Benjamin Allyn Jones (December 31, 1882 – June 13, 1961) was an American

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

. Ben Jones was born in

Parnell, Missouri Parnell is a city in northeast Nodaway County, Missouri, Nodaway County, Missouri, United States, near the Platte River (Missouri River), Platte River. The population was 135 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 Census. It was home to the fath ...

, and attended

Wentworth Military Academy Wentworth Military Academy and College was a private two-year military college and high school in Lexington, Missouri, one of six military junior colleges in the United States. The institution was founded in 1880 and closed in 2017. History ...

Lexington, Missouri Lexington is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2010 census. Lexington is in western Missouri, within the Kansas City metropolitan area, approximately east of Kansas C ...

for high school. Jones went into the business of breeding and training of thoroughbreds during the first decade of the 20th century, racing his horses on small circuits in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

and in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. By the end of the 1920s he was recognized as one of the better trainers in the industry. He gave up his operation to accept the job of trainer for Woolford Farm in

Prairie Village, Kansas Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and located within the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,957. History After the successful development of the Coun ...

from 1931 to 1939 during which time he trained three champions including the 1938

Flamingo Stakes The Flamingo Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses run over a distance of a mile and one-eighth. Run as the Florida Derby until 1937, the inaugural event took place at Tampa Downs on February 27, 1926. There was ...

and

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

winner,

Lawrin Lawrin (May 15, 1935 – September 1, 1955) was an American thoroughbred racehorse owned by Herbert M. Woolf who won the 1938 Kentucky Derby. He was the son of Insco. He is the only Kansas-bred winner of the Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky ...

. For the next season, Jones was hired by Warren Wright, Sr. to train for his

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

and to take charge of its breeding operation. Under Ben Jones, Calumet became one of the greatest stables in thoroughbred racing history. Between 1938 and 1952, Jones won a record setting six Kentucky Derbies as a horse trainer. Until his record was matched by horse trainer

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer. He has trained two Triple Crown winners: American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. Baffert's horses have won the Kentucky Derby six times, tying the record with ...

in 2020, Jones was the only trainer to win the Kentucky Derby six times, including victories by two U.S. Triple Crown winners,

Whirlaway Whirlaway (April 2, 1938 – April 6, 1953) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the fifth winner of the American Triple Crown. He also won the Travers Stakes after his Triple Crown sweep to become the first and only horse to ...

and

Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...

. In 1948, Ben Jones was appointed general manager of Calumet Farm and his son, Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones, took over head trainer duties. Ben Jones made the cover of the May 30, 1949 issue of

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

. He retired in 1953 and in 1958 was inducted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred horse racing, Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and Horse trainer, trainers. In 1955, the museum ...

. Ben Jones died in 1961 at the age of seventy-eight.

Kentucky Derby Race Record

† - Won the Triple Crown ‡ - While Jimmy Jones was the trainer of Citation, he allowed his father Ben Jones to be listed as the trainer in the Kentucky Derby. Jimmy took over Citation's training and won the Preakness and Belmont.

References

Ben A. Jones at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
* Bowen, Edward L. '' Masters of the Turf: Ten Trainers Who Dominated Horse Racing's Golden Age'' (2007)

Eclipse Press Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It began in 1916 through its flagship magazine, ''The Blood-Horse''. From 1961 to 2015, Blood-Horse Public ...

() {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ben A. 1882 births 1961 deaths People from Nodaway County, Missouri American racehorse trainers American Champion racehorse trainers United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Wentworth Military Academy and College alumni