By Bloodhorse.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (Apr. 19, 2025) — Professor Gordon Jones died April 18, only four days after his 95th birthday.
Jones was a pioneer of speed and pace handicapping. His best-selling book, “Gordon Jones to Win,” inspired his popular prerace handicapping seminars attended by legions of race goers. He brought his numbers to the track at a time when people would laugh at him, and he would hide his spiral notebook. Speed numbers are now a common barometer.
He graduated from Whittier College, where his father had been president for several years. He went on to get his master’s degree from the University of Oregon.
Jones taught journalism at the University of Southern California and Arizona State University. He was awarded the Top Banana Award several times by his students at USC, which was awarded to their favorite professor. Many of his students went on to say that he was the reason they went on to successful careers as journalists. Renown sportscaster Al Michaels has said numerous times that Jones was his favorite professor. He talked about how they used to go to the racetrack together at Turf Paradise while Michaels was a student at ASU.
Later in life, Jones was hired by former students to be the turf columnist and handicapper for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. When the 1984 Olympics came to Los Angeles, it was all hands on deck in the sports department and Jones was sent to cover some of the more obscure events. Jones laughed about it for years because each event they sent him to turned out to be a gold medal for the USA, and he continued to get the front page story in the paper.
His popularity transcended the sport. Jones was given a small role in the Ryan O’Neal movie “Fever Pitch” and did voiceover work on the award-winning Indie film “George B.” He even had a big write up in Los Angeles Magazine.
His devotion to his students, both on college and university campuses and the racetrack, was lifelong. Jones continued to receive correspondence from students as far back as the 1960s. His words and teachings were impactful, and his articles resonated with so many, bringing in many new fans to the sport. Oaklawn Park was always a favorite track for him. He applied his speed and pace method and called it a “berry patch.” He wrote about Oaklawn Park in the Herald Examiner and that article was framed and hung in the Oaklawn executive offices.
Jones was a highly intelligent man. During the draft for the Korean War, he placed first in math and third in science in the required draft testing. They would not allow him to fight but put him instead in an office at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey.
Jones taught his daughter, Joanne, how to handicap and so began a long career for her in television and radio covering the races from coast to coast. He is survived by his daughter, Joanne Jones, grandson, Ethan Jones, his longtime partner, Margaret Davis, his former wife and close friend, Kathy Jones, his brother, Dr. Alfred Jones, sister-in-law, Dr. Elyane Jones, niece, Elizabeth Jones, and daughter, Brienna Jones.
Plans for a memorial service honoring his life will be announced at a later date.