Ex-trainer Gary Jones dead at 76

Gary Jones, a second-generation trainer whose brilliance in a relatively brief and meteoric 22-year career landed him in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, died Sunday night at age 76 at his home in Del Mar, Calif., where he had lived since his early retirement in 1996. He had been in declining health for years owing to the effects of dementia.

Jones was the son of legendary trainer Farrell Jones, and the pressure to live up to the legacy of his father, and the demands he put on himself, helped Jones professionally and impacted him personally. Jones had high expectations and met them, winning major races across the country while being a longtime force in Southern California, where he won multiple training titles at the three major tracks at the time, Del Mar, Hollywood Park, and Santa Anita.

He also lived hard during his training days. Among other vices, a cigarette was never far from his lips, and at an early age, following a heart attack in the mid-1990s, doctors told him he either needed to stop working or risk dying sooner than he’d like.

Reason won out over his competitive personality, and at age 52 Jones walked away. He settled into retirement in Del Mar, where he did plenty of community service for the track before his health declined.

Jones packed a lot into his training career. He won the first Pacific Classic in 1991 with Best Pal, and trained Turkoman, the champion older male of 1986. His other top horses included the filly Lakeway, the top turf mare Kostroma, outstanding sprinter Time to Explode, NYRA Mile winner Quiet American – whose failure to be selected to get into the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Classic rightly angered Jones – and Stuka, who was placed first in a controversial 1994 Santa Anita Handicap when The Wicked North was disqualified. Jones beat Triple Crown winner Affirmed with Radar Ahead in the 1979 San Fernando.

Jones also trained Wishing Well, who was a good racemare but became better known as the dam of Sunday Silence, the 1989 Horse of the Year in the United States who became a legendary sire in Japan.

His major race wins also included the Apple Blossom, Beverly D., Del Mar Futurity, Fantasy, Hollywood Futurity, Hollywood Gold Cup, Hollywood Oaks, La Brea, Malibu, Marlboro Cup, Mother Goose, Norfolk (now the American Pharoah), Oaklawn Handicap, Santa Anita Oaks, Santa Monica, Strub, Widener, and Yellow Ribbon.

In 22 years, Jones won 1,465 races – 102 of those graded stakes – and his runners earned more than $52 million.

Jones is survived by by his wife, Joan, two sons, Marty – a third-generation trainer – and David, and two granddaughters.

Funeral services are pending.