Family defines Steve Jones’ Cameo Hills Farm
by Murray Brown
It has been nigh on 55 years that I have known Steve Jones. Then only 11 years old, he was a youngster riding along with his dad, Hall of Famer Hal Jones, who, at the time, was the farm manager at Hanover Shoe Farms.
Steve said that he really didn’t get involved with an interest in harness racing until he was well into his teens. I’m inclined to disagree with that assessment. In addition to his involvement with horses, like most youngsters Steve had a love for most sports both in playing and in following them. But make no mistake about it, horses and harness racing were at the top of his totem pole.
I look upon Steve as having been born into that proverbial feed bucket. He has been around horses and harness racing all of his life. Deeply etched into this now fading memory of mine is a picture of myself often arriving at the office in the evening, more than once seeing this young kid perusing old catalogs, horse magazines, and sires and dams books – certainly not something that many 11-year-olds would be spending their spare time doing.
It has been six years since we first spoke with Steve in HRU. At the time, he was near the beginning of developing Cameo Hills into one of the prominent standardbred farms in the country and maybe even the world.
You have built upon the tradition first established by your dad Hal, your mom Marie, and your brother Mike when Cameo Hills Farm was first established. What has changed since then?
“The philosophy hasn’t changed much. The goal then, as it is now was to concentrate on the quality of the horses. What has changed now and has changed immeasurably are the means to achieve that never changing goal.
“If you were to ask of the genesis of reaching that goal, I’d go back to 1972. Albatross was a 4-year-old. The horse’s future stud career was in the midst of a far from amiable shakeup.
“John Simpson, the president of Hanover Shoe Farms representing the Stanley Dancer group at odds had come to an agreement to purchase the horse for an unheard price, $2,500,000. This price represented the very first time that Hanover Shoe Farms would go into debt to secure a horse. The purchase price was not only monumental, but especially added to that risk was the fact that no guarantees came with it. Not only, were there no fertility guarantees, but the buyers didn’t even know whether Albatross could breed a mare, let alone get a full book of mares in foal. All they would be getting was the horse, his halter and his registration papers.
“My dad had been a huge fan of Albatross. He believed him to be the greatest horse he had ever seen in a lifetime of seeing all of the greats. He told Mr. Simpson that he would like to buy a share in the horse. The price was $50,000. That represented all the money my parents had accumulated in their lives. My mom might have wavered a bit. Dad never hesitated. This was a great horse, in his opinion, the greatest one ever. He was certain that he would become a great stallion, maybe even one for the ages. As gamblers today would say, they were all in.
“Albatross became what dad believed he was going to be and maybe even more, a horse for the ages. He also became for the Joneses somewhat of a cash cow. But very little of the money he generated was taken out of the game. Instead, almost all of it was invested in the industry, primarily in broodmares, but also in stallion shares and in land and in farm upkeep. All that we have today probably traces to that gamble in a share of Albatross.”
You have reached the stage where you are one of the leaders in the breeding industry, not only as a breeding farm, but also personally as a director of the Hambletonian Society, a director of the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame and the president of the Goshen Historic Track.
“I suppose that one thing led to another. But the bottom line and the roots of any success we may have achieved go back to our ability to breed quality horses — emphasis on the term quality, which I would define as a combination of great bloodlines and conformation with outstanding racetrack performance thrown in for good measure. It’s a triangle which I believe to be necessary to success. Ideally you need all three. But without pedigree, the other two, although exceptionally important in my opinion, are not near enough.”
The Jones family has achieved remarkable growth since its one mare broodmare band, Cameo Wick, from which the farm derives its name, to its status near the top of today’s breeding ranks.
“Growth and quality in reverse order; any success the farm has achieved are the reasons for that happening. Of course, good horsemanship is a necessity, but I consider that to be a given.
“Assuming that you do everything right, if you don’t have quality bloodstock, in today’s market, the best bloodstock, you are not going to be successful.
“That is what we have always striven for. Investments in the best broodmares and stallion shares that we could afford has been what drives us. If we set our sights on an available quality mare, you are going to have to pay a pretty penny in order to get her away from us.”
How, horse-wise, is Cameo Hills presently constituted?
“We own 60 some mares, roughly a third are trotters and two-thirds pacers.
“We have 42 yearlings. Thirty are consigned to Lexington, with 12 going to Goshen. Last year we were fortunate enough to have obtained the highest yearling average for each of those sales.
“Thus far, we have had 49 foals born here at the farm, with 23 yet to come. Of course, those numbers represent outside owned foals as well.
“Our mares are booked to most of the prominent stallions throughout North America. We stand Huntsvile here and we own a good piece of him. He has shown to be among the best, so it’s no surprise that we are breeding more mares to him than any other horse.”
Among trotting horses, you are breeding more to Chapter Seven than any other.
“The only answer to that question, if it is a question, is because he is unquestionably the best trotting stallion out there. Not only is he the best, but he has also done the remarkable job that he has achieved against significant odds.
“We have owned shares in him from the outset. But if the truth were known, I wasn’t a true believer. Chances are, if he wasn’t standing in New York, just down the road from us, I likely would not have bought into him from the beginning.
“He was a very good racehorse, but not necessarily a great one. I’m most likely to invest in the great horse over the very good one. The fact that he wore trotting hobbles might have negated interest in his yearlings at the start, especially from the Europeans.
“But with stallions, you never know. Something I point out to my sons, Tyler and Jake, are the many questions in this game. As much as we try to emphasize quality in what we offer, we sold the highest priced Chapter Seven at Lexington, in effect achieving our goal, and the cheapest one, perhaps disproving it. As disappointing as that relatively cheap price might have been, it shows an asset I think that we as market breeders possess. That is, we sell all our yearlings for whatever the market feels they might be worth.”
You are among the very few major breeders, perhaps the only one, who hasn’t yet availed itself of the rich Kentucky program. Others have established farms in Kentucky, built satellite operations there or are sending mares there at other farms to take advantage of the mare residency requirements. Is there a reason why?
“In simplistic terms, I suppose it’s because we haven’t felt the need to do so. At least that is presently our status. Looking at it more closely, we like to be directly in charge of our horses and do what needs to be done in raising them as we think best. Having them at our own place in New York under our own watchful eyes has served us well.
“Would we get more money for our yearlings if they were dual eligible? Maybe. Would the increase in revenue be enough to counter balance the costs associated with having them eligible to the Kentucky program and perhaps the associated lack of confidence in not having them here? Honestly, I don’t know. But as it now stands, I feel quite confident in how things are. Things can change. But I don’t envision that happening in the near future.”
You mention your sons Tyler and Jake, that represent a third generation in the business.
“Actually, if I were picking nits, I’d say a fourth generation. Dad’s father was also a horseman. Both boys seem to love the game. They are learning and keep learning. Most importantly, they have learned the importance of hard work from which there is no substitute. In addition to any other work that they might be called upon to perform, both boys collect our stallions Huntsville and So Surreal.
“If there is one thing that defines Cameo Hills it is the importance of family. My wife Kathy does the books, is a presence on social media, supervises the production of our yearling videos, inseminates the mares and keeps us all in rein. The two boys keep adding to their responsibilities. Although I don’t like to look upon myself as being one, I suppose I now might be looked upon as Dan Altmeyer described himself a few weeks back, as an elder statesman.”
