulin Ice is the perfect poster horse for Arkansas' breeding program, and is on the cusp of dethroning Nodouble—who last raced in 1970—as the highest-earning Thoroughbred bred in the state. Haulin Ice was recognized as the 2024 Arkansas Horse of the Year and her dam, She's Smoke, received the nod as the state's Broodmare of the Year.
Benight and his wife own a 40-acre farm near Sheridan, Ark., where they keep their five broodmares including She's Smoke. The Louisiana-bred was purchased by the Benights for a mere $9,000 at the 2015 Breeders' Sales of Louisiana September Yearling Sale. A tendon issue prevented the daughter of Half Ours, a four-time leading sire in Louisiana before his death in 2021, from making it to the races, which was hugely disappointing to Joe Benight who said the filly showed blazing speed in the morning. "She was probably the fastest horse I've ever had."
Haulin Ice, She's Smoke's first foal and only starter to date, got her dam's broodmare career off to a sizzling start. She's Smoke also has produced a full sister to Haulin Ice, She's So Coal, an unraced 2-year-old who Joe Benight said is being readied for a November debut, most likely at Churchill Downs.
To date, Haulin Ice has earnings of $843,450 with a record of 9-4-0 in 16 starts. While the filly no longer carries the racing colors of the Benights on the track, they are still reaping the benefits of breeding a registered Arkansas-bred, thanks to the incentive program tied to the Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders' & Horsemen's Association.
"With Arkansas breeder awards, you've got to root for them when you sell them," Joe Benight remarked. "You're still getting mailbox money. (The fund) pays out at the end of the year, usually about 10% to 15% of what a horse earns in (North American) races. Last year, we got about $40,000 in breeder awards. That's a good thing, especially since there is no money going out on our end after Haulin Ice was sold.
"It's a good program," he continued. "We don't race year-round (in Arkansas) so you breed horses for the Oaklawn meet, where the purses are great. It's a good deal. The (incentive program) is the best its ever been since I've been involved in racing."
Coal Front was standing at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington for $5,000 when Haulin Ice and She's So Coal were conceived. The son of Stay Thirsty moved to Louisiana this year, where he stood for a fee of $2,000 at Red River Farms.
"I saw Coal Front race at Oaklawn, where he won the (Razorback Handicap)," Benight recalled. "He's not a big strapping horse, but a nice-balanced horse and that's the way the mare is. I wanted a lot of Seattle Slew blood, and the price was right."
Before Haulin Ice's sale last year, she raced five times at Oaklawn Park under the Benight's stable name, JJ Thoroughbreds, while trained by Lindsay Schultz. The gray/roan filly won three of five starts and collected black type by finishing second in the Rainbow Miss Stakes.
Haulin Ice was foaled at McDowell Farm, owned by Bill and Mary McDowell, near Sparkman, Ark., but returned to the Benights' farm to be raised. The couple, who live on the farm, spent plenty of quality time with the filly. To this day, she holds a special place in their hearts.
Her current connections brought Haulin Ice back to Oaklawn Park on three occasions since the sale, and she won each of those starts, including two stakes. The Benights made the one-hour journey by car from their farm to Hot Springs, Ark., where Oaklawn Park is located, to cheer her on, and even got their photo taken in the winner's circle.
"Jeannie and I get so excited every time she runs, like we still own her," Benight said. "You know the good ones have a little air about them … you think you know they're good, but a lot of times horses will fool you. But we always thought Haulin Ice had the chance to be a good one and she is."
