Barn Notes 4/4/25
Compiled by Robert Yates
Nodouble is the equine version of Joe DiMaggio.
DiMaggio still holds the record for the longest hitting streak in Major League Baseball history (56 games), which he set in 1941. Nodouble’s record has been around a long, long time, too.
Nicknamed the “Arkansas Traveler” because of his coast-to-coast racing schedule, Nodouble was a two-time champion and completed his racing career in 1970 with $846,749 in earnings, still an all-time record for an accredited Arkansas-bred horse.
Fifty-five years later, could it finally be a case of ladies first?
Haulin Ice is in serious chase mode after two eye-catching stakes victories in March at Oaklawn, the last in open company.
“She’s close enough, if she stays healthy, to become a millionaire,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Thursday afternoon. “So, that would be the goal, at least.”
Haulin Ice became the leading accredited Arkansas-bred female money winner in history last Saturday after a dominant performance in the $250,000 Matron Stakes for older fillies and mares at six furlongs.
Haulin Ice collected $149,250 for the victory, increasing her career total to $688,100. A speedy 4-year-old gray daughter of Coal Front, Haulin Ice eclipsed the now-retired Connie K, who earned $620,612 in a 28-race career from 2021-2024.
Haulin Ice ($8.80) won the Matron by five front-running lengths over previously unbeaten Almostgone Rocket, the 3-5 favorite. The final time of 1:09.31 over a muddy, sealed surface generated a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 101, a career high, for Haulin Ice, who was ridden by Francisco Arrieta.
“It was her best race, for sure, speed-figure-wise,” Joseph said. “She’s been in the slop and obviously likes it. We really didn’t know how she would handle it, but she definitely loves it.”
Haulin Ice, in her previous start, breezed to a front-running six-length victory against overmatched state-breds in the $150,000 Downthedustyroad Breeders’ Stakes March 1 at Oaklawn. Haulin Ice also beat open company in an Dec. 22 allowance sprint at Oaklawn.
Haulin Ice has a 6-2-0 record in eight lifetime starts at Oaklawn, with earnings of $612,050.
“She loves Oaklawn,” Joseph said. “We wish we had more races for her at Oaklawn.”
The Matron was the third career stakes victory and second in open company for Haulin Ice, who races for C2 Racing Stable (brothers Clint and Mark Cornett), Paul Braverman, Miller Racing (Myron Miller) and Timothy Pinch.
Haulin Ice made her first five career starts (all at the 2023-2024 Oaklawn meeting) for trainer Lindsay Schultz before being sold privately last spring and transferred to the Florida-based Joseph, who has a string this season in Hot Springs.
In addition to the Matron and Downthedustyroad, Haulin Ice won the seven-furlong $75,000 Azalea Stakes July 13 at Gulfstream Park, which marked her second start for Joseph.
Overall, Haulin Ice has a 7-3-0 record from 13 lifetime starts. Nodouble, the 1968 Arkansas Derby winner and the country’s champion older horse in 1969 and 1970, amassed $846,749 after winning 13 of 42 starts.
“If he did ($846,000) in 1970 – Wow!” Joseph said. “That’s amazing. That’s probably like $8 million now.”
Joseph said Haulin Ice shipped to Keeneland following her Matron victory and was to depart Friday for south Florida, where she has been based this year. Joseph said Haulin Ice will be considered for the $1 million Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) for older fillies and mares at seven furlongs May 3 at Churchill Downs.
“Just play it by ear,” Joseph said.
Haulin Ice, who originally raced her breeder, Arkansan Eugenia Thompson-Benight, was named the 2024 Arkansas-bred Horse of the Year by the Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ & Horsemen’s Association.
Haulin Ice collected a $3,000 bonus from the ATBHA for beating open company in the Matron.
Kentucky Oaks Bound
Lightly raced Simply Joking, runner-up in the $750,000 Fantasy Stakes (G2) last Saturday at Oaklawn, will make her next start in the Kentucky Oaks, trainer Whit Beckman said Friday morning.
The $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) at 1 1/8 miles is May 2 at Churchill Downs.
The Fantasy marked the first loss in three career starts for Simply Joking, who was unraced since a front-running 2 ½-length victory in the $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes at 1 mile and 70 yards Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds.
Simply Joking was beaten three-quarters of length by Quietside in the Fantasy. The 1 1/16-mile Fantasy was a two-horse race, with favored Quietside, on the outside, finally edging away from Simply Joking, a stubborn front-runner, in deep stretch.
“She didn’t catch the best trip from a trainer’s standpoint, from a jockey’s standpoint,” said Beckman, who didn’t want Quietside parked outside of Simply Joking. “But she really ran an incredibly legitimate race. She proved that she belongs in this spot. She proved she’s one of the best 3-year-old fillies. She missed a little time coming into it. We had some things going against us, but I couldn’t be more proud of the horse.”
Following the Silverbulletday, Simply Joking was entered in the $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds, but she was scratched from the 1 1/16-mile race because of a minor illness, Beckman said. Simply Joking collected 50 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points for her Fantasy finish and has 70 overall to rank fourth in the standings.
“Super happy,” Beckman said. “She looks great out of the race. On to the Oaks.”
The Kentucky Oaks, which is limited to 14 starters, is the country’s biggest race for 3-year-old fillies. Thorpedo Anna swept the Fantasy and Kentucky Oaks last year enroute to Horse of the Year honors.
Beckman said Simply Joking is now based at Churchill Downs.
