Jockey Continues Search for Win at Age 70

Veteran Ellis Park-based jockey R.A “Cowboy” Jones will continue his quest to be the only known jockey to ride a winner in a sanctioned race in seven different decades, after his latest mount, an even-money favorite in a maiden allowance race at Fairmount Park, could do no better than second. Jones, aged 70, began his riding career in 1959 in South Dakota, and has won races in every decade since except the present one, with his last victory in 2004.

My Kentucky Breeze fails to hold the lead

His latest attempt looked like the best most recent chance for Jones to notch a win in the 2010s, as his mount last Tuesday, My Kentucky Breeze, was coming off three straight second-place finishes. After racing in third to the half-mile pole, she split rivals and briefly took the lead, but was run down by the winner.  The race did produce some controversy, and the third-place jockey, John Lejeune was handed a 60-day suspension for lack of effort, although his horse did finish 28 lengths ahead of the fourth-place horse.

Jones chasing after first win in 2010s

Jones has gone winless since his last victory in 2004, although only once since then – in 2010 – has he had a double-digit number of rides in any given year, and only two so far in 2013. For his career he has had 3,958 starts, and 265 wins, with 315 seconds and 353 thirds. Although he rode in a number of minor stakes races in his career, he has never had a stakes victory. His best year earnings-wise came in 1983, when he won purses totaling just over $320,000, while his most successful wins campaign came in 1984, when he rode 48 winners in 506 starts.