Lawrence Jones: Painting Preakness Winners

Lawrence Jones has been painting the Preakness winner's jockey silks at Pimlico for 28 years. (Photos courtesy of Julie June Stewart)
In the rich tradition of horse racing, it ranks as a unique symbol. Every year the weathervane above Pimlico Race Course is painted with the jockey silks colors and saddle cloth number of the horse that won the Preakness Stakes. The tradition began in 1909. The horse and rider weathervane used to sit on top of the old clubhouse (dating back to 1870). Unfortunately, the clubhouse was destroyed in a fire in 1966. One of the only items rescued was the weathervane, which is currently on display in Pimlico’s museum.
While seen by millions of fans on the television broadcast and by thousands in attendance at the track; few know that the painter is Lawrence Jones from Baltimore. Ten years ago, Jones retired from the city of Baltimore where he was a graphic artist. He had worked for 35 years doing sign work. One day he received word that he was needed at Pimlico for a special project. That was 28 years ago.
ORIGINAL PIMLICO WEATHERVANE

Originally, Jones climbed up a ladder that was precariously braced on the weather vane while he held his paint cans and brushes. Photographs show a person at the bottom of the ladder as a stabilizer. It was difficult because the five foot wide weather vane swings around. In 2000, for the 125th Preakness, Jones was accompanied by artist LeRoy Nieman in a cherry picker which has since replaced the ladder. Sometimes an additional person accompanies Jones to hold the weather vane in place. 
Jones usually arrives two hours before the Preakness Stakes so he can get to the infield. He carries a yellow plastic tool kit. Inside, it holds a variety of small paint cans and brushes. He acquires the Preakness program and studies the jockey silks illustrations. He notices the details such as chevrons, polka dots and logos. He usually rises in the cherry picker while the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club sings “Maryland, My Maryland.” He wants to be in position to start painting immediately after the race is declared official.   
This year despite the inclement weather that was forecasted, Jones said “I was ready to go up. I can beat the rain.” But then he saw the lightning and the dark clouds. He decided to stay on the ground. It was too dangerous and he said he would come back another day. The following day he was painting the lawn jockey statue next to the stakes barn. It was raining but Jones thought he could at least apply a base coat of yellow paint to the sleeves of the jockey while covering the dark purple of California Chrome’s silks.
JONES PAINTS SILKS OUTSIDE STAKES BARN

Jones is a congenial man with warm brown eyes.  He smiles when he shyly reveals that he is “blessed to be 74 years old.” He enjoys his involvement with the Preakness. He loves horses with big personalities. He lists some of his favorite Preakness winners which include Secretariat and Big Brown.
Jones teaches Bible study and has been actively involved with the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore for the past 20 years. He has been to Ghana, where he helped build a church. He talks knowledgeably about the logistics involved in providing beehives for a local Ghana community designed to assist them as they become financially independent. 
It has been a family affair at the track. He often has his wife by his side. Jones would bring his two children with him when they were young. Then he brought his grandchildren to the track. Now his family watches him on the television broadcast. 
He studies the program an hour before the race and hopes that the jockey silks are not too complicated. If they are, he will do the basics and come back later to put on the finishing touches. One of his biggest worries is whether or not he has the right colors in his paint box. He frets about having the right shade of green or blue. 
JONES PREPARES FOR THE NEW PREAKNESS WINNER'S SIGN

The day following the race, one will find Jones painting the lawn jockey statue near the stakes barn. He arrives and places his yellow paint box at the base of the statue. Next, he removes the sign indicating last year’s winner. Ironically, beneath the sign is old sign for another of Bob Baffert’s Preakness winners: Real Quiet from 1998. Jones affixes the new sign for this year’s winner, opens his Preakness program and turns to the Preakness Stakes pages. 
It is raining as he opens his paint cans and he stirs them. He wipes down the statue with a towel and pulls out a brush and dips it into a can of bright yellow paint.  Slowly and methodically, he starts laying a primer base of paint on the sleeves of the jockey.  He thinks it may take a couple of coats to cover the dark purple silks of last year’s winner California Chrome.
TOOLS OF JONES'S TRADE

He points to several jockey silks in the program that would be difficult to paint; a checkered pattern or a complex logo. He says it would require him to come back to make additional touches that would make it look nice. Finally it is raining too hard. Jones has posed for several photographers while painting and now that his program is rain soaked, he decides to call it a day and return when the weather improves.   
As an artist, he also likes to paint at home. He says that he does it for entertainment and as a hobby. He enjoys painting portraits and animals such as lions. He hasn’t painted a horse yet. But he smiled when he said that he might one day! Pimlico is the only track that Jones has been involved with over the years. With an artistic eye he said “It’s exciting. The horses are so beautiful. Their muscle tone, their bodies and the way that they use their muscles. They are a piece of God’s work.” 
Jones chats with several members of the media and describes the stormy conditions from the day before. He surveys his work on the lawn jockey and smiles. “It will be prettier tomorrow!”