Q & A With Larry Jones

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

MM — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:54:11 GMT

I'm still amazed by Mr. Jones' insight. He is truly one of the best in the business. Thumbs way up, Mr. Jones, for your integrity! You trained an awesome filly this year, and an awesome colt last year, but that's not all you'll always be admired for.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

MonicaV — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:13:51 GMT

Tutu,

I have been away a few days and was very surprised to see your posts. Why are you attacking people and calling them liars? You don't know how many hours they work nor when they get there. I know for a fact that Charlie Whittingham got to the track at 4AM because he invited me to his barn anytime after that hour. As a matter of fact, why do you even care? I just don't understand anyone who posts to these blogs and posts hateful things to people who have done nothing to you. You must have a lot of time to kill to post such vicious attacks.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

DocFarmer — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:24:48 GMT

Tutu, I'm up working. You asked my state maybe I can get your phone # so I can call you and report how the work is going. I see you are now going after someone who defended me,like you went after me when I defended Atthebarn. Was my post too comprehensive for you to read? Never have so many known so little about so many subjects that they are clueless about. You like one other who posts on these blogs, knows everything about everything. How many farms have you worked on? Obviously none. we have horses and grow alfalfa and Sudan, occasionally some wheat or oats. Those crops grow and are cut multiple times a year. We plant, fertilize and water and they are planted on three different parcels of acreage so they all need to be watered, cut, raked, baled and hauled in at different times or we'd be dead trying to do them all at once 600-800 bales on each.One 15 acre field (#4) finally leased to the dairy folks as we're all getting older and it's nearly too much in addition to our real jobs. I personally want to sell and get that 150,000 an acre but Dad says they don't make any more land and we are just 25 miles from a pretty big city. Oh and we also have 1 1/2 acre veggie garden, fruit trees and we also plant winter wheat after the 5-6 cuttings we get up through November sometimes early December. Well now I'll go back to my work for 3 more hours, 2 hours of sleep since i spent too much time with the sick mare today and a bawling niece upset about the mare.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

IrishLili — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:37:04 GMT

Dear Mr. TUTU.

Please let me tell you that there are a lot of folks who do work 18 hours a day, work two jobs or telecommute and then take care of children, elderly parents,animals or their farms. If you've ever worked on a farm or a ranch you'll know that it is a long day from sun up to sundown then come in and cook, take care of the bookwork, clean the house and so on. I think you need to re read what you write and actually read what the other people write in their commentary. You contradicted yourself by saying the person knows what hard work racing is then said they don't work. They also said they work their job, (not horse racing related for 18 hours) and then take care of their farm and horses. If you are going to be mean to people, read what they are telling you first. Also, most of us that read the bloodhorse.com love horse racing. That is my vacation, to take a day and go watch the beauty of it, not betting, can't afford to. We love to read all the varying opinions and the passion of the people who love the sport. We don't want to come on and read the self righteous views of the likes of you who just want to call people liars without even knowing them or their circumstances. This was a nice article on Mr. Jones and his insight. It wasn't a forum for your views on how every body is a liar and if you don't agree with the man you can state that but you and your friend related stories about folks you don't even know. I prefer the arguing about who is the best horse ever to this nonsense and Jason, I wish you could moderate this type of thing off the comments. Thank you.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

DocFarmer — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:01:17 GMT

Tutu, If you have been around maybe you should stop being 'around' and learn to READ

I said I loved horse racing and was involved when I was very young. I worked as an assistant trainer right after I got my undergraduate degree (the trainer I worked for gave one of his horses a horse aspirin, but that was in the day when NOTHING was legal) but having a higher IQ than your buddy Lance, I was 'encouraged' to go forward and being under 21 at the time I graduated I agreed. I SAID I work 18 hours a day in my profession which requires an advanced degree and we are an up and coming practice and anyone who has ever been involved in an expanding business knows it takes a lot of extra hours,one of my co workers told me I'm working too many hours but emailed me that at 1a.m. this morning when I was finishing up a project, getting ready to start on more charting. I work with the horses here on our farm in my spare time, that's why I posted at 5:20 a.m. my time I was working on the computer. I will talk to the young lady and see if she wants her name out there, she is an excellent horsewoman an exercise rider, rodeo star and her dad was the same. She has 24 horses and does it all on her own plus has a small child. I told her Dad she should get on with a trainer as an assistant because she is very talented and that is a lot of work for one person, but kids want to do things their way. Also I really don't think I would want you to hook her up with anyone since you in your vast knowledge of the race track already 'know' all trainers cheat. I know a lot who never did, some are dead now and some still living but you don't warrant any further justification I do not need you to tell me anything about calculating work comp, that's why we have a CPA. If you are in California then you may pay as much as they do at the track, the figures have been published on how much it costs in WC in CA and it is higher than anywhere else in the country. I personally don't think you have any affilitation with anything at the race track or ever have had, but that is speculation on my part. You did the same thing with my post that you did with Atthebarn, read what you thought you saw and interpreted the rest. You couldn't tell me anything about duty to country thatI haven't heard about or seen. When I was of that age, they didn't really take women and a health condition would have excluded me anyway. In addition to my dad, all of his brothers were in the military. As were my brothers, one a Green Beret during Viet Nam. I was giving you and Lance my observations from someone who doesn't know Atthebarn and have only met some of the others a few times, many years ago. I do know that Mr. Lukas was the first to offer profit sharing, I read it in a Blood Horse article. My point was, why are you even on a website that is dedicated to horse racing, in your demanding world of telling every one else what's wrong with them and how to handle their lives I would think you are far too busy.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

