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Darke County's Mandy Jones stands with her newest acquisition, Julie’s
DaVinchie (Vinni) in the Jones stables
at the Darke County Fairgrounds.
Vinnie is a four year old gelding and Jones will look to drive him to
victory in
14 ladies only races during the 2015 season. CNO Photos
submitted by Mandy Jones and Brad Conrad
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Local driver
gearing up for 2015 harness season
Mandy Jones ready to face big challenges
By George Starks
GREENVILLE- With the onslaught of racinos in Ohio, not to mention the
Reigle Memorial and the Three Diamonds harness races at the Darke
County Fair, the 2015 race season will see more races.
The emergence of lady drivers in the harness horse world has brought on
new challenges for the ladies this season.
During the 2014 season, only two races for lady drivers only, were
contested.
The 2015 season will feature 13 races for the women drivers and Darke
County’s own Mandy Jones will look to be in the thick of it all.
“I’m excited about all of this,” said Jones. “Right now, we have 12
fairs scheduled and a final to be contested at Delaware (Ohio) and it
will be the week of the Little Brown Jug.”
According to Jones, these will not be a set of races without a purpose.
“We will be racing for points for how we finish at all the fairs,”
Jones stated. “The top nine point earners will go to Delaware for the
finals. So I’m real excited about this whole thing and I’m ready.”
Just for the season, Jones purchased a new horse and is currently in
the process of training her new find.
“I bought a four year old gelding that’s Indiana bred,” admitted Jones.
“He’s not raced much be he has ran at Northfield in Cleveland. He’s won
a few starts and we bought him off a guy from Greenville named Brian
Allen. He called my dad (Brian Jones) and asked if we were looking for
a horse. We went and looked at him and on January 16, we bought him.”
“His name is Julie’s DaVinchie,” Jones continued. “I call him Vinnie.
That’s my nickname for him. He’s pretty thin and honestly, he didn’t
have a lot of tare so at the same time, I’m trying to fatten him up
some and give him more care. He’s a good horse band very gentle. The
first couple of times I jogged him, he wasn’t too interested in other
horses that were on the track. Now, he really grabs ahold and wants to
go with the other horses. He seems like he’s getting that competitive
edge to him.”
Going from two races to a baker’s dozen is a huge step in any racing
venue but it all started to come together last year with a lady named
Emily Hay in Celina.
“Emily is in charge of the races at Celina (Mercer County Fair) and
she’s on the fair board and was recently elected to the Ohio Harness
Horseman’s Association Directors,” Jones pointed out. “She’s wanting to
get more girls involved in what is traditionally a guy’s sport. A lot
of us girls are involved but it’s mostly behind the scenes and she is
big in trying to get everybody involved. She has been in contact with
all of the fairs telling them what’s been going on and the fact that a
lot of spectators are coming in. Now we are in.”
Jones said there will be a variety of tracks that will be contested.
Racing will be as far east as Delaware, to Oak Harbor (North) and as
far south as Eaton.
“The majority of the races will be in the northwest quadrant,” Jones
said. “I’ve heard that a couple of fairs in the southern part of the
state is looking to do this but nothing has been added to my list yet.
It’s going to be a long season. That’s for sure.”
Before things started to come together, Jones had no plans of buying
another horse.
“I was actually going to use one of our younger horses because I wasn’t
expecting a lot of fair participation,” Jones admitted. “Now that there
are so many races, I went out a bought an older horse and I’m hoping
Vinnie’s very competitive. I needed a war horse and I realize a four
year old isn’t that old but he’s not that young either. He’s a green
horse but he’s young enough where he can handle all the starts and all
the traveling. Traveling takes a lot out of them.”
With the fair season approaching, Jones said she would like to race him
before the season starts.
The first of the ladies only races will be contested in Paulding, Ohio
in June.
With the Darke County Harness Horseman’s Spring Matinee coming in May,
Jones said she may have Vinnie at Hoosier Park that day.
AS of the interview with Jones, there had been no number of women
drivers that has committed to this but Jones says there are five good
drivers in Darke County that could be a part of this.
“Hopefully we will have full races with eight girls and possibly two
division. That would be nice,” Jones said in conclusion.
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During the 2014 harness racing season, Gail Impson won one of only two
ladies only races, one at the
Great Darke County Fair. Jones finished
second in that race.
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