Secret Gizmo breaks her maiden impressively and puts trainer Ryan Jones back into the winner's circle.

For many race fans who aren't familiar with Woodbine Racetrack, when you see trainer Ryan Jones in the winner's circle you may think that he is new to the sport, but he is not.  As a matter of fact, I challenge you to break the silence and have a conversation with him about training horses.  You will be delighted to hear the amount of knowledge and the poise this trainer has about the sport and his views on training the horses in his time at Woodbine Racetrack.

Based on the Equibase records, Ryan Jones started training his first horses back in 2009 at Woodbine Racetrack but his love for horse racing and his drive for training horses started in his country of birth, Barbados.  In that inaugural year of training horses in 2009, he sent out 32 starters and won twice from those starters with Serena's Rose and Peace Bay, since then it has been very similar to a roller coaster activity with the horses.  

Evidently, 2009 was his best year to date if you are counting the dollars.

I spoke with Ryan Jones about his latest first-place finish with Secret Gizmo and what life has been like training horses at Woodbine over the years.

With just 10 career first-place finishes, 17 seconds, and 11 thirds Ryan Jones continue to be optimistic and keeps his jar half full in the racing game.  He explained to me that he can't afford to get too far ahead of himself when it comes to the horses because in his time he has found that the game is really about patience and being able to withstand as much as you can.  No sense crying or complaining he utters, just lick your wounds and move on.  Ryan mentions that he had some bad luck in the past, like the time when one of his runners was injured with a nail in the hoof and had to be retired after a promising start to her career.  These are the ill fortune occasions that could dampen a new trainer in the business, Ryan Jones says "Sometimes you have to kiss many frogs before getting the prince" a quote he uses from one of his mentors David Cotey. 

David Cotey (L) Ryan Jones (R)

Ryan admits that even though he is experienced as a trainer and has been around for many years, he still has to keep an open mind to the game and be willing to learn constantly.  It's a sport that is constantly evolving and old trainers can still learn new tricks from the youngsters in the game. He compliments Handel Love who is his business partner for sticking with the game and he praises Stephen Edwards who he has countless respect and admiration.  

I asked Ryan about Secret Gizmo and what were the instructions for the jockey Amanda Vandermeersch for riding the horse to victory to break her maiden, he denied any instructions to the jock and he always let the jocks make decisions on their own.  "Instructions to the jocks is something I don't do, I may point out some quirks about the horse but I never instruct a jockey to ride a race in a particular way since many things can change once the gates are opened".  He confesses that after Secret Gizmo's last race before she broke her maiden, jockey Amanda Vandermeersch came to him and stated that she needed to ride Secret Gizmo again and this time she will break her maiden for him.  Well, the rest is history because she did just that and it was in fine style.  Ryan said that he was happy to see that type of confidence in the jockey because that confidence that she displayed gave him confidence and it lifted the entire team with energy.  It also showed him that the jockey had confidence in the horse and there is no better feeling to a trainer than when a jockey shows confidence in a horse like she did.

Ryan Jones doesn't have the big stock as yet but he continues to work hard and hopefully, someone will see what he is doing as a trainer and understand that he is all in.

I asked Ryan about his thoughts on his fellow Barbadian horseman and women who continue to improve and have been in the spotlight lately and his energy rose once more with pride.  He expresses that Barbados isn't the biggest country but continues to produce top-class people in the horse world on the international stage.  You may not always see and hear from them and he pointed out a few who he was proud to see doing well or have done well.  Patrick Husbands, Jono Jones, Rico Walcott, Chris Husbands, and those are only a few names people knew about.  Trainers like Sylvester Ollivierre, Ted Holder, Randy Thompson, Rodney Barrow, and many more.  He goes on to point out the fact that the late Ricky Griffith was a jockey who turned trainer and Barbadian-born Stephen Edwards one of his mentors was an official for racing right here in Ontario and those are things that continue to make him feel proud of about his fellow country men.  Barbadian horsemen usually don't have the big stock to work with he proclaims, but usually, they produce with the little that they have in the game.  In the USA, they are jockeys like Rocco Bowen, Keimar Trotman, Jalon Samuel, and others who are learning the game or have continued to open up doors for others.

Secret Gizmo is an improving filly who has done better with each start and she is very young in the game the trainer claims.  She has improved with every race but Ryan Jones isn't the type to get overly excited about her latest effort which produced a 69 E speed figure.   

Jones recognizes the compliments from his peers at the track and he will make a decision in a week or so about what is next for Secret Gizmo.

derek.barntrack@gmail.com