Tag: sophie doyle

Pondering Retirement, Jones Seeks His First Groupie Doll Win With Istan Council

For all the races he's won at his hometown track, trainer Larry Jones could be looking at his final shot to win one of Ellis Park's signature races, Sunday's $125,000 Groupie Doll Stakes at the Henderson, Ky., track.

Jones will saddle Brereton Jones' Istan Council in the mile race, which attracted an overflow field of 13 fillies and mares. The trainer long has pointed horses for the Groupie Doll, and its various incarnations that include being called the Gardenia and the Coca-Cola Handicap. Istan Council is among his starters, having finished third last year behind victorious Lady Kate and New Roo, both of whom return.

A native of Hopkinsville, Ky., Jones has considered Henderson home for most of his adult life. He started his racehorse ownership career at Ellis Park in 1980 and officially began training his horses in 1982, going 0 for 42 before winning a $2,700 maiden-claiming race at Ellis Park in 1983. Fast forward 1,184 wins and almost $55.2 million in purse earnings later, and Jones is strongly considering retiring. Or at least what passes for retirement for someone who only is comfortable sitting if it's in a saddle.

Of course, Jones retired once before, with his wife Cindy taking over the stable in 2010, and that lasted a year. But circumstances are different now.

Rick Porter, the Delaware car dealer and champion owner who supplied Jones with standouts such as Horse of the Year Havre de Grace and Kentucky Derby runners-up Hard Spun and Eight Belles, died in June. Also, the most recent of a sequence of serious injuries sustained during freak training mishaps has relegated Jones to his pony, frustrating the trainer who for decades got on all of his toughest racehorses.

“I figure we'll get through the Oaklawn meet this winter,” Jones said. “But I have had some owners call me, wanting me to take horses next year, and I've turned them down. I don't know if we have any stars in the barn right now. If some of these 2-year-olds turn out to be really good, I'm sure I'll try to see them through their career.

“Since Mr. Porter passed away, and we don't have as many horses for Governor (Brereton) Jones as we did, yeah, we'll probably go,” he said, adding a caveat, “I don't know if I'll ever quit. I own several horses myself. But we'll definitely get down to where I don't have to travel. I'm really getting tired of living out of a suitcase. We've done it for 40 years now, and very extensively for the last 25…. I don't know if I'll completely stop, because I've got a few broodmares, and I've got to do something with these babies. But basically Larry Jones will be on the ownership side of all of them.”

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Of course, being an owner requires a trainer. Jones was self-taught and didn't come up under anyone. In that regard, it's hard to imagine Jones having horses with somebody else.

“Well, that's what I was trying to think,” he agreed. “I can't find anybody that I really want. The last time I quit, I got that Cindy Jones to train for us. But she said she's not doing it anymore, either.”

In the meantime, he has Istan Council in the Groupie Doll, owned by former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones (no relation), supplied Larry Jones with his three Kentucky Oaks winners. Istan Council comes into the Groupie Doll off a runner-up finish in the Iowa Distaff won by Josie, who also is in Sunday's stakes. Sophie Doyle, the regular rider of Larry Jones' Grade 1-winning filly Street Band, has the mount.

“In the Iowa Distaff, I think Josie had the perfect trip,” Jones said. “I think we had a very good trip. We jumped out, just laying just off the pace, and felt like we had the leader when we wanted her. Then here came Josie and made us start having to hustle up and go. And we still got the jump on Josie, and Josie ran by her down the lane. But she ran a nice race.”

Jones loves the Groupie Doll as a race, even though he also got beat in it last year with Street Band, who finished sixth in her career finale. He finished second in 2012 with Joyful Victory, who a few races later won a Grade 1 race at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

“I always wanted to try to have something for here,” Jones said. “This is still a very marquee race.”

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Biggest Part’ Of His Father’s Legacy Lives On In DeShawn Parker

Perhaps the greatest legacy a man can leave behind is found in the hearts of the people whose lives he touched along the way.

Since his father's passing on March 5 of this year, jockey DeShawn Parker has found himself humbled by the number of people reaching out to tell him stories about Daryl Parker going out of his way to be kind to them.

“Dad loved everybody; there's not one person he came across he didn't try to help,” said DeShawn, 50. “So many people came up to me just to tell me how nice he was. That was the biggest part of him.”

Daryl Parker, the first African-American hired in the U.S. to be a steward in 1986, spent his career adjudicating racing at smaller tracks near the family home Ohio. His reputation was that he was extremely fair in the booth, and always found ways to help people outside his official role.

