Brereton Jones holding pair of aces for Kentucky Oaks

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – In an unforgettable day at the races, fillies owned by former Kentucky Gov. Brereton C. Jones won two major Kentucky Oaks preps last Saturday. Lovely Maria delivered as the favorite in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland, and Include Betty came through at 18-1 in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy at Oaklawn Park. Jones is the sole owner of Lovely Maria, while he races Include Betty in partnership with Tim Thornton.

“We’re obviously pretty excited about both of them,” Jones said Tuesday. “It looks like we’re fortunate in that both of our fillies are just getting better each time they go to the post. If the good lord is willing, we will have both of these fillies in the Kentucky Oaks.”

Jones has won the Kentucky Oaks twice, with Proud Spell in 2008 and Believe You Can in 2012. Larry Jones trained both of those fillies and is the trainer of Lovely Maria. Tom Proctor trains Include Betty.

Include Betty closed from last to capture the Fantasy by a neck, earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 89. It was the third win at two turns for Include Betty, whom Brereton Jones also co-bred with Lavin Bloodstock. Include Betty has been shipped to Kentucky, said Jones.

“She will be staying at Keeneland until we ship up for the race, for the Oaks,” Jones said of the May 1 race at Churchill Downs. “Both fillies will be at Keeneland.”

Kerwin Clark has been the regular rider on Lovely Maria, while Rosemary Homeister Jr. has been a constant presence on Include Betty. The jockeys will remain in place for the Oaks unless there is some reason they can’t be aboard, said Jones.

The position Jones finds himself in heading into the Oaks is not lost on the owner of Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky.

“It’s special for a lot of different reasons,” Jones said. “When I was just a little guy, 5 or 6, I can remember folks coming up to me, patting me on the head, and saying, ‘Sonny, what are you going to be when you grow up?’ and I always said, ‘I’m going to race horses in Kentucky.’ ”

The answer must have seemed strange, Jones said with a chuckle, as it came from a boy growing up on a dairy farm in West Virginia. Perhaps as hard to fathom as winning two Kentucky Oaks preps on a single Saturday.

“You don’t understand. You just smile and be thankful,” said Jones. “It’s just a blessing.”