TUTU WIN — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:59:24 GMT

DocFarmer, I can see you ar a another trainer spinning your faitytales. Give me the name of one trainer you know that is at the track at 4AM and leaves at 10PM 7 days a week for 35+ years and I will call you a liar. I have been around anf know lots of people in this industry and you know that is a bunck of BS. I also know you do not work 18 hours a day every day. If you have been involved in this business or your family has, you no it is hard work and you know that my description is more the norm than Atthebarns or your decription. Give me the name of the $20 a day trainer and I will get her lots of business if she half way knows what she is doing. I pay workman's comp premium for iron workers, which is a higher rate per$100 than any job at the track. Give me the name of your state and the salary you pay (which is subject it premium audit) and I will tell you what you are paying in workmens comp. If you want to talk about sacrifice and duty to country I could make your head spin. Lets be honest here and call a spade a spade, most trainers (majority) have cheated.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

DocFarmer — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:34:11 GMT

Lance, sorry but I also noticed Atthebarn had a comment on one of the other blogs on BH that went into great detail about steroids efficacy, contraindications and possible side effects. Seemed very anti-drug, maybe one of the old timers still trying to train on oats, water and hay. I also noticed that Mr. Lukas has some 2 year olds just starting to run and was interested to see that none of his first time starters run on lasix.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

TUTU WIN — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:46:37 GMT

I am writing in reference to Atthebarn's rebuttal of lance guranovich. You must really think the people who post here truly ignorant to believe that fairy tale about you being at the barn at 4 A.M. and staying there till 10 P.M. First of all I doubt that you ever get there at 4 A.M. (probably 5:30 A.M. at the earliest)and you are probably finished by 11:00 A.M. unless you are running something that day at which you will leave and go relax somewhere until race time. The only other thing you need to be concerned with is the evening feed (around 5:30 P.M.) which most trainers have the grooms or assistants take care of. Another joke is the "I barely break even" line that all trainers use along with "I have to pay for workmens comp". Guess what? All employers carry workmen's comp and I know the game you trainers play about paying cash and listing employees as independent contractors. You are correct when you say "Wayne hasn't been under the microscope for years" I will also tell you his stats fell off the table since he has gone "straight". You try to justify your $70+ a day by saying you treat your horses better than someone treats their kids and you charge more for taking care of a horse than you guys are willing to pay for child support. Before you practice law you better understand what constitutes libel. As a public figure he can state his opinion freely about "Wayne" and as for yourself, you don't have the courage to leave your real name. By the way, I know lance and it is his real name.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

lance guranovich — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:14:40 GMT

to atthebarn,

your guess is incorrect. i have been involved with "thoroughbreds since 1978 and for almost 25 years, i have had as many as 13 horses on my property and in my care.

i raised seven "thoroughbred" foals to adulthood and when their careers were finished, they came back home, which is an unlikely eventuality for most race horses.

you made a comment that i was probably a disgruntled harness horse owner who did not achieve any success in racing, but that goes to show you how ignorant people can be.

i have never judged success in terms of how much money horses made for me over the years and it was always very exciting to stand in the winner's circle, but that part has always been secondary to me.

you talk of the long days you spend at the barn. my advice to you is to get a job. i worked at a job all of these years and worked at home also. my days off consisted of nothing, but work and i haven't taken any vacations either

i know what it is like to break ice out of buckets at 5 in the morning when it is twenty below zero or to unload seven hundred bales of hay at one time. dang, it's hard work, but nobody told me to do it.

as for using my real name, why not?

it is a free country and i served this country for three years, so i believe that i have a voice in what matters to me.

i don't even know who you are, because you choose to remain anonymous and that is your privilege, but i stand behind what i say. now, if if i stated that atthebarn used illegal drugs on horses, that is a horse of another color. i cannot do that, because i have no knowledge of you whatsoever

and what you do or don't do.

