Barn Tour: After a career year, Rusty Arnold isn't slowing down

The last time trainer Rusty Arnold was featured in a Barn Tour was in August, and he was having what he called an OK year, with two graded-stakes wins and earnings of $1.7 million.

Things picked up considerably for the Lexington, Ky.-based trainer as he finished the year with a career-high $4.4 million in earnings and three graded-stakes wins.

“We had a very good year last year,” Arnold told Horse Racing Nation this week. “It's pretty easy. You've got to get your hands on some nice horses. Makes us all look better.”

And he hasn’t slowed down this year, with $2.3 million in earnings so far and four graded-stakes wins, the most he’s had in a single year since 2019.

“We've had a nice little run, and hopefully it'll continue,” he said.

Arnold, who has about 50 horses in training, provided updates on his stakes winners and other top horses in his stable for an updated Barn Tour.

Echo Sound. The 3-year-old filly by Echo Town is 5-for-6 overall, winning the Grade 3 Miss Preakness and Victory Ride (G3) in her only two starts this year. She’ll try Grade 1 company Saturday in the Test at Saratoga. “She’s been great. Her year's been good. She's 2-for-2 and now water gets a little deeper and she's stepping into the Test, which is a great race. It's always been a race that I thought takes a good horse to win. We've got sprinters stretching out, she's got route horses backing up and we're hoping for the best.”

Kilwin. This 3-year-old filly by Twirling Candy also is entered in the Test. She’s 1-for-3 this year, winning a black-type stakes at Churchill last out in her first start on dirt. “She’s been very good on the turf. We decided to try the dirt with her once. It went well. She won the Leslie's Lady and Grade 1s are hard to find. And we've decided to give her a shot in the same race. I hate to run two in a small barn against each other, but we're going to give it a try.”

Daisy Flyer. The 3-year-old Mshawish filly, a Calumet homebred, won the Lake George (G3) last out in her second start of the year. “She just won her first graded stake, which was big for her because that'll probably get her invited to the Dueling Grounds Oaks (G3, at Kentucky Downs), which is a great race to run in. I don't think until she won Saturday, she would have got invited, but now she probably will, and that's where we'll take her. She likes the course. She won on it last year. That's always a good thing with horses. If they like that course, they always like it.”

Fixin to Bee. Another 3-year-old Calumet homebred by Mshawish, this filly is 1-for-5 this year, her only win coming in an allowance and all her other starts in stakes. She’s entered in the Pucker Up (G3) at Ellis Park on Sunday.

Foreseen. The 4-year-old Uncle Mo filly has a 5: 1-1-1 record this year, with an allowance win at Churchill Downs and a third-place effort last out in an optional claimer at the Louisville track. “She won at Churchill, then we finished the meet off. She ran a pretty good third, a good solid third. We decided to give her a little time off and make a fall campaign. She's still in the barn. She'll show up at the September meet at Churchill.”

Double Clutch. The 6-year-old gelding by Optimizer is winless in three tries this year and is entered in Sunday’s Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint Stakes at Ellis Park, an automatic qualifier for the Turf Sprint (G2) at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 30. “His last race wasn't quite as good as he usually runs. He's come back and trained really well. Hopefully we can get him back to where he was last year. He hasn't quite gained that form back, but we think he possibly will.”

Poolside with Slim. The 4-year-old Churchill filly, winner of the Valley View (G2) last year, had two starts in the spring, finishing third in the Honey Fox (G3) and fifth in the Jenny Wiley (G1). “She went to the farm probably in May and I think she's supposed to get three months off so she's probably very close to nearing return to the barn. I haven't talked to the farm where she's at yet but I'd say in early August we’ll be seeing her.”

Tennessee Lamb. The 4-year-old Tonalist colt is 2-for-4 this year, winning the Ben Ali (G3) in April and finishing sixth last out in the Blame (G3) on May 31. “He sustained a small injury when he won at Keeneland, and he'll have some time off. He'll probably be coming back to me pretty soon.”

2-year-olds

Arnold has two juveniles who have raced and a third in the entries for Wednesday.

Sapphire Beach. The Ireland-bred No Nay Never filly, bought as a yearling for $57,000 by Three Diamonds Farm, won her May 30 debut at Churchill then was fifth last out in a listed stakes at Woodbine. Arnold said she’ll probably run next in the Bolton Landing at Saratoga on Aug. 17.

To a Flame. The Justify filly, bought for $375,000 as a yearling by Bregman Family Racing, is 1-for-1 after rallying to win her debut at Ellis Park on July 20. Her next start is undecided, although the P.G. Johnson at Saratoga on Aug. 27 is a possibility.

Mackinac. Purchased as a yearling by BBN Nation for $240,000, the Twirling Candy filly will debut Wednesday at Saratoga, where she’s at 5-1 in a maiden special weight. “We entered her at Ellis and she didn't get in. She was on the also-eligible list. So we put her back in Saratoga and sent her up there, and we’ll see what we have on Wednesday.”