Joell Arnold, a long-time Pennsylvania Standardbred breeder, gets animated and excited when she talks about Turbot Acres, and she’s extremely proud and passionate about her mares. “We’re a small broodmare nursery in Milton, PA, so people can take advantage of the Pennsylvania Breeders Fund, a terrific breeding program.”
With a background in riding and showing quarter horses, Joell grew up around horses and knew this was her future. “My parents raised Palominos, and I grew up in Bloomsburg, next to the U.C. Steele Farm, and my mom foal-watched for him. So that’s how I was exposed to the Standardbreds. And my uncle Norman was the Race Secretary at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds, so when the fair came around, I would go sit in the paddock and watch the races.”
Joell breeds for several owners and groups, including Run The Table Stables; Scott Farber; Don and David Wiest; Ashley and Tim Tetrick; and South Merrick Stables, a group from North Jersey that own two broodmares, and they keep their babies and race them.
She describes herself as a ‘mare person’, and has always had a soft spot in her heart for them. She stresses how vital they are to the industry and bloodlines. “I think the mares are more important than the stallions, honestly,” she emphasized. “If it weren’t for the mares…You need that mare’s genetics in order to produce good racehorses.”
Mares have their own unique personality, and sometimes can be tough on the track, but once in foal, they can become a bit more gentle. “Different bloodlines produce different types of attitudes,” she explained. “Like the Father Patrick mares are tough, the fillies are tough. I do think that once they become moms, and they realize, (we are not going to hurt the foal), their attitudes do change.”
and Blackout Riley
One extraordinary mare that Joell is proud to have had as one of her broodmares is Sweet Future, dam of the great Sweet Lou. “She’s almost like a 100% producer. Everything she’s produced. And that’s being bred to different stallions across the board. It wasn’t the same stud every time. These are the mares that make this industry what it is.”
Ashley and Tim Tetrick’s mare, McSauna, is another mare Joell is thrilled to have as a broodmare. “She was bred to Bettor’s Delight the first year, and she had a filly, but after she weaned the baby, they put her back in training. But she didn’t want to race! So they brought her back and we bred her, and she’s been their best broodmare, production-wise. Her babies are solid.”
Foaling is an emotional rollercoaster, waiting and watching, and then when the foal is sold, it brings out a myriad of emotions. “I get attached,” she admitted. “Foaling is also very stressful, especially if you have a mare like Sweet Future. You get stressed, hopefully there’s no complications with foaling and everything is okay. I’ll FaceTime my owners if they want to see it, especially if they’re true horsemen, like the Tetricks.”
Joell has been undergoing extensive chemotherapy for breast cancer, and despite her fatigue and other side effects as she battles cancer, she continues to oversee the foaling and the operations with as much passion and hard work that she had on the first day she started, 23 years ago.
Along with her daughter Olivia, with assistance from her husband Randy, and soon, her 18-year-old son, Delvin (named for the famous Delvin Miller), the family is getting ready for another busy foaling season. “This year, we’re going to foal ten,” she said. “We have cameras in all our stalls, and Olivia and I take turns staying awake, checking the cameras when they are close to foaling, every two hours.”
“Right now, I have room and I can take a couple more mares, but I’m getting old,” she sighed. “I’m looking forward to foaling this year, because last year, because of my cancer coming back, I wasn’t able to do as much. I could only watch on the cameras. But now that I had my back surgery, and all that stuff was done with my tumor, I can actually go out and do foaling this year, so I’m really excited about this year!”
She can’t help gush about an upcoming ‘special delivery’! “I’m excited because we have a mare in foal to Confederate, and I’m very excited because it’s Sweet Lou’s son! It’s fun to have babies, because Sweet Lou was born here, and now his kids are having babies!”
