Warner L. Jones Jr.

Warner L. Jones Jr.. For more than 50 years, Warner L. Jones Jr. was on the board of Churchill Downs, which a great-great-great uncle, Col. M. Lewis Clark, founded in 1875. For 12 years, Jones was chairman. Thus, much of his career was involved in protecting and promoting the track's revered Kentucky Derby. Jones established Hermitage Farm outside Louisville in 1935 and operated it for the rest of his life. He bred 131 stakes winners, including winners of the two most distinguished races at his home track: Dark Star, winner of the 1953 Kentucky Derby, and Nancy Jr., winner of the 1967 Kentucky Oaks. Jones was also on the board of the Breeders' Cup Ltd. and saw another Hermitage produce, Is it True, win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill in 1988. In Lexington, Jones was instrumental in forming Breeders' Sales during World War II, and it became the forerunner of the Keeneland Association sales. In two separate eras, he sent yearlings into the Keeneland sale ring to bring world-record prices. The first was the $170,000 colt One Bold Bid in 1964 and the second was the astounding, $13.1-million Seattle Dancer twenty years later. In 1969, Jones became a driving force in formation of the American Horse Council, which represents the horse industry in Washington, D.C.