Aaron Jones Dies

Longtime horse owner and breeder Aaron Jones died Monday of heart failure at his home in Eugene, Oregon. He was 92. In tandem with his wife of 43 years, Marie, Jones campaigned or bred a bevy of top notch horses, chief among them was the Jones-bred, champion 3-year-old Filly and Older Mare Ashado (Saint Ballado), winner of seven Grade Is, including the GI Spinaway, GI Kentucky Oaks, GI Coaching Club American Oaks and 
GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Campaigned by Starlight Stables and trained by Todd Pletcher, Ashado was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame last month. 
Also among the notable horses bred, sold or campaigned by the Joneses; GI King’s Bishop S. scorer Forestry (Storm Cat), a $1.5-million Keeneland July purchase; 2000 Champion Older Mare Riboletta (Brz) (Roi Normand); and Jones-bred Drosselmeyer, who went on to win the 2010 GI Belmont S. and the 2011 GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. 
Jones also bred 2004 sprint champion Speightstown (Gone West), who was campaigned by Eugene Melnyk and trained by Pletcher. The striking chestnut earned his most notable victory in the 2004 GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint before embarking on a successful career at stud. 
“We have been friends and partners with him for 40 years,” said Frank Taylor, Vice President of Boarding Operations at Taylor Made. “It’s tough to lose him.” 
Pletcher, who was granted the task of preparing many of the Joneses top racehorses since the beginning of the century, was responsible for a long list of stakes winners for the couple, including Forest Danger (Forestry), a $900,000 FTFFEB 2-year-old purchase who went on to win the GI Carter H.; Jones homebred Sunriver (Saint Ballado), winner of the GI Hollywood Turf Cup; multiple-graded stakes victor Master Command (A.P. Indy); Grade II winner Shaniko (A.P. Indy); and stakes winner Value Plus (Unbridled’s Song), runner-up in the 2004 GI Florida Derby. 
Jones got his first taste of the Thoroughbred business in 1971, when he bought five broodmares, eight weanlings for a total of $113,000 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale. Among his earliest stakes winners were 1974 Beverly Hills H. heroine La Zanzara and Miss Musket, winner of the 1974 Santa Anita Oaks and Fantasy S. Both fillies were trained by the legendary ‘Bald Eagle,’ Charlie Whittingham. The following decade, a pair of Laz Barerra-trained horses earned championships for Jones; 1982 Champion Older Horse Lemi Gold (*Vaguely Noble) and 1986 Champion 3-year-old Filly Tiffany Lass (Bold Forbes). 
A health scare caused Jones to disperse much of his stock in 1990, but the philanthropist returned to the game in 1996, and later campaigned 2000 Champion Older Female Riboletta, the winner of five Grade I’s, including the GI Beldame S. and GI Ruffian H. The Joneses had cut down their racing team significantly over the past five years, however, Marie Jones continued to manage the couple’s equine holdings. 
“Marie has taken over in the last five years and has focused more on the commercial market,” said Taylor. 
A native of Texas, Jones amassed his fortune in the lumber industry in Oregon. He established his own firm, Seneca Sawmill Company, in 1954 and that expanded to the Seneca Family of Companies, which now employs about 400 people. 
It is one of the largest -producing, single-location timber and sawmill companies in the U.S., managing over 165,000 acres of Oregon forest land and producing 485-million feet of lumber per year. 
Jones served in the Pacific as an officer during World War II. After the war, he returned to Eugene, Oregon, and in 1947, graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in physical education. He subsequently launched his lumber company. 

A Relationship 40 Years in the Making… 
The relationship between Aaron Jones and the Taylor family spans four decades, back to a time when both Jones and the Taylors were just getting their feet wet in the sport. 
“When I was 16 or 17 years old, I went up to him at Keeneland and introduced myself,” recalled Frank Taylor. “I told him we would love to board some horses for him, since were just starting Taylor at the time. He called us about a year later and said he wanted to move 40 head over to the farm. That’s where it started, and we’ve been together ever since. 
Among Jones’s diverse holdings in the industry, he was also involved in the stallion market, having stood leading sire Saint Ballado (Halo) in conjunction with Taylor Made. The partnership reportedly secured the stallion for stud duty for about $6-million. 
“We handled stallions, mares, racehorses, pretty much handled everything for him,” said Taylor. “He was a great businessman and a very good horseman. He really understood horses, conformation and pedigrees.” 
In addition to a business relationship, however, the Taylors also forged a personal relationship with Jones. 
“He was basically and second dad to me,” said Taylor. “Not only was he a great customer, but he was also a very good mentor. He advised us on business and, when we were very young and growing, he was our biggest supporter. Any time we had a big decision to make, we’d call him for his opinion. He was a great friend, mentor and partner.”