Remembering Trevor Jones

[Wandering Eyes]

Many people in the racing and breeding world will have been saddened to learn of the death of Trevor Jones on Wednesday morning at the age of 72.

An immensely talented photographer, Trevor moved from general sports photography, initially with Sporting Pictures in the 1970s and then Allsport, to specialise in horseracing. He completed a stint on the Racing Post and became the retained photographer for Pacemaker in 1990, later filling that same role for International Thoroughbred. During this time he also made a name for himself in the bloodstock world through his imagery of many of the world’s leading stallions. In a style which is now considered to be the norm for stallion promotion, Trevor played a major part in moving stallion photography away from the traditional conformation shot to more informal images captured in the paddocks.

In an era in which photography underwent rapid technological transformation, from film to digital, Trevor was always ahead of the curve on the technical front. His mastery of this element of his field was coupled with an expert eye which captured many a key moment in racing over the last four decades.

One So Wonderful wins the Juddmonte International from Faithful Son and Chester House

As a young picture editor on Horse & Hound, I knew I could call on Trevor’s office, run so efficiently by his wife Gill and, in later years, with expert assistance from Laura Green, and almost certainly find just the image needed to bring a page to life. Later, we had a closer working relationship on Pacemaker magazine, and I would regularly find an excuse to escape London to visit Trevor’s office just outside Newmarket, knowing that I’d find a warm welcome from Trevor and Gill, not to mention their collection of dogs, which they both adored. Many enjoyable hours were spent rummaging through his files, which remain to this day an important photographic history of the sport in the modern era.

From the heat of the battle on the racecourse, to a beautifully observed moment of calm on a stud farm, Trevor’s pictures stand as testament to his