“You always felt like you should thank him for giving you days, almost,” said DeShawn. “Even when you definitely deserved days, he'd say, 'Well, do this next time, and that'll make it a little better.'”

The sentiments surrounding DeShawn's father echo those in a recent video produced by Sam Houston Race Park announcer Chris Griffin. DeShawn wintered at the track for several years, earning leading rider honors in 2019, and the video depicts members of the local jockey colony congratulating him for being voted the winner of the 2021 George Woolf Memorial Award. 

One of the most prestigious awards in all of racing and named for the legendary late Hall of Fame jockey, the Woolf Award recognizes those riders whose careers and personal character garner esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred racing. The winner is selected via a nationwide vote by other jockeys.

“He's been incredible to ride against, and he's a great person, too,” jockey Sophie Doyle said in the video from Sam Houston. “He's always helpful and friendly at every racetrack I've ever ridden against him.”

“He's a great ambassador for the sport, a jockey we all look up to,” said Lane Luzzi.

“Not only is he a phenomenal rider, consistently doing it every year, but just being a great person,” added Reylu Gutierrez. “Congratulations DeShawn, you are an amazing rider and an amazing person, and I really look up to you.”

This apple obviously didn't fall far from the tree. Daryl didn't choose to impart his wisdom to his son through his words, however. He showed DeShawn what it meant to be a good man by his actions, inspiring his son to live up to that example.

Father and son grew up around the racetrack, their passions for the animal and the competition fostering an especially close relationship. Though Daryl Parker had to leave the steward's role for races in which DeShawn rode, he was fully supportive of his son entering the sport they both loved.

“They said it was a conflict of interest, but honestly, sometimes my dad was harder on me than anybody else,” DeShawn said, laughing. “He never got on me too bad about anything because I never tried to ride careless, but he wouldn't sugarcoat things. He'd say, 'You definitely deserved to get days for that.'”

Billy Johnson with Deshawn Parker

Since his father was based in Ohio, DeShawn ventured across the state border to Mountaineer Park in West Virginia, where he became the perennial leading rider for more than 20 years. While there, DeShawn worked with the late agent Billy Johnson, who helped him become the No. 1 rider in the country by wins in 2010 and '11.

“Everybody liked Billy, he's just one of those guys,” Parker said. “Never a bad word about him. Even if he spun the trainers, he would smooth it out so they weren't upset with him. He tried hard for everybody.”

They won a title together at Sam Houston in 2015, but with race days and purses declining in West Virginia, Parker made the decision to transfer his home track to Indiana Grand during the summer months. That meant a switch in agent to a mutual friend, Jimmy McNerney, for the 2017 season in Indiana.

DeShawn finished second in the standings in 2017 and 2018, fourth in 2019 despite missing time due to an injury, and finally won the title at Indiana Grand in 2020. 

“This is the best thing of the meet and of my year,” DeShawn told track publicity after the title was official. “I had some chances the past couple of years to win [the title], but I got hurt and it just didn't work out. My agent, Jimmy, always does a good job but he did an exceptional job this year for me, and I was able to stay healthy. I can't put into words what this means. This means so much to me.”

Unfortunately, 2020 was also the year that Daryl Parker spent battling a cancer diagnosis. He missed nearly the entire year of racing, and DeShawn could see how much that wore on his father.

“He loved his job, being on the track, and in fact he turned down some treatments in Cincinnati so he could go back to work,” DeShawn said. “I think he was already kind of getting depressed, sitting there doing nothing all day.”

Though Daryl had been pronounced cancer-free and returned to the stewards' booth for three weeks, the disease returned with a vengeance in December.

“It came on so quick, and he was one of those guys who was never really sick,” DeShawn said. “We knew the cancer could come back at any time, but it really hit him hard.”

Drryl was hospitalized from mid-December until his passing on March 5, and initially COVID-19 restrictions meant no family members were able to visit with him. By February, they'd moved to a different hospital and one person at a time was allowed in.

“I went every day that I was home, and we just sat there and talked,” DeShawn said. “I'm glad he got to go back to work; I don't think he would have had it any other way. They'd call him sometimes, the other stewards, like for advice on something, and you could just tell he wanted to be there.”

As the start of the 2021 season approaches at Indiana Grand, DeShawn feels like the best way to honor his father's memory is to continue working every single day at embodying the characteristics the man stood for. Compassion and kindness above all else, even when it's hard — that's Daryl Parker.

It isn't an easy thing to ask of a jockey. Every day, multiple times a day, your coworkers are trying to finish ahead of you out on the track. Add to that pressure the inherent danger of race-riding, and the jockey's quarters can easily become a pressure cooker of negative emotions.

