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A Conversation With Jamie Ness

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 2, 2008

Jamie Ness quickly has established himself as one of the top young trainers in thoroughbred racing, with 132 wins in 2007, 24th most in North America. His rise was thanks in large part to winning the 2006-07 Tampa Bay Downs training title in miraculous fashion.

He began the meet with just eight horses, and proceeded to build his stock by making several claims, not always with backing from other owners. By the end of the season, Ness had topped veteran trainers Lynne Scace and Gerald Bennett with 38 wins.

Ness, 33, born and raised in Wessington Springs, S.D., began training in 2000 at Canterbury Park in Minnesota. He finished second in the most recent meet there ending Sept. 3.

He spent much of the fall season at Hawthorne Park in Illinois, where he currently stands fourth. At TBD he is tied for second after the first month of the season.

You're back at Tampa Bay Downs with a full barn (30 horses). How much different is this from how you started last year's meet?

Last year I was a nobody, now I have a target on my back. It's a huge difference, but this is a good place to be in. It's hard to get to the top, and even harder to stay there. But I've got a lot better horses this year, and my owners have had a good, very profitable year.

How does this operation compare to Canterbury, which has been your main base?

Very similar. I've got good people running the place. Similar in size, similar in competition, similar in purses. Another key to my success is that I have the same staff. I think we've got 12 on the payroll now, assistant trainers, grooms. Last year I didn't have too many, then I built it up. That helps.

Even though you have a full stable, are you still shopping around for claims, seeing as that's how you've made your mark in Tampa?

It's starting to get hard, because I have a lot of people looking and if I find something, it's hard to decide which owner gets what horse. And I have a full stable now, so if you find something, you have to have room for it. The stall situation is tight.

Lookinforthesecret (a $12,500 claim at TBD that won a stakes race and more than $220,000 in 2007) seemed to be the horse that kind of jump-started your success. Was it more because of the money, or the confidence that it gave you that you could spot talent?

It was confidence that I was picking the right ones. We were always short on the monetary value, though (laughs). When you have the monetary going, you can always be aggressive.

How would you characterize your stock? Do you have any contenders for future stakes races at TBD?

Well I've still got Lookinforthesecret (which Ness sold to Balkrisna Sukharan but still trains), he won his prep (on Dec. 22), and Tytus, he set a track record (on Dec. 27, 6 1/2 furlongs on the dirt in 1 minute, 16.20 seconds). There's definitely more quality, and if they're claimers, they're $25,000, $30,000 claimers. Not $5,000.

You have to think that the odds of winning the training title this year are better than they were last year, don't you?

I was a million-to-one last year, and I would not have bet on myself, let's put it that way. But it's tough. We're going to have a tough road, but if we spot horses right and do a good job, we should be pretty competitive.

Bart O'Connell

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