Jockey 'Cowboy' Jones dies at 79

Robert A. “Cowboy” Jones, whose feats during a riding career that spanned more than five decades were the stuff of legend, died Sunday evening, according to his daughter, Kaci Rae Smith. He was 79.

Jones was diagnosed earlier this year with an esophageal tumor, which caused his death while in hospice in his hometown of Henderson, Ky., where he was widely known as an icon from his years as a jockey at Ellis Park.

Jones rode his first winner in 1959 and went on to win races in six different decades, recording his final victory in September 2004 at Turfway Park. He continued to ride races off-and-on for nearly 10 more years, with his final mount coming in July 2014 at Ellis.

Jones was a perennial leading rider in the 1960s and early 1970s at Ellis and the old Miles Park in Louisville, Ky. Even in his later years, after suffering innumerable riding-related injuries that would have led others to retire, he was still exercising horses and riding an occasional race. He was widely known as gregarious and upbeat, a larger-than-life throwback with tales of derring-do to relate.

“He was the light in everyone’s life and made any negative situation into a positive one,” Smith wrote in a Facebook post.

In 2003, Ellis held a Cowboy Jones bobblehead giveaway, reflective of his popularity. As recently as last summer, he still made occasional visits to the track, regaling anyone who would listen of his days in the saddle.

“He was one of a kind,” said longtime trainer Larry Jones (not related), the three-time Kentucky Oaks-winning trainer who knew Jones for more than 40 years, “and he might’ve been the toughest cowboy I’ve ever known.”

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.