Jim Cornes: A Lifetime Spent With Horses

Jim Cornes' career with racehorses has taken him around the world. (Photo courtesy of Julie June Stewart, all other photos courtesy of Jim Cornes)
Jim Cornes is a lucky man. Lucky to be alive. Lucky to have lived such an incredible life. And he knows it. His eyes often fill with tears as he recollects his journey from a hot walker to the glorious world of international racing and his return to the United States. Through it all, it has always been about the horses.
As a young boy, he told his mom he was playing in his church softball league when he was actually sneaking out to take riding lessons. He grew up in Albany, N.Y. He didn’t come from a horse racing family working in the industry but his parents were fans. He started going to the track when he was 5 years old, visiting Saratoga and the Massachusetts Fair circuit. The first big horse that he remembers was Affirmed but it was jockey Steve Cauthen with whom he identified. Cornes said, “Here I was on a bicycle and there was Cauthen on a Triple Crown winner!” He found a local New York TV show and remembers listening to Secretariat’s race on the radio.
“The more I learned about horses, the more I wanted to be involved.” He came to Kentucky as part of the six month Kentucky Equine Program where he learned about anatomy and farm management bringing him closer to his goal of working with horses. 
Cornes thought he might want to be a jockey but he quickly outgrew that dream. The school placed him at Ballindaggin Farm with the great horseman John Williams. Cornes learned how to take care of yearlings and 2-year olds. He easily recalls that the first mare he foaled was Romantic Love, owned by Mrs. Williams. He then went to Harbor View Farm where he was absolutely thrilled to work with Affirmed’s foals. Like most horse people, his career is a nomadic path through farms and racetracks. He broke babies for John Ward. He learned how to groom and eventually came to work for Woody Stephens at Saratoga.
CORNES AS A GROOM FOR STEPHENS

His parents were very supportive and lived life through his eyes. His dad always told him how lucky he was and that horses have shown him the world. Working for Stephens was probably one of the most influential times in a young man’s life embarking on a career in horse racing. Cornes said that it was “like working for your grandfather. There were no dumb questions. You learned something every day that you might use 10 or 15 years later.” Cornes remembered him as a kind and gentle man who had a special knack with horses. “Even when I was there, I didn’t see it as clearly as when I look back now” at what a remarkable time it was in his life. He talked about meeting Secretariat and laughed when he tried to describe the expression on his face which says it all. A young kid with his hands on one of the most famous horses of all times. He was star struck!
CORNES WITH SECRETARIAT

When Stephens’ champion Forty Niner won the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in 1988, Cornes walked the horse back to the test barn carrying a bucket and a blanket. For years, this has been a pivotal moment in Cornes’ life. “Here I was; a hot walker and a groom. Walking with a champion horse along the rail while family, friends and fans clapped and cheered. They were holding up their kids to see Forty Niner.” That is exactly when he knew that he had to be in this business. Little did he know of the amazing road that was before him. 
CORNES AND FORTY NINER

He went to another Thoroughbred center at Aiken, S.C. He rubbed horses, groomed for Bill Mott, became a jockey agent and tried his hand at training horses. A meeting with Kiaran McLaughlin opened the door to international horse racing. Soon the young man from Albany, N.Y. found himself working for McLaughlin in Dubai. “Dubai is a tremendous place!” He remembers being picked up at the airport in the middle of the night. The next morning when he opened the drapes in his apartment, he was surprised to see camels right outside his window. He laughs as he recalls the culture shock that he went through back then. He remained in Dubai for 19 years (returning home to Saratoga in the off months.) Cornes eventually went to work for the Dubai Racing Club as the International Stable manager.
Cornes says that horses are the international language. Horses, jockeys, trainers and connections came to Dubai from all over the world and he said that working with them was like “hosting the Olympic Village every year.” This much is apparent. As Cornes walks around a race track, it is only a mere matter of moments before he runs into someone he knows. I told him it seems like he knows everyone from everywhere and he smiled.    
“It’s not just that Jim knows everyone, and everyone knows Jim, but he’s the consummate horseman and a superb person,” says Pat Cummings, former editor of DubaiRaceNight.com and now an executive with the Hong Kong Jockey Club. “I first met Jim in 2001 when interning for the summer in Saratoga and as a relatively wide-eyed novice in the game, his experience in the internationalization of the sport struck a chord with me, and I ran with that. You never know where inspiration will strike, and Jim’s provided plenty of that to so many over the years.”
JIM AND ANGELA CORNES LEADING A HORSE OVER AT CHURCHILL DOWNS

Two years ago Cornes was back at home in Saratoga when he had a headache. It was one of those incredibly ironic moments in that his future wife Angela had seen a posting on Facebook describing symptoms of a stroke and what to look for. When Cornes complained of a headache, she insisted that he go to the hospital. Like a typical race tracker, Cornes was sure that he was fine and was shocked to learn that he had suffered a stroke.
It was time for a change in his life. Cornes knew that one thing was certain. “I needed to see horses. I needed to be with horses.” After much thought, he left Dubai and is now the Business Development Manager for Medivet Equine which is an Australian medical equine company specializing in regenerative medicine that opened a branch in the United States. This allows him to work with horses in all disciplines. He finds it intriguing to have a hand in helping and healing horses. It’s a full circle now from when he first started bringing horses into this world. He likes to look at “things we can do to make them better.”
Cornes smiles and wipes away his tears. He is very emotional about the sheer wonder of being a stroke survivor and that he is now at the Breeders’ Cup. He said “I am so happy and proud to be able to walk into a shed row and talk about horses. It is the horses that brought us all together.” It is a substantial victory for Cornes as he reminisces about his incredible life from upstate New York to Dubai and all around the world.
CORNES WITH PRIVATE ZONE
 
In the world of horse racing, every job is just a starting gate to another finish line. The next time you are at the track, be sure to give a cheer for the young men and women who are walking the horses back to the barn.  You never know where they might go next in their career. They could easily be our next industry leaders. All they need is encouragement and support. As Cornes says “You never say goodbye in horse racing. You just move onto the next race.”