Jones & Jones Going for a Third Kentucky Oaks

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, on the Keeneland backstretch. The sun was shining bright, there was a cool, crispness to the air, and the smell of horses was all around; an enjoyable feast for the human senses, especially if you happen to love horses. All around the backstretch, workers hustled to complete their morning chores and cared for the horses in their respective barns.

Horses were being walked either along the walkways inside the barn or out in front of their barns; some to be cooled down after a work out, others just to get some exercise. Some horses were getting their morning baths, and then were groomed and brushed until their coats shined brightly under the morning sunlight, while other horses were being peacefully hand-grazed on the lush green grass at the end of their barns.

While all of that went on, other workers were cleaning out stalls, feeding and watering horses, and sweeping up after they were done. At one barn, after the morning chores were complete, a lone worker raked the gravel outside the barn he worked at to make it look as groomed to perfection as the horses he just finished working on. On the road at the end of barn row, horses were being ridden or walked to and from the track for their morning workouts.

Riding one of those horses headed back to his barn was trainer, Larry Jones, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Oaks with owner Brereton Jones, the former Governor of Kentucky.

The two teamed up in 2008 to win their first Kentucky Oaks together with Proud Spell, and then again in 2012 with Believe You Can. 

Now in 2015, the two good friends are going for the "three-peat," as they have another strong filly headed into the Oaks in Lovely Maria.

"We're going to try for a three-peat here, yes," said trainer Larry Jones. "It's really good. He's (Gov. Jones) such a great guy to train for, and we've had a lot of success together. So, we'll just see if this keeps rolling or if a new invader comes into town and wins it. But, we're undefeated so far, him and I, so we'll just try to keep it going."

The owner-trainer partnership of Gov. Jones and Larry Jones began a number of years ago, as Larry Jones explains, "I'd had known him (Gov. Jones) for a long time, and we were doing a lot of breeding, because I also had broodmares and all in Hopkinsville. We were doing a lot of breeding at his farm, and I'd purchase horses from him at the sales.

"So, he just told me, 'One day I'd like for you to train a horse for me.' So, I picked out a little horse for him that I'd take, and he wound up, he sold it. And, he said, 'Well, I'll just send you one.' So, he sent me a little filly by the name of Proud Spell. That was the first one and it started it all good."

A good start indeed for the two, as they now work together with another improving filly in Lovely Maria. While Lovely Maria's sire, Majesticperfection, is owned by Gov. Jones, she was bred by Olin Gentry and Thomas Gaines and is out of the Thunder Gulch mare, Thundercup. Gov. Jones took ownership of the filly following a sale in which she was not purchased. He then approached the owners and negotiated with them to make the purchase.

Lovely Maria began her race career as a two-year old, and won her first race, a Maiden Special Weight at Delaware Park on Sept. 4, 2014. She then raced three more times in 2014 at different tracks, and just kept improving with each race, as she finished second in an allowance race at Keeneland on Oct. 11, second in an allowance optional race on Nov. 28 at Fair Grounds, and fourth in the Trapeze Stakes at Remington Park on a muddy track on Dec. 14, which, according to Larry Jones, was still a great effort.

"We've been very fortunate. We've hauled her around a lot," he said. "We took her to Oklahoma (Remington Park), and then drew the outside post in a race on a bad track; the tornados had come through, and everything went against her that day, and she still only got beat five lengths; she was fourth. So, we knew she ran very credible. …"

In 2015, Lovely Maria continued her improvement as she opened the year with a win in an allowance race at Fair Grounds on Jan. 26, then followed that with a second-place finish in the Rachel Alexandra Stake (G3) at Fair Grounds on Feb. 21.

"She (Lovely Maria) was kind of part of the pace factor (in that race), and most every pace horse that day stopped," said Larry Jones. "She was the only one that had been kind of a forward factor, and continued to keep going, and held second. There were some good horses closing in on her. So, she ran very credible that day; just kind of against the speed bias, but she ran very well."

Added Gov. Jones of her performance in the Rachel Alexandra, "She was improving with each race, and that, of course, is what you’d like to see happen with any of your young horses, is they just gradually step up.

"I was pleased with the race, the Rachel Alexandra, and my reaction was, as I told Libby (his wife), if she (Lovely Maria) improves off of this race, we’re in good shape for future stakes competition. And, sure enough, she did improve off of that race and I think she’s good enough to run in anybody’s Grade 1 now."

Pleased with how she performed in the Rachel Alexandra, and with her continued improvements during workouts, Gov. Jones and Larry Jones felt she was ready to step up in competition.

"Her workouts had been good, and we noticed that it was taking less out of her each time and that she was getting stronger, and it’s the way you’d like to see one (a horse) develop," said Gov. Jones. "It’s like watching a kid that’s getting ready to play a big, tough football (game), and you say, ‘You know, he’s strong enough now, and he’s good enough now, he deserves to be playing.’ And, that’s kind of the way she is. I’m certainly not going to be so cocky as to say she’s better than anybody else’s horse, but I am saying she deserves to be with the top three-year-olds now, and we’re pretty excited about it."

So, with her continued improvement, Lovely Maria was pointed to the $500,000 Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland on April 4, and she ran a very impressive race to get her first Grade 1 win and earn her starting spot in the 139th Kentucky Oaks (G1) on Friday, May 1, at Churchill Downs.

"She obviously liked the track; you’re always concerned about whether a horse likes a particular track or not," said Gov. Jones. "But, we knew she had run on the Keeneland track as a 2-year-old right after it was finished (getting a new dirt surface), and she had run there and she liked it. So, we were pretty excited about that."

But, does his filly like the Keeneland surface too much, or will she adapt and get another big win at another track on another surface?

"I don’t see any reason why she’s going to have to take her track with her wherever she goes," said Gov. Jones. "I think she’s that kind of a horse that seems to say, ‘Okay, I’ll run wherever you take me, let’s go.’"

So now Larry Jones and Gov. Jones will take their filly, Lovely Maria, and head to Churchill Downs, where they will attempt to win a third Kentucky Oaks together. Of course, a win in the Oaks won't come easy, as there is a lot of tough competition in this year's race.

"There's good fillies all over," said Larry Jones. "New York has got a filly that's kind of swept up there – Condo Commando. Dale Romans has had a horse that's run very well in Florida – I think it's Birdatthewire. … And then John Sadler has got a nice horse out in California (Stellar Wind)…. So, this is a very good race. It's a tough race, and there's a lot of horses that could win it." (See story)

Interestingly, Larry Jones will also have another filly in the Oaks in I'm A Chatterbox, who defeated Lovely Maria in the Rachel Alexandra to earn her spot in the race. Gov. Jones will also have another entry in the Oaks with Include Betty, who he co-owns with Timothy Thornton. Include Betty won the Fantasy Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park on April 4 to earn her spot in the Oaks.

However, even with all of those other entries, including their own, both will still be keeping a watchful eye on Lovely Maria, who, as both have said, has been improving with every race, and every workout, so far this year. Now, all that remains to be seen is if she will be able to go the distance in the Kentucky Oaks and get the two friends their third win in the race.

"… In all her other races, she's been no worse than second," said Larry Jones. "But, she's just getting better all the time. As the distances increase, she's gotten better as well. So, we're looking forward to an extra sixteenth of a mile at Churchill Downs."