Willis Horton, a longtime breeder and owner who raced champions Will Take Charge and Take Charge Brandi, died Friday at a Fayetteville, Ark., hospital after a bout with pneumonia, according to his son, Kevin Horton. Willis Horton was 82. Lemons Forever, who won the Kentucky Oaks in 1996, was co-owned by Willis Horton. Will Take Charge was the champion 3-year-old male of 2013 and Take Charge Brandi was the champion 2-year-old filly of 2014. “He lived and breathed horse racing,” said Kevin Horton. “He had no hobbies. He didn’t hunt, fish. He raised cattle after he retired from homebuilding. His love has always been horse racing. His TV didn’t know any other channel than horse racing.” :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! Willis Horton was born in Zach, Ark., and made his home in nearby Marshall with his wife of 64 years, Glenda. The Hortons both grew up on farms and competed in rodeos, with Willis Horton a calf roper and Glenda a barrel racer. They had Quarter Horses, and made a natural move to racehorse owners, Willis Horton said in a 2014 interview with Daily Racing Form. Willis Horton’s family founded D.R. Horton Homes. He also had a sizable hands-on cattle operation at his farm in Marshall, Ark.   “He was running, at peak time, 300 to 400 momma cows,” said Kevin Horton.  Horton also was a regular at the races and the yearling sales. “His home track was Oaklawn,” Kevin Horton said. “He used to go to Oaklawn every day, not miss a day. It was a two and a half hour drive to Oaklawn for the races. It was his love.” Kevin Horton said his father had recently been hospitalized for about two weeks during a bout with pneumonia. “It started with COVID, and went into pneumonia,” he said. “We went to Kentucky to the horse sale, and when we came back from there, he and I both pretty much came down with COVID. He just couldn’t beat it.” Kevin Horton said his father has horses entered in Saturday and Sunday races at Keeneland. In addition to his racing operation, he has a band of six broodmares. “He had three horses in the Kentucky Derby in the last 10 years,” Kevin Horton said. Those runners included homebred Long Range Toddy, the winner of the Grade 2 Rebel in 2019 at Oaklawn who earned $1.1 million. Will Take Charge also ran in the Kentucky Derby, as did Combatant. In a 2014 interview, Horton recalled the victory in the Kentucky Oaks by Lemons Forever. “It was tremendous,” he said. “I remember they were taking us for an interview. We were walking down the aisle where all the fans were, and I hollered at them, ‘We’re going to have lemonade tonight!’ ” Horton’s fun nature carried over to the Eclipse Awards ceremony in 2014, when he had the crowd roaring with laughter during his memorable acceptance speech for Will Take Charge. “[Glenda] stayed on me all week about me preparing a speech and wanted to know what I was going to say,” Horton said. “I said, ‘Well, I have no idea what I’m going to say.’ She said, ‘You need to practice your speech,’ and I said, ‘No,’ because I like to speak off the cuff.’ Everything was so dead that night. There wasn’t no life in the crowd, and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll bring this bunch to their feet, if I can,’ and sure enough I did.’” Willis Horton continued to compete at racing’s highest levels through this year. He had Ben Diesel in the Rebel in February at Oaklawn and the year before his homebred Will’s Secret was third in the Kentucky Oaks. “He’s a homebred, and I’ve had real good luck with his full sister Will’s Secret,” Horton said of Ben Diesel earlier this year. “I like the way he handles himself and his breeding, the longer the race the better he’s going to like it.” Willis Horton planned the matings for his mares, and also enjoyed selecting young talent from the yearling sales – runners like Will Take Charge. “After I pick out the conformation and size, I look them in the eye,” he said in a 2014 interview with Daily Racing Form. “If I don’t have a horse that’s got real good eyes and looking at you, I’ll turn my head on him. I’ve got to have that eye.” Willis Horton is survived by his wife, Glenda; his son, Kevin; and Kevin’s wife, Laurie. Services are set for Tuesday, according to Laurie Horton. They will be at the Roller-Coffman Funeral Home at 923 Hwy. 65 North in Marshall, Ark., 72650. The visitation will run from 12-2 p.m. and the funeral will begin at 3 p.m. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.