“We all have to put that smile on our face every day, even when you get trainers complaining and maybe you don't want to say 'Thank you' and walk away,” DeShawn said. “On the track, when you get mad, you have to leave it out there because if you keep on being mad you're just going to make yourself look bad. We're all trying hard, doing the same job.”

It's that sportsmanship and positive attitude, maintained over a career of 5,846 wins to date, which earned DeShawn the Woolf Award. If he gets a bit emotional when he sees that award sitting on his shelf, it's easy to understand why. His father's inspiration and ever-present influence are what helped DeShawn to become the man worthy of such an honor.

“Our goal was to one day be stewards together at a track,” DeShawn revealed. “We may not get to do that, but I know he's riding with me now, so I just look at it that way. He's getting to do something he never got to do before, and I get to have him with me in the saddle.”

DeShawn Parker, winner of the 2021 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award

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For The Love Of Horses: Racing Industry Unites To Showcase Racehorse Welfare

Over the past several days, a disturbing photograph of trainer Gordon Elliott and footage involving amateur jockey Rob James have brought the racing industry under global scrutiny once again.

The industry has responded with a grassroots social media campaign designed to showcase the love and care with which racehorses are treated, via the hashtags #ForTheLoveOfHorses and #RacehorseWelfare.

Following is a selection of some of the top posts:

 

In the last 24 hours the racing industry has been under hard scrutiny over the welfare of horses in training. …

Posted by Ben Delong on Monday, March 1, 2021

In the last 24 hours the racing industry has been under hard scrutiny over the welfare of horses in training.

We would…

Posted by Harry Whittington Racing on Tuesday, March 2, 2021

In the last 24 hours the racing industry has been under hard scrutiny over the welfare of the horses in training.

I'd…

Posted by Kelly Balfour on Monday, March 1, 2021

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Dont Tell Noobody Flies Late To Upset Oklahoma Classics Cup At 39-1

The biggest upset on Oklahoma Classics Night 2020 at Remington Park came in the biggest race of the night with 39-1 longshot Dont Tell Noobody flying from the clouds to pass the front-runners for victory in the $175,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup.

It was the second win for Remington Park's all-time winningest owner, Danny Caldwell of Poteau, Okla., in the Cup, as well as for his trainer Federico Villafranco. They combined to win the 2012 edition with Fifth Date, also a longshot at 20-1 odds.

Sophie Doyle was in the irons for victory with Dont Tell Noobody.

“When I called on him, he absolutely flew with me,” said Doyle. “Today I just wanted to keep rolling outside and we won convincingly.”

This 3-year-old gelding by Cyber Secret, out of the Cactus Ridge mare Yucca, was bred in Oklahoma by Al Horton. He raced in a maiden claiming event for a $7,500 price tag as recently as March 16 at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla.; Caldwell claimed the horse for $15,000 on July 29 from the barn of trainer Karl Broberg at Lone Star Park.

Now, Dont Tell Noobody has won his last two races in a row, stepping up in class with no problem.

“He has been breaking really sharply with me so I thought being closer we really had a good shot,” said Doyle.

When Dont Tell Noobody won his first career race in that maiden-claiming race at Will Rogers Downs, his running line was amazing for the one-mile race in the slop. At first call, he was ninth, 25 lengths behind the front-runner. He fell even farther back at second call, eighth by 29 lengths. At the top of the stretch, he was still 10 lengths behind in fourth, but rolling like a freight train. He won that race by 1-1/4 lengths and gave an indication that he could be a horse with a strong late kick. He proved that again Friday night in the Classics Cup with a similar running style.

Dont Tell Noobody broke sixth in the field of eight and was still sixth in the 1-1/16th miles race on the dirt at second and third call before beginning his rally. By the time he hit the upper stretch, Doyle had swung him five wide and was rocketing down the middle of the track. He proved to be best at the end, finishing a full length in front of runner-up Fast Breakin Cash (5-2), who ran 5-1/4 lengths better than third-place Deal Driven (2-1). Rowdy Yates, the post-time even-money favorite could do no better than fourth. Rounding out the order of finish in the Classics Cup were United Patriot, Dak Da Man, Kwik and Georgia Deputy.

Dont Tell Noobody improved his record to 11 starts, four wins and one third for lifetime earnings of $146,202. Not too shabby for a horse coming from the low maiden claiming ranks.

“I have really grown to trust this horse and he just keeps getting better and better,” said Doyle.

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