Jones Back in Saddle, Eyeing Oaks

Larry Jones riding 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace before her run in the Breeders' Cup Classic. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
LOUISVILLE – No matter how trainer Larry Jones fares in the 141st Kentucky Oaks on Friday, his mere presence in the coveted race with prime contenders Lovely Maria and I’m a Chatterbox represents a tremendous triumph.
Jones, who exercises as many of his horses as possible in an effort to maintain a hands-on operation, was riding a 2-year-old on a bucolic path at Delaware Park when something startled the youngster and he sent his rider flying.
It almost surely saved his life that his wife, Cindy, his top assistant, was accompanying him on another horse, something she does not always do. He had lost consciousness the instant he hit the ground, and she was able to turn him so that he could breathe.
Jones was rushed to nearby Christiana Hospital, where it was discovered that he had two areas of bleeding on the brain to go with two fractured ribs and a bruised lung. “I think it was touch and go there for a little while because there was bleeding from the brain,” said Rick Porter, one of Jones’ primary clients.
According to Cindy, Larry Jones stopped breathing as they prepped him for emergency surgery. “They brought him back,” she said.
He was placed in a medically induced coma and Cindy began an extended prayer chain, asking family, friends and friends of friends to pray for the bleeding to stop.
It seemed to her that her husband was in that coma forever. In actuality, it was approximately two days. When she arrived at the intensive care unit on Easter Sunday, the nurse informed her that a new scan of the brain had been taken. He urged her to view it with him.
“There was not one sign of blood anywhere,” Cindy said. “It was gone.”
“This is unbelievable,” the nurse said.
“No, it’s not,” Cindy told him. “It’s the miracle we prayed for.”
Jones blinked awake at 3 a.m. the next day, having been eased out of the coma to see a nurse shining a light in his eyes.
The nurse asked him if he knew where he was. He surveyed the various tubes attached to his body and surmised that he was in a hospital but had no idea how he got there or what was wrong.
When the nurse apologized for awakening him at 3 a.m., he replied that it was no problem because he trains horses and always starts his day at that hour, eager to reach the barn and check on the Thoroughbreds in his care.
JONES'S OAKS CONTENDERS

I'm a Chatterbox
Lovely Maria

Jones, a native of Hopkinsville, Ky., coped with dizziness and headaches for weeks after his release from Christiana Hospital.
“The whole world just kept spinning,” he said.
He continues to recall nothing of the life-threatening accident. “I don’t remember riding the horse,” he said.
Although doctors advised the 6-foot, 180-pound Jones against riding again, it was not until he got back in the saddle that his dizziness stopped. Jones, whose faith in God runs as deep as that of his wife, took the end of his dizziness as a sign of how to conduct himself moving forward.
“It was scary to get on one at first,” he admitted, “but when I did and the dizziness quit, it was like ‘OK, this is what I’m supposed to be doing.’ ”
Lovely Maria and I’m a Chatterbox both come off impressive victories, with Lovely Maria taking the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland Race Course and I’m a Chatterbox scoring in the Fair Grounds Oaks.
Jones is vying for his third Oaks victory; Woody Stephens holds the record with five wins. Jones previously succeeded with Proud Spell in 2008 and, in 2012, with a filly whose name is sure to resonate with the affable trainer and his legion of fans. Her name: Believe You Can.