Lovely Maria became a favorite for the Kentucky Oaks after winning the Ashland Stakes for trainer Larry Jones at Keeneland on April 5 (Keeneland Photo)
By Liane Crossley
Special to NKyTribune
In his early days of training racehorses in Western Kentucky, Larry Jones said he never imagined winning prestigious races.
“When I started, all I wanted was to win at Ellis Park and for someone to think I was a good horseman,” the Hopkinsville native said.
Now Jones is a regular on racing’s biggest stages as he continues to have particular success with female Thoroughbreds. That aptitude was on display at Keeneland when he sent out Lovely Maria — owned by former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones—to win the Ashland Stakes on April 5.
Along with stablemate I’m a Chatterbox, Lovely Maria is poised to provide Larry Jones with his third victory in the Kentucky Oaks on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
He won the sister race to the Kentucky Derby with Believe You Can (2012) and Proud Spell (2008), who both raced for Brereton Jones.
Trainer Larry Jones, a native of Hopkinsville, seems to have a winning way with fillies (Keeneland Photo)
An all-around horseman who rides the horses in his care and regularly hauls them with his truck and trailer, Jones first gained national attention in 2002 with Ruby’s Reception. Her runner-up finish in Keeneland’s Alcibiades Stakes earned her a ticket to the Breeders’ Cup and hinted that Jones could train everyday racehorses as well as big time racehorses.
Another filly, Island Sand, punctuated the point with on-track earnings of more than $1-million and a second in the 2004 Kentucky Oaks.
When asked to explain his expertise with fillies, responds with his customary self-depreciating humor.
“I don’t know because apparently I haven’t understood colts at all,” he said.
In fact, Jones can bring out the best in colts and geldings as he proved in 2007 with the gallant Hard Spun, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic. Jones has churned out plenty of topnotch colts but he has made his mark with upper level fillies including Havre de Grace. She was so impressive at the track that she was named overall Horse of the Year as well as the best female runner of 2011.
Jones said he can not pinpoint specific differences in training colts and fillies or why he, his wife Cindy and their crew do so well with females but he acknowledges that colts prefer stronger exercise routines.
“I just try to keep the girls happy,” he said. “I’ll try whatever it takes to keep them happy. We just try to show them, I’ll say, a lot more love around the barn.”
Jones said fillies tend to thrive on attention and the team pampers them with treats such as peppermint candies.
“We basically spoil them,” he said. “We play with them more than the colts. The colts like to be left alone. The girls seem to want someone talking to them a lot. We let them know they are important to us. They seem to like that.”
From farm to fame
Jones’ early career was commercial farming in southwestern Kentucky where he grew corn, tobacco and soybeans and raised hogs and cattle. He enjoyed dealing with horses at his ranch and began dabbling with racers in 1980. He obtained his Thoroughbred trainer’s license in 1982 to launch his new career at Ellis Park in Henderson.
“I found out training horses was a whole lot more fun and exciting than farming,” he said. “I really had no goals. I never expected I would train Kentucky Oaks fillies or Derby horses. Everybody dreams of it, but as far as me having that as an ambition come heck or high water or bust, it just wasn’t a goal. I just wanted to ride horses and train horses.”
With his stable stars this spring, Jones has an outstanding chance to add to his reputation as a conditioner with an undeniable flair for maximizing a filly’s potential. I’m a Chatterbox and Lovely Maria finished first and second, respectively, in a Kentucky Oaks prep race at Fair Grounds in New Orleans before Lovely Maria made a name for herself by winning Keeneland’s Ashland Stakes.
I’m a Chatterbox subsequently won the Fair Grounds Oaks in March as a steppingstone to Kentucky.
“To me, the Kentucky Oaks is the second best race in the country,” Jones said. “Except for the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks is better than anything else.”
Liane Crossley is a Lexington-based freelance writer.
