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Hall Of Fame Trainer Gary Jones, Conditioner Of Turkoman, Passes At Age 76

News regarding the passing of retired Hall of Fame trainer Gary Jones hit hard at Santa Anita Monday morning, as word circulated that Jones had passed away following a lengthy illness at age 76 at his home in Del Mar.

The son of one of California's all time training greats, Gary Jones was born June 16, 1944 in Long Beach and he was unquestionably destined for a life at the racetrack, which he certainly made the most of.

After an extended apprenticeship with his father, the legendary Farrell “Wild Horse” Jones, Gary Jones took over the Jones Stable in 1974 and from there, took it to new heights, as the barn produced an incredible 104 stakes winners over the next 22 years, including 1986 Eclipse Award winning Older Horse, Turkoman.

A trainer who redefined hands-on horsemanship, Jones operated a split stable between Santa Anita and Hollywood Park for several years and he had a bushel basket full of speeding tickets to prove it.

“I gotta seem 'em go myself,” he once said, when asked why he felt compelled to watch a set or two of his horses train in Inglewood prior to blasting up the Harbor Freeway back to Arcadia in time to oversee the training of his Santa Anita-based charges. “I've got good people, but I just can't take somebody's else's word for it. I want to see them myself.”

A two-time winner of the Santa Anita Handicap—in 1992 with eventual Hall of Famer Best Pal and in 1994, via disqualification, with Stuka, Jones ranks eighth on Santa Anita's all time Winter/Spring win list with 576 victories and he is currently ninth in Santa Anita stakes-won with 72.

Jones, who was a fierce advocate for California racing, trained an incredible 104 stakes winners prior to his retirement in 1996 that included Kostroma, Quiet American, Time to Explode, Lakeway and Wishing Well, who would go on to become the dam of 1989 Horse of the Year Sunday Silence.

Gary Jones is survived by his wife Joanie and two sons, trainer Marty and David, who is a Los Angeles-based attorney.

Services are pending.

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Hall of Fame Trainer Gary Jones Passes Away at 76

Trainer Gary Jones, who was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 2014, passed away Sunday at his home in Del Mar, California. His son, trainer Marty Jones, said his father had been in hospice care and died of natural causes. He was 76.

“He was an amazing person, first and foremost,” his son said. “For me, that’s the most important thing. On top of that, he was a great horse trainer.”

Gary Jones was the son of longtime California-based trainer Farrell Jones and took over his father’s stable upon his retirement in 1975. He picked right up where his father left off, winning with the first horse he ever saddled, King Wako, on Dec. 26, 1975 at Santa Anita, and quickly established himself as one of the leading trainers in Southern California. In 1976, he had 47 winners at the Santa Anita meet, breaking the record that had been set by his father. It was the first of 15 meet titles he would win.

Over the years, Jones continued to pile up stakes wins, many of them with fellow Hall of Famer Chris McCarron aboard.

“Gary was family,” McCarron said. “He was the first major trainer in Southern California to give me a real shot. I developed a relationship more quickly with Gary than any other trainer out there and I will be forever grateful for his support. I was tickled to death when he got inducted into the Hall of Fame years ago. I am so glad it happened before he passed away. As the years went on, we became incredibly close and our families got very close. I am very saddened by this loss.”

Though Jones won stakes with numerous horses, he will be best remembered for two–Turkoman and Best Pal.

Turkoman enjoyed his best season in 1986, when he was named Champion Older Male. He won the GI Widener H., the GII Oaklawn H., the GI Marlboro Cup H. and was second in both the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“Turkoman did not care about running,” Jones told the Del Mar Times in 2014. “I had to breeze him an eighth of a mile the morning of a race to let him know he was going to run.”

After starting his career for Ian Jory, Best Pal was turned over to Jones in 1991, midway through his 3-year-old season. After a win in the GII Swaps S., Best Pal, owned by John C. Mabee, won the inaugural running of the Pacific Classic.

“It was a big deal at the time,” Jones said in 2014. “The race was Mr. Mabee’s dream. There was quite a bit of pressure.”

“Best Pal had a limited amount of ability, but he was all desire. He never wanted to lose–a classy son of a gun. And he was a character,” Jones added.

Jones also trained the outstanding fillies Kostroma (Ire), who won the GI Beverly D. S., the GI Yellow Ribbon Invitational S. and the GI Santa Barbara H., and Lakeway, a daughter of Seattle Slew who won four Grade I races. Jones won his first $1-million race when capturing the 1983 GI Hollywood Futurity with Fali Time.

Though just 52 at the time, Jones retired in 1996 after suffering from heart problems.

“He had some heart conditions he was dealing with at the time and made that decision along with my mom,” Marty Jones said. “He felt like it was time to turn the page.”

The younger Jones took over his father’s stable after he retired.

It was not until 18 years later that Jones made the Hall of Fame.

“I was flabbergasted when they told me,” he said in 2014 after learning that he was to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. “I had been passed over a few times already, and I had decided I probably wouldn’t be making it.”

Jones won 1,465 races during his career and his horses earned a total of $52,672,611. He won 102 graded stakes.

In addition to his son Marty, Jones is survived by his wife, Joan, and another son, David, who is an attorney.

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Becerra Hoping To Score Big With Touchdown Brown After Sharp Debut Win

Veteran trainer Rafael Becerra was all smiles Saturday morning, as his talented California-bred juvenile Touchdown Brown ran lights-out in his debut in Friday's fourth race, demolishing seven Cal-bred rivals by 5 ¼ lengths while getting 4 ½ furlongs in 52.81 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

“He's really good this morning, he pulled up great,” said the popular Becerra, 65. “The owners told me they're already getting a lot offers, but the good news is, they're not selling. I got this horse in mid-March and from day one, he acted like a good horse. We went to the track with him right away and he galloped perfect and he's got a very good mind.

“You could see he's got a nice way of moving and my exercise rider really liked him right from the start. When we started breezing him, he did everything easy and outworked a good horse of mine in company.”

A homebred colt by Cairo Prince out of the Cherokee Run mare Chicalelee, Touchdown Brown, who is owned by Edward J. Brown, Jr., Alan Klein and Phillip Lebherz, was off as the 3-2 favorite and paid $5.00 to win.

Breaking alertly from post position seven, Touchdown Brown, who was ridden by Evin Roman, was on the move while third, about 1 ½ lengths off the lead approaching the quarter pole. From there, he entered the stretch three-deep and when he switched to his left lead, forged to the front approaching the sixteenth pole winning under a hand ride in a tremendous effort.

Becerra, who started on the racetrack at age 16 in 1971 with the legendary Farrell Jones and his Hall of Fame son, Gary, has been training on his own since Gary Jones' retirement in 1996 and has long been regarded as a hard working, no-nonsense horseman who helped develop multiple graded stakes winner Kingdom Found, a California-bred gelding, foaled in 1990, who banked $810,863 in a career that spanned seven racing seasons.

What's next for Touchdown Brown?

“With all the money that's available, the owners agree that we're going to stay with Cal-breds for now,” said Becerra. “We're going to run him in the Graduation Stakes (5 ½ furlongs, Aug. 2 at Del Mar) and we'll see where we go from there.”

If yesterday's result was any indication, Touchdown Brown figures to go a long, long way indeed.

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