Larry Jones

We are all the products of our environment. Tim Thornton could see as much, when he saw a foal that had been delivered at sea trying to walk on dry land for the first time. "He was, like, six weeks old," he recalls. "It was so funny to see him get off that ship, rocking everywhere, giving it the sea legs." But then that's pretty well how Thornton himself might have felt, as one born and bred for horses, had he ever been torn away to work in some other...

As has been said many times about the Thoroughbred industry: it is a business with highs and lows; more lows than highs; the highs are very high and the lows are very low. It was an emotional weekend of racing for me. The highs have been the results of two races. The lows, the thoughts of those not here to celebrate with me. First, Dazzling Blue ran her record to three-for-three Friday with a, well, dazzling performance at Churchill Downs. Then, Sunday, Weehawken broke her maiden by three lengths at...

Windmill, an impressive wire-to-wire debut winner in January at Oaklawn, showed her rating ability and remained unbeaten with a stalk-and-pounce score in the Dixie Belle S. Sunday in Hot Springs. Breaking on top and never looking back in a four-length victory at 12-1 Jan. 23, the $330,000 Keeneland September buy was made the narrow second choice in this six-horse group and again left the stalls smartly. Taken in hand by Joe Talamo, the bay tracked from the three path in a close-up third as Goin' Good led narrowly through a...

Street Band (Istan--Street Minstrel, by Street Cry {Ire}) has been retired from racing and will be catalogued to the 2020 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Racing in partnership for Ray Francis, Cindy Jones, J. Larry Jones, Medallion Racing, and MyRacehorse.com, Street Band won five times in her career, led by a win in the 2019 GI Cotillion S. The 4-year-old, also the winner of the GII Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks and third-place finisher in the GI Alabama S., retires with earnings of more than $1.1 million. "Street Band was a special filly for our...

Oaklawn Park, which continues to be Thoroughbred racing's headline act in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, hosts the Apple Blossom H. this Saturday, the first of the track's two Grade I events. While 2019 GI Kentucky Oaks victress Serengeti Empress (Alternation) figures a warm favorite off her course-and-distance romp in the GIII Azeri S. Mar. 14, trainer Larry Jones is hopeful that Street Band (Istan) return to same form that saw her beat Serengeti Empress into sixth in last year's GI Cotillion S. "She's doing well, everything seems to...

Mark Valeski (Proud Citizen--Pocho's Dream Girl, by Fortunate Prospect) will relocate from Central Kentucky's Airdrie Stud to Lake Hamilton Equine in Royal, Arkansas. The deal was brokered by trainer Cody Autrey's Autrey Bloodstock. Mark Valeski retired with earnings of more than $658,000 for trainer Larry Jones and owner/breeder Brereton C. Jones. His signature wins came in Belmont's GII Peter Pan S. and the GIII Mineshaft H. at Fair Grounds. Mark Valeski initially retired to Woodford Thoroughbreds in Reddick, Florida as a partnership between Woodford and Airdrie Stud. Both parties retain...

Brereton C. Jones's GI Kentucy Oaks victress Lovely Maria (Majesticperfection) makes her highly anticipated return from a brief freshening in Saturday's GIII Delaware Oaks. Her conditioner, Larry Jones, seeks his second win in this event, having scored the first with 2008 Kentucky Oaks winner and fellow Brereton Jones homebred Proud Spell (Proud Citizen), who was named champion sophomore filly that year after also taking the GI Alabama S. Lovely Maria has done little wrong in her eight-race career and seems to be improving with each start. Kicking off her sophomore...