[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 8, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: February 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO WARNER L. JONES--KENTUCKY AND THE NATION LOSE A GIANT OF THE
HORSE RACING INDUSTRY
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as my colleagues know, the
thoroughbred industry is vital to my home State of Kentucky.
Unfortunately, this past weekend that industry lost one of its
pioneers, my dear friend Warner L. Jones.
Warner led what can only be called a full, exciting, and wonderful
life. The world famous Churchill Downs race track in Louisville, KY,
was founded on his great-grandmother's land and owes much of its
current success to his leadership. He served as a director of the track
for over 50 years, and was chairman during the historic track's revival
in the 1980's. Warner did not take his commitment to Churchill Downs
lightly. In 1969, when the track was in danger of being taken over, he
borrowed almost $300,000 in order to buy more stock and help fend off
the bid.
Under Warner and track president Tom Meeker's able guidance,
Churchill Downs underwent a $25 million renovation as well as doubling
its revenue. It was also during this time that in 1988 the track hosted
for the first time the prestigious Breeders Cup event. It later hosted
this exciting day in racing in 1991 and will again in November of this
year.
Mr. President, Warner had since 1935 been one of the most influential
breeders in America. From his picturesque Hermitage Farm in Goshen, KY,
in Oldham County, he bred and housed some of the world's most
influential thoroughbreds in the world. He was the only breeder to have
ever bred winners in the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, and a Breeders
Cup race. In 1985, Warner sold one of his yearlings at the annual
Keeneland sales for a world record $13.1 million.
Warner was also active on the legislative end of the business as
well, Mr. President. He was one of the creators of the American Horse
Council, a national association that represents the industry in
Congress. As cousin to our former colleague Marlow Cook of Kentucky, it
should come as no surprise that Warner was always diligent and
effective in lobbying his industry's many vital interests. In fact,
James J. Hickey, Jr., the current president of the American Horse
Council, called Warner ``one of the most important people in the horse
industry in this century.''
While this is indeed high praise, it in no way tells the entire story
of this great American. Warner Jones was a man whose moral compass was
always focused in exactly the right direction. An ardent believer in
strong family values, he was a man of unparalleled character,
integrity, and charm.
In his native Oldham County, Warner donated some of his property as
well as thousands of dollars to the Oldham County Youth Football
League. In spite of what some saw as a gruff exterior, Warner was a
friend to all and had a particular soft spot for children. In fact, one
of his friends said that Warner often carried with him a thank-you
letter written to him by some of the kids he had helped get involved
with the football league.
Mr. President, a loss like the one the Commonwealth of Kentucky and
the horse industry has just suffered is not easily forgotten. I ask my
colleagues to join me in remembering and honoring the significant
contributions made during his productive lifetime. Having recently lost
my mother, I understand the grief that his family is suffering and,
therefore, would like to also extend my deepest sympathies and
understanding to his wonderful wife Harriet as she goes through this
trying time.
Mr. President, I would like to ask that an article from the February
8, 1994, Lexington Herald Leader be inserted into the Record at this
point.
[From the Lexington (KY) Herald Leader, Feb. 8, 1994]
Death of Horseman Jones Ends Special Era
(By Billy Reed)
LOUSIVILLE.--Before Kenneland's world-famous summer
yearling sale, you could usually hear Warner L. Jones Jr.
moaning and fretting in that raspy voice of his over what
cruel fate might have in store for him.
``My whole business, my success or failure for a whole
year.'' Jones once said, ``is decided in three hours on one
night of the year at Kenneland. I don't know of any other
business where you have that kind of pressure.''
Yes, but he thrived on it. At the end of a sale, ol' Warner
usually was smiling as he headed back to Hermitage Farm, his
five hundred-acre spread just off U.S. 42 in Oldham County,
about 20 minutes from downtown Louisville.
In July of 1964, Jones sold a yearling colt for $150,000, a
world record that looked laughable in the summer of 1985,
when he sold a Nijinsky-My Charmer colt for $13.1 million,
the current world record and one that's likely to stand
forever.
``I knew he was a helluva colt,'' salesman Jones said. ``He
was one of a kind, like a precious stone or jewel.''
So, too, was Jones, who died Sunday night at the age of 78
after a long bout with cancer. Earthy more than polished,
Jones was as shrewd a horseman as ever came down the pike.
His death ends the era that began in the 1940s, when smart,
hard-nosed, persuasive horsemen such as Jones, A.B. ``Bull''
Hancock Jr. of Claiborne Farm and Leslie Combs II came to
dominate the breeding world.
They were alchemists with an almost preternatural ability
to produce excellent horses, and they loved the challenges of
trying to beat the market, the races and, of course, each
other.
``It's a fad, like women's hats or something,'' Jones once
said. ``You try to guess which stallions will be popular
three years away. If I guess right, I'm a genius. If not,
I've lost money.''
Of all the big-time Kentucky breeders, only Jones didn't
live within a 25-mile radius of Lexington, and one reason was
his life-long love affair with Churchill Downs, the home of
the Kentucky Derby.
His great-great-great grandmother was a Churchill, and Col.
M. Lewis Clark, the track president when it opened and held
the first Derby in 1875, was an uncle three generations
removed.
A Churchill director since 1941, the year Whirlaway won the
Derby, Jones was especially proud that he was the first
horseman to breed and sell winners of both the Derby (Dark
Star in 1953) and Kentucky Oaks (Nancy Jr. in 1967).
After succeeding John W. Galbreath as Churchill's chairman
of the board in 1984, Jones replaced track president Lynn
Stone with Tom Meeker, opening the way for the track to
undertake the most aggressive remodeling and marketing
program in its history.
Of all the changes made at Churchill, Jones' baby was the
construction of the turf course in the track's infield, which
enabled Churchill to attract the Breeders' Cup and diversify
its racing cards.
Typically feisty and combative throughout the campaign to
get the turf course done, Jones became exacerbated with
critics who accused him of not caring about the infield's
beauty.
``It's nothing but grass we're talking about,'' Jones
growled, ``They're not going to set up Coca-Cola signs and
Falls City beer signs in there. There's nothing prettier to
look at than green grass and pretty girls.''
That was vintage Jones.
Although he always had a wink and a smile for a female he
found attractive, Jones seemed most at home in the company of
men, where he could argue and joke and tell stories without
having to worry about his salty language.
Yet he also gave up drinking years ago and became such a
confirmed teetotaler that Churchill employees always were
careful about how much they drank around him, for fear of
becoming the objects of a stern Jones scowl and a stern Jones
lecture.
He hated to lose a game of golf or cards almost as much as
he hated to get the short end of a horse deal, but he also
could laugh at himself.
For example, he like to tell about a summer at Saratoga in
the 1940s, when he still was getting established and Combs
outmaneuvered him to syndicate a stallion that both wanted.
It was a funny story, made more so by the gravel in Jones'
voice. Such a voice. When he called, you knew who it was
before he identified himself.
And then you listened closely because when it came to the
horse business, Warner L. Jones always had something
important to say, which is just one of the reasons he'll be
so terribly missed.
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