Larry Jones

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2009 Record: (345-73-56-53)

2009 Earnings: $4,367,226

2009 Win %: 21% In-The-Money %: 52%

Born: Sept. 2, 1956, Hopkinsville, Ky.
Residence: Elkton, Md.
Family: wife Cindy (also his assistant); daughters Amanda and Wendy, sons Michael and Wesley and six grandchildren
Professional Background: A former commercial farmer in Hopkinsville, (Southwestern) Ky. Grew corn, tobacco and soy beans and raised cattle and hogs ... Gained experience with horses working with the ones on his ranch
Racing Background: First entered racing as an owner in 1980 with a single horse. That $2,500 claimer, Ala Turf, became a winner prompting Jones to recall, "I had a perfect record as an owner." Took out his trainer's license in 1982. "I thought things weren't getting trained right, so I might as well do it myself. I found out training horses was a whole lot more fun and exciting than farming." Recorded his first stakes win with Capt. Bold at Ellis Park in 1986
Racing Career: For Jones, the 2009 Breeders’ Cup promises to lower the curtain on his 27-year career as a trainer. The veteran trainer announced he intends to retire following the Breeders’ Cup, but said he may delay those plans if Friesan Fire, the beaten favorite in the 2009 Kentucky Derby, makes a successful return to the races in the fall ... “If Friesan Fire comes back fine, I will probably stay with him and be a one-horse trainer until he retires,” Jones said. “If that doesn’t happen, I’m done. I’m not saying I won’t ever train again after that. Who knows what will happen five years from now. But as of right now I have no plans to do anything but spend time with my grandkids.” ... Jones added that he intends to switch roles with his wife, Cindy, who is currently his assistant trainer. With Cindy, a former trainer, planning to resume her training career once Larry retires, Larry said he will serve as her assistant and gallop horses for her ... Since May 2008, Larry Jones has lived through a whirlwind of emotions, experiencing both the most uplifting victory and most crushing moment of his career within the span of 24 hours ... His weekend started with a convincing victory by Proud Spell in the G1 Kentucky Oaks ... The next day, Jones sent out another brilliant 3-year-old filly, Eight Belles, who finished a game second to Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby, marking the second straight year he had saddled the runner-up in the Run for the Roses ... But while being pulled up after the race, Eight Belles broke both front ankles and had to be euthanized on the racetrack ... The filly’s death set in motion a tumultuous chain of events that included protests by PETA as well as the formation of the Thoroughbred Charities of America’s Eight Belles Memorial Fund to support Thoroughbred rescue and retraining and research into catastrophic injuries. It culminated with a congressional subcommittee hearing that was entitled “Breeding, Drugs, and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Racing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse.” ... Jones returned to the Kentucky Derby in 2009, saddling Friesan Fire, who was favored in the Run for the Roses off wins in the Louisiana Derby, Risen Star and LeComte. Friesan Fire was 18th in the Derby and then 10th in the Preakness before he was sidelined with a stress fracture of the left front leg ... Jones also had another leading candidate for the Kentucky Derby in Old Fashioned, who won the Southwest Stakes and Remsen before he suffered a career-ending slab fracture of the right knee while finishing second in the Arkansas Derby ... His shrinking stable also includes the multiple-stakes winning sprinter Kodiak Kowboy, who captured the Grade 1 Carter Handicap in 2009 and the Sport Page and Amsterdam in 2008 for Jones, and Monmouth Oaks winner Just Jenda, who is owned by his wife Cindy ... Proud Spell also won the 2008 G1 Alabama at Saratoga and the G2 Delaware Oaks and was named the champion 3-year-old filly of 2008 . . . Retired in April 2009 due to an ankle ailment, she was second in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Monmouth Park ... Jones’ roster of stakes winners also featured Hard Spun, the hard-knocking ’07 Triple Crown veteran, who was second to Street Sense in the Derby, third in the Preakness and fourth in the Belmont ... Hard Spun ended his career with a runner-up finish to Curlin in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic ... The Danzig colt was purchased by Sheik Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Darley Stud during the Triple Crown and retired to the Lexington, Ky., farm following the Classic ... Other top runners have included Grade 1 winners Island Sand and Wildcat Bettie B and graded stakes winners Ruby's Reception, Josh’s Madelyn and Hello Liberty … Island Sand took the $1 million Delaware Handicap in 2005 and provided Jones with his first Grade 1 victory when she captured the Acorn at Belmont Park ... Wildcat Bettie B won the Prioress Stakes in 2006 and the Dixie Belle at Oaklawn Park in 2007 … Has turned small investments in young horses into a string of success stories ... Bought Josh’s Madelyn for $10,000 and won $400,000 with her ... Ruby’s Reception, a $12,000 purchase, earned $365,000 and Don’t Countess Out, a $16,000 buy, earned slightly more than $375,000 ... After a tornado hit his longtime summer base of Ellis Park in 2006, he relocated to Delaware Park where he ranks among the leading trainers. It was at Delaware that he met Rick Porter and became trainer of some of his horses, including Hard Spun ... Stables at Delaware because he likes the proximity to other tracks, including Monmouth Park, Belmont and Saratoga ... A hands-on horseman, Jones gallops as many as 10 of his own horses each morning and generally hauls them himself to out-of-town stakes engagements ... Said he has had too many favorite racehorses over the years to single out a few, but names his lead pony, a 9-year-old Paint named Pal, as one of his favorite horses.
Breeding/Racing Operation: In 2008, made a decision to move his base of operation to Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., mostly in deference to his major client, Rick Porter ... Jones, with his retirement approaching, has been turning over much of stable to other trainers. After having 115 horses in training in 2008, he was down to 47 by early Sept. 2009.

Breeders' Cup Record

Starts	1st	2nd	3rd	Earnings
3	0	2	0	$1,400,000

2002	Juvenile Fillies	Ruby's Reception	10th
2007	Classic	Hard Spun	2nd
	Juvenile Fillies	Proud Spell	2nd