The 61-year-old has been a longtime owner and breeder in Manitoba, getting the bug for the business from his father Frank who introduced Barry to the sport as a child.
Arnason has owned hundreds of runners, outright or in partnership, and has supported the Manitoba racing industry for several decades. It has only been in the last few season, however, that he has increased his horse numbers by including some well bred broodmares purchased at auction. Add to that his venture into a syndicate with Team Valor International, which took Arnason and his family to their first Breeders’ Cup with a runner in 2013, and Arnason is enjoying renewed excitement in the game he loves.
“We have done very well,” said Arnason. “I have a few more horses that I originally anticipated, all or part of seven mares and 20 in training.”
The star of the Arnason stable in 2013 was the unbeaten two year-old gelding Zdeno, a son of Milwaukee Brew, that won $89,838 including three stakes races. Owned in partnership with Cam Ziprick, Al Daley and Darrell Sundsbak, Zdeno was a $31,000 yearling purchase at the CTHS Manitoba yearling sale in 2012. “Zdeno is wintering in Phoenix. We are giving him three months off and then we will bring him back to Manitoba for next spring,” said Arnason. “If he does well, we may send him to Ontario, since he is Ontario sired.”
Arnason also has several other young runners, two-year-olds turning three, that he looks forward to racing in 2014. His homebred yearlings, that he owns with Ziprick, will be exciting prospects for the upcoming sales.
In the spring of 2012, Arnason stepped out and joined the popular Team Valor International syndicate, owned and operated by Barry Irwin, in the purchase of Brazilian-bred Brujo de Olleros. Arnason bought 10% of the now-five-year-old. A Group I winner in his home country, Brujo de Olleros was slow to come around but won the Carl Hanford Memorial Barry Arnason stakes in August, 2013 at Delaware Park before finishing a closing second in the Grade II Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park.
That outing earned the horse a start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita and despite a troubled trip and a speed biased track that worked against his stretch-running style, Brujo de Olleros finished third behind Goldencents, coincidentally, a son of a Manitobabred mare.
“It was such a speed favouring track that day,” said Arnason, who attended the Breeders’ Cup two-day championship series with his son Rhett. “It was nice to see how the Manitoba breeding is getting better with Goldencents winning, and we’re excited about this year with our horse.” Arnason also signed the sales tickets as agent on the top two prices at the 2013 Manitoba sale and will race those prospects with partners.
Arnason, who has served as a board member of the Manitoba Jockey Club, emphasizes that his main goal is to continue to be a major player in his home province. “I try to keep as many Manitoba-breds as I can. My father was a major player here and I want to stay involved.”
