Fresh out of the water, Ms Carroll County should go favored

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Ms Carroll County, who starts as the probable favorite in the featured eighth race Sunday at Oaklawn Park, is a regular Katie Ledecky.

Swimming is part of the mare’s training regimen when appropriate, and she’s practically developed into gold medal material at trainer Tim Dixon’s farm in Greenbrier, Ark.

“That Carroll County, she’s gotten so good at swimming that I would have to swim her longer because she got to where she could just float along and she wasn’t getting a whole lot out of it,” Dixon said. “She just wouldn’t have to paddle so much. I said, ‘Man, she got good.’ I would swim her for 11 minutes straight. She wasn’t getting tired anymore.”

Ms Carroll County is entered Sunday in an entry-level allowance for Arkansas-breds, which drew 11 fillies and mares. The race will be run over six furlongs and has a purse of $125,000. There is a $25,432 carryover in the pick six.

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Ms Carroll County is moving back into the overnight ranks after finishing third in the Downthedustyroad Stakes on Feb. 28. The winner of the race, Haulin Ice, became the first Arkansas-bred to reach $1 million in earnings after covering six furlongs in 1:08.75.

“Oh my goodness,” Dixon said of Haulin Ice. “All I did was chase her around there a little bit. Ain’t she something? Glad to get away from her.”

Ms Carroll County on Sunday will break from the rail under Kelsi Harr.

“My filly, she likes to get out there and get going,” Dixon said. “It really doesn’t matter where she’s at on the track. She’s going to break straight and go to the lead most of the time, as long as one of those other horses doesn’t break into us and push us down [into the rail area].

“It’s all going to come down to if we get a good break, and if everything goes our way Sunday. I think she’ll be right there.”

Dixon’s training center has a five-furlong track and a six-acre lake. It’s been an appealing facility for Ms Carroll County, who races for Ricky Smith.

“She loves being at home,” Dixon said. “We keep her in a huge stall I made just for her, just to try to keep her happy.”

During the summer, Ms Carroll County spends time at the lake.

“I’ve got a 125-foot dock and I can swim [horses] down the dock with a pole,” Dixon said. “I just go in on one side of the dock and go down and around the end of the dock. It’s 125 feet long and we go up the other side, and I spin them in the water with the pole and I can make as many horseshoes around that dock as I want to, until I get ready to come out, and I’ve got a catch pen they come out into.”

Dixon said swimming can take pressure off a horse’s joints, which can help lead to career longevity. It’s also useful for rehabbing horses and maintaining fitness.

“It’s helped us tremendously through the years,” said Dixon.

◗ Sunday’s third race is a conditioned allowance for Arkansas-breds at 1 1/16 miles. It’s drawn One Ten Stadium and Lochmoor, who are the last two winners of the $200,000 Arkansas Breeders’ Championship Stakes, which will be renewed May 2.

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