in reality, that makes me pretty smart instead of not so smart as you have labelled me .in fact, i am better than pretty smart, because my i.q. is 132 and i use it.

in conclusion, you if you are involved in this business of racing 365 days a year, you are more familiar with the problems than i am.

however, you are not willing to admit that the use of lasix is basically inconsequential and that bute can cause hemorrhage in horses just like aspirin can in humans.

also, the use of anabolic steroids is rampant. look what the drug does to humans, but of course, it doesn't harm young horses whose systems are still developing, not even thinking of what it does long term.

i urge you to disprove my statements about "legal drugs." maybe then we can dicuss our mutual love and dedication to the horse.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Racefan66 — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:01:10 GMT

Thank you Mr Jones for giving racing fans so much. You gave us an incredible filly who raced her heart out. You have been dignified and gracious with the media, leading the way for racing fans to heal the wound that Belles' passing caused. You are a role model for our sport. Thank you!

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Atthebarn2 — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:06:55 GMT

Lance, A friend told me to read your post,knew it would chap my hide. You said you wanted an answer, no you didn't or you wouldn't have waited until a day after the last post on here. Well I'm going to give you the answer you may not want. Yes we love our horses, if we didn't we wouldn't be up and at the barn at 4 a.m. and stay til 10pm and start all over again the next day, work 7 days a week and not take a vacation for 30-40 years. Do you put that much time in at your job, yes it's a job but you have to love horses to keep doing it because a lot of the people doing it now, have degrees and other options, like physiatrists, lawyers and so on. As far as Wayne, a lot of his peers have beat him up over the years for being corporate. In his prime he had a lot of horses just like Todd and Asmussen and numbers like that inflate the number of breakdowns. My guess is you had a horse once, maybe at a harness track and when you weren't a bigshot got alienated. Yes there are scumbags in every field, like the embezzlers, thiefs and abusive employers who work their human employees to death. I've known Wayne for years and he is always one of the first at the barn and at his age still works dang hard. You really think you could've done what he did with Klein, a lot of others have tried with owners richer, Sheik Mohammed for example and haven't been near as successful. Plus he was making around 50 grand for motivational speaking, could've switched to that and kept a lot of the money he spent on buying horses, feed etc which we all do and barely come out even. Yes some guys have had long suspensions I won't mention names but Wayne hasn't and he's been under the microscope for years, a few incidentals which could happen from training meds, which are still legal. The other thing is Wayne and a lot of us like him treat our horses better than you probably treat your kids.And you know, if that's your real name, not too smart there are still libel and slander laws in this country, because a lot of us take offense at being categorized as using illegal drugs when we don't.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Bryce Be Quick — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:46:36 GMT

BlueCollar-- could not disagree with you more: Larry Jones to me comes off as a horseman who respects the institution of racing and the Triple Crown series in particular.

As for wanting to win that first leg in particular, you bet: as a KY native he understands as well as any and better than most what this signature accomplishment means. Would he EVER place his ambitions ahead of the welfare of the horse? Let his quarter century track record answer that question.

What he saw in entering Eight Belles was a big, strong and willing girl who would not back down against the boys, in what looked to be a comparatively weak crop of 3 YO's. Frankly, Larry has a 6th sense when it comes to fillies, and is likely the best in this category since D. Wayne Lukas (who he consulted with prior to entering Eight Belles.

I did not pick her to win, and in fact posted that if she ran in the Oaks she would be the second-best horse in that race, but dang if she didn't perform just as Larry thought she would in the Derby. Rest in Peace, Sweetie-- you died doing what you were clearly bred to do, and you did it with excellence, just like your trainer.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Karen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:59:39 GMT

Its good to know the industry is finally taking the horse's safety serious. Eight Belles death was tragic but with tragedy comes hope. I am thrilled with the steps being made. Especially calling for the ban of anabolic steroids in training and racing! AMEN! We are moving in the right direction.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Matthew W — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:30:22 GMT

I was lucky enough to see Spectacular Bid demolish the great Flying Paster in the Strub--'Paster had this monster kick at middle distances---The Bid was just from another planet---Big Brown reminded me of Bid, and Bud, and Shoe, oh: The Great Shoe, on The Bid, turning for home.....Big Brown reminded me of that horse, that greatest horse--their moves were that alike...would like to see a Curlin v Big Brown v Heatseeker three mil race carded, say, at Arlington, say, early Sept...say Brownie gets a 10 lb break...otherwise SCALE vs Curlin in a winner take all match, say, Monmouth, say, three mil....say, PLEASE!! Like I say I know what I saw in The Bid--I think I saw it several times in Brownie.....

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Bryce Be Quick — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:38:29 GMT

Hey to Cuz Back Home in Hoptown-- until Larry Jones came along, Hoptown was best known to me as the hometown of another classic good guy and straightshooter, College Football Hall of Fame Coach Jerry Claiborne. Coach took over an undisciplined bunch at College Park, MD my sophomore year (1972) and made the Terps an instant winner and ACC power, before returning home to the SEC and UK in 1981 to restore the pride and winning ways at his alma mater's program at Lexington(where he played for Bear Bryant). So, is it something in the water in Hoptown, or just what is the secret? You grow 'em up right, that's for sure :-)

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Another Mary — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:30:29 GMT

Why all of this misinformation about Rags To Riches? She was retired this spring after reinjuring her leg (hairline fracture). She is now at Ashford Stud & in foal to Giant's Causeway. She is NOT dead! Long live the Queen of Belmont!

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

swami — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:06:23 GMT

Larry is so right on in everything he said. I looked again today at the PP's from this year and last year's Derby, and Big Brown's trainer should do the same. No comparison.

My heart goes out to all of Eight Belle's connections. Larry was absolutely right in running her in the Derby. Remember Winning Colors?

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

swami — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:06:21 GMT

Larry is so right on in everything he said. I looked again today at the PP's from this year and last year's Derby, and Big Brown's trainer should do the same. No comparison.

My heart goes out to all of Eight Belle's connections. Larry was absolutely right in running her in the Derby. Remember Winning Colors?

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Katman — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:53:50 GMT

Larry is obviously a great horseman and a great person. We are very lucky to have him as a trainer and he is an excellent ambassador for the sport of horse racing.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

CAnnie — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:18:12 GMT

Wonderful interview of a fine trainer and true gentleman of the racing world. Unfortunately, a TC winner includes the horse's connections, whether fans want to acknowledge the reality of this fact or not. These days, the TC represents much more than just the horse. BB is a very good racehorse. No question about that. It is unfortunate that his trainer's interviews were so abrasive and egocentric in nature. Not knowing anything of Dutrow until he appeared in print, I was concerned that this gentleman would be a representative of the sport as a TC winning trainer. His 'honesty' is not one that everyone finds admirable. As many have said, the horse is not to blame. Yet someone like Penny Chenery with her Secretariat is a much finer representative of a TC winner's connections. There were and are many great trainers in the racing world. Yet there has been a TC drought for 30 years. Luck, karma, training, deservability, God, if you will, in the end, until a TC is again achieved, we'll probably continue to speculate. In the meantime, I prefer that our children find heroes in the racing indistry who represent more than just 'bragging rights.' Condolences to Larry Jones and his great filly. Thank you also for a solid and praiseworthy interview.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

BlueCollar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:46:00 GMT

This trainer comes off as someone who is desperate to win a triple crown race. Just missing last year with Hard Spun had to be tough. I truly believe he entered the filly because he wants so deperately to win the derby, AND not because he planned and mapped this out when he began training her. He wants a derby win bad.

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

ariel — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:23:51 GMT

i cannot believe this man rooted against a TC winner. john servis may be a friend of his but he had no trouble getting servis' horses when porter split with servis. does he not realize how many people were so disappointed to not see a TC winner?? just because he doesn't like the 'connections' he doesn't want something as desperately needed in the sport as a TC champion and something to feel good about? sorry larry but most of america would have loved to see a TC winner and do not care about your infighting and who trains who-some ACTUALLY care more about the horses than the people involved-look at Curlin and how good it feels to still see a horse of his caliber run--anyone hear the huge ovation he got and last time i checked he had some very questionable connections last year while larry jones was ditching his jockey publicly and then not letting gomez off and then dissing gomez--class he isn't!

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

wolfgirl — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:49:41 GMT

larry jones=class!!he is the model all should follow!!

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

wolfgirl — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:20:46 GMT

curlin ran in dubai recently and won!!NO drugs are allowed over there or anywhere else for that matter so curlin is the horse with the most!!larry is a class act,,my own heart still hurts for belles so i can only imagine their pain.he is a model for all trainers to follow.kd did an injustice to racing by pulling up b.b. if the horse was not hurt why??can you imagine anyone of last years jocks pulling up any of the big three because they were tired or didn't like the track?i am sure that they were all tired but they all finished gamely!!now that's racing folks!!

re: Q & A With Larry Jones

Matthew W — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:06:45 GMT

GREAT to see Curlin is back! And that Tizdejavu looked awesome today as well--exceptional--both guys--all-in-all, The Belmont was terrible--but there's some pretty good horses around right now, and I can sense a good Fall.....