Lloyd Arnold, 82, a longtime standardbred owner and former racetrack operator, passed away on Sunday, January 8, 2012
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Originally the owner of Arnold Cattle Co. in Iowa, Arnold raced hundreds of horses in Illinois and across the Midwest throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.
During that era, Arnold raced horses like Warm Breeze, who earned more than $250,000 in two seasons of racing in the mid-1970s, and Dancing David, who earned more than $200,000 in the 1960s. Warm Breeze took Arnold to racing’s pinnacle for the first time when he set the all-age World Record at Golden Bear Raceway, a track Arnold operated in Sacramento, California. Arnold, who also owned the great mare Tender Loving Care, bought and resurrected Los Alamitos in the late 1980s. He eventually sold the track to partner Edward Allred.
In 1983, Arnold was the successful bidder on the most expensive standardbred yearling ever sold up to that time, the $625,000 pacing filly Laugh A Day.
His top horses in recent years included the pacing mare Sanabelle Island, who earned $1.6 million lifetime and won 57 of 110 starts. Also of note was Bagel Beach Boy, who won the 2001 Messenger and Matron Stakes. In August 2003, Arnold bought Chevie Duramax, who then went on to set world records for two-year-old pacing geldings on both mile and half-mile tracks. The fastest three-year-old pacer in North America in 2004 belonged to Arnold, as Quik Pulse Mindale won in 1:48 at Balmoral Park. Quik Pulse Mindale was victorious in 12 of 19 starts, including the Provincial Cup, American-National and Motor City Pace, while earning $702,225.
Arnold enjoyed personal honours in 2001 when he was feted by the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters at their annual awards dinner and also received the Owner of the Year Award from the U.S. Harness Writers’ Association.
Arrangements and additional information will be posted when they become available.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Lloyd Arnold.
(USTA)
Lloyd was a friend and a
Lloyd was a friend and a great contributor to the Harness Racing industry. My condolences go out to his family.