The lost story of the trainer who overcame tragedy to become the first British-based winner of the Kerry National

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Gill Jones, racehorse trainer. Do you know the name? I feel that we all should, although the reality is that I didn't know it until last week. 

Jones was the first British-based trainer to win the Kerry National. Since she achieved that notable feat with Ace Of Spies, only one other trainer has managed to follow suit, which was Ferdy Murphy 25 years ago. 

I say "notable feat" but I didn't manage to notice when it happened in 1991, by which time I was following the game pretty closely (or thought I was, anyway). Was this just a case of me missing something? Or does Jones deserve more recognition than she's had? 

"I never, ever went for publicity," she told me over the weekend. "Because I was Mrs G Jones in the racecard, I don't think many people knew who I was. I thought my horses should give me a name if I was good enough." 

I remember that being a commonly expressed attitude in the 80s and 90s, and perhaps it worked in those days because many owners were quite content to support their local trainer, be they big or small. Nowadays, owners often want someone they've heard of, so reticence is expensive.

One trainer you will certainly have heard of is Jack Jones, who won the Super Sprint last year with Caburn. The Newmarket trainer is a grandson of Gill.

Jack Jones: Newmarket trainer is Gill Jones's grandson

Mrs G Jones's horses were definitely good enough to earn their trainer an excellent reputation. As well as Ace Of Spies, she also trained Gambling Prince, who has a novice handicap chase run in his memory at Stratford, where he was a regular winner during his long career. 

Jones is pleased he is still remembered but points out his exploits were not confined to Shakespeare country. Gambling Prince was also third in a Triumph Hurdle at 50-1 (30 ran) and won the Game Spirit Chase of 1980. 

A sight of him is available on YouTube, where an excitable user has loaded up footage of the 1978 Royal Doulton under the heading: "The greatest handicap hurdle ever run". It was the first running of the race we now know as the Swinton; Monksfield was second, Night Nurse third and Gambling Prince a close fourth. Somewhere back in the pack were Sea Pigeon, Birds Nest and Beacon Light. We'll be waiting a long time to see so many star names in a handicap under any code.

At that time, the licence was held by Gill's husband, John. "He was a very popular man, a wonderful man," she says. "Dairy farmer and cattle man. Very friendly with a lot of trainers.

"I was born in Herefordshire, I was a farmer's daughter and I had to work hard from when I was a little girl. And then I married the most wonderful farmer and racing man that anyone could be lucky enough to marry. We had 12 hard-working years together, farming and racing, and three lovely little boys.

"One day, John went off to get some licenses for removing cattle from Worcester and, coming back, he hit black ice. A lorry hit the car and killed him."

It was 1979. Jones was widowed at the age of 32.

"I carried on," is how she takes our conversation across an ocean of devastation. She vividly remembers making her mind up that she was going to keep the farm and the training going, so there would be something for the boys when they grew up, as a memorial to their father.

Gambling Prince was one of two horses then based at their yard, not far from the Rimells at Kinnersley. Over time, she was able to build up numbers to a peak of around 25 and moved from holding a permit to a professional licence. She credits many people with being supportive, including those giants of northern jump racing, Tony Dickinson and Arthur Stephenson.

Arthur Stephenson: trainer was supportive of Gill Jones as her yard grew

She recalls seeing early promise in Ace Of Spies and was surprised to spot him being offered at auction. She bought him for an owner who just wanted a winner at his local track, Nottingham, and got it, with much else besides.

He was one of those horses – not uncommon at the time – who contributed an immense amount by turning up for every suitable race. In the 1988/89 season, as an experienced handicap chaser, he ran a dozen times. Two seasons later, he ran ten times. 

It was after all of those efforts, when Ace Of Spies was ten, that Jones decided she wanted to win in Ireland with him. "I knew Ireland very well, buying an odd horse and going over there with my late husband years before." 

Her other horses were out in fields and the farm was in capable hands. She drove Ace Of Spies over herself and based him at Austin Leahy's yard near Limerick. 

Perhaps other British trainers have tried something like this, although no examples leap to my mind. Ace Of Spies started his Irish summer with a running-on third in the Galway Plate under a young Norman Williamson.

Norman Williamson: finished third in the 1991 Galway Plate on Ace Of SpiesCredit: Laura Green

With Gerry O'Neill taking over in the saddle, he won at Tramore and then was a slightly disappointing fifth back at Galway. Just three weeks later, he hacked up in the Kerry National by 15 lengths. 

It was a moment to be treasured but it didn't seem to buy Jones much in the way of media impact. She speculates that perhaps reporters of the time imagined Leahy had been supervising Ace Of Spies' regime. She was profuse in thanking him, but is nonetheless clear: she did the training. 

Tough as old boots, Ace Of Spies returned to Worcestershire and ran again the next month, getting placed in Kempton's Charisma Gold Cup. Three weeks after that, he won the Flowers Original at Cheltenham's November meeting, defying odds of 8-1 to beat fancied runners from the stables of Nicky Henderson and David Nicholson.

It was his final success under rules but he was eventually passed on to Alex Embiricos, who won a point-to-point on him. He spent his retirement in a field with Aldaniti and Jones says they are buried alongside each other in Sussex - one of the most famous of all Grand National winners and a Kerry National hero who also had a great story behind him.

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