February’s Hooters Trainer of the Month is Jamie Ness

OLDSMAR, Fla. (February 8, 2007)  Jamie Ness, who in the week through February 7 has had four wins and one third in seven starts, has experienced great success not only with the horses in his barn but with his recent claims as well.  “I make my living out of the claiming box,” says Ness of his success with newly acquired horses. “I do my homework and study the horses on and off the track, and I look at the trainers’ tendencies.  I don’t have two-year-olds and I don’t have stakes horses. It’s a blue-collar barn so I need to know what I’ve got.”

Jamie Ness began training race horses in 2000 at Canterbury Park.  He took his first trip to the winner’s circle with Blue Rocket in the last race on the meet’s last day.  “I think they let me win it,” he laughed.  He now spends his summer months living next to the race track that gave him his first victory and trains there in the Tampa Bay Downs off-season.

Last year Ness finished third in the overall trainer rankings at Canterbury Park with 34 wins, 30 places and 34 shows out of 258 starts for the meet.  He earned $380,276 over the Canterbury season, and is well on his way to duplicating his efforts at the current Tampa Bay Downs meet.  As of February 7, 2007 he has won 8 races, was 4 times second and 6 times third from 30 starts for a total of $71,704 in purses won in the first two months of racing.

Ness gained an interest in horse racing through both his father and grandfather.  “My grandfather took me to the track when I was four years old, and I’ve been hooked ever since,” say Ness. He cites his greatest influence in the sport as his father, saying, “My father was a trainer, and I grew up in the summers going to tracks with him to work.  Racing got into my blood at an early age.  My father is a very good horseman and he showed me how to do it the hard way, without any big owners or big horses.”  Ness has had great success with his “blue-collar” horses and though he keeps his barn open to many jockeys, he credits Daniel Centeno as his go-to rider of the moment.  When he’s not at the barn – “which isn’t often!” he says, he plays basketball at local gyms.

Finish Lines… Jockey Tammi Piermarini rode three winners home today, starting with Tis Premixed in the fifth race.  The six-year-old daughter of Premiership is owned and trained by Sharyn and Peter Wasiluk, Jr.  The ninth race brought Piermarini her next victory aboard Por Favor, a chestnut horse who is owned by Fred C. Schunmann and trained by Paul Cimini.  Piermarini scored back-to-back wins with Zahira in the tenth.  The Scarlet Stable-owned Zahira, who was saddled today by Kathleen A. Cuciardo, dueled with the Daniel Centeno-piloted Dreamstuff and emerged the victor under Piermarini’s urging.

“I liked my shots today,” the mother of two said after her third win.  “This filly (Zahira) ran well last time.  (Por Favor) had a bad trip last time and the first horse (Tis Premixed) ran third two times back and just needed a good trip.”  Piermarini is currently eighth leading rider at Tampa Bay Downs.

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