Larry Jones @ Oaklawn today to saddle Old Fashioned
DiscreetCat
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from USA Today:
The overwhelming positive for Thoroughbred trainer Larry Jones is that he has two highly regarded Kentucky Derby contenders in undefeated Old Fashioned and Friesan Fire.
The negative is that Old Fashioned has been training at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., in preparation for Saturday's Rebel Stakes there, while Friesan Fire is at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans readying for the Louisiana Derby on the same day.
Jones has been putting in many hours on the highway driving from Arkansas to Louisiana and back to make sure both colts are as ready as can be. But what will he do on Saturday? "I really did not have a lot of choice in the matter," he says. "My wife told me where I was going to be. Cindy said she could handle everything in New Orleans."
No one would've blamed Jones if he had preferred to saddle Old Fashioned. The colt has been a dream for a trainer who endured the nightmare of watching his filly Eight Belles euthanized on the track when she severely injured both front legs after a runner-up finish in last year's Kentucky Derby.
Old Fashioned has always been the more precocious of the two colts.
"He has the right frame of mind for everything," Jones says. "He's a very competitive horse. He knows what he needs to do.
"With Friesan Fire, early in his career he was satisfied being a herd animal. Trying to be No. 1 was not something he felt he had to prove to the other horses. Friesan Fire has really come to hand right now. It's up to us to make sure he doesn't peak too quickly."
The overwhelming positive for Thoroughbred trainer Larry Jones is that he has two highly regarded Kentucky Derby contenders in undefeated Old Fashioned and Friesan Fire.
The negative is that Old Fashioned has been training at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., in preparation for Saturday's Rebel Stakes there, while Friesan Fire is at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans readying for the Louisiana Derby on the same day.
Jones has been putting in many hours on the highway driving from Arkansas to Louisiana and back to make sure both colts are as ready as can be. But what will he do on Saturday? "I really did not have a lot of choice in the matter," he says. "My wife told me where I was going to be. Cindy said she could handle everything in New Orleans."
No one would've blamed Jones if he had preferred to saddle Old Fashioned. The colt has been a dream for a trainer who endured the nightmare of watching his filly Eight Belles euthanized on the track when she severely injured both front legs after a runner-up finish in last year's Kentucky Derby.
Old Fashioned has always been the more precocious of the two colts.
"He has the right frame of mind for everything," Jones says. "He's a very competitive horse. He knows what he needs to do.
"With Friesan Fire, early in his career he was satisfied being a herd animal. Trying to be No. 1 was not something he felt he had to prove to the other horses. Friesan Fire has really come to hand right now. It's up to us to make sure he doesn't peak too quickly."
Comments
Porter there also, leaving the duties with Cindy to saddle, KK,HM, and FF. They love OF in a big way, the inner circle sayings is they haven't even cranked him up as of this date.
FB