After having gotten a taste of what its like to train in Florida during the winter months, conditioner Dustin Jones is pretty sure that’s what he is going to do doing whenever things get frigid from here on out.
While in discussion with The Hamilton Spectator, Jones, 57, said that he has been enjoying his time in the sun as opposed to the harsher winter conditions that the north offers.
"I won't get back until the end of April, and I can tell you I cannot see me wintering in the north ever again,” Jones said. “There is absolutely nothing to dislike being here.”
Jones, who has conditioned his charges to more than 1,000 wins and $18 million in purses, is currently readying his stock at the Palema Trotting Center in Vero Beach. He is hoping that the weather will have officially taken a turn for the better when he moves his 17-head operation to Classy Lane near Puslinch, Ont.
In speaking with The Spec, Jones reported that Try Try Again, who cracked a knee last September, is back jogging after four months of stall rest.
Jones, who is looking for a bounce-back campaign after an unlucky 2017 season, said that his stable has to “step up” this summer.
“I have seven three-year-olds that were carried over and should produce so again; ‘hopeful’ is the word."
(With files from The Hamilton Spectator)