Jon Arnett

Born: March 30, 1961 | Birthplace: Tucson, AZ | Residence: Safety Harbor, FL

First Win: Scatta Buck, Ruidoso Downs, 1979 | Started Training: 1979, Albuquerque

Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Prairie Meadows, Hawthorne

Arnett captured his first Prairie Meadows training title in stunning fashion in 2022, sending out 61 winners from 204 starters for a 21-victory margin from runner-up Lynn Chleborad. His haul included three stakes triumphs and a second-place performance by 4-year-old gelding Fleetridge, a 31-1 shot, in the Grade III Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap. Arnett carries on a legacy passed down by his grandfather, Claude Arnett, and his late father, Bob Arnett, who won 2,431 races while capturing 11 consecutive training titles at Sunland Park in New Mexico. Young Jon, who was cleaning stalls and rolling bandages by the time he was 5 or 6, witnessed firsthand how his father took horses other trainers had given up on and won with them through patience and unspoken communication. “One of the main things he taught me was checking their legs first thing every morning, making sure there was no heat or filling before taking them to the track for training,” Arnett reflected a couple of years ago. “He also told me to make sure they ate real well the night before and not to cut corners.” Jon started galloping horses at Sunland Park when he was 14, and he soon realized he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his dad and granddad. That epiphany had resulted in almost 2,200 victories entering this season, as well as a combined 16 meet titles at Sunland, Albuquerque and SunRay Park in New Mexico and Arapahoe Park in Colorado. A fixture at Prairie Meadows, where he saddled 51 winners in 2021 to finish second in the standings, Jon proved good horsemanship knows no boundaries in his first Oldsmar season two years ago, sending out 25 winners to finish fourth in the standings. He finished sixth last season with 19 winners. Jon’s wife Susan, also a trainer, has 163 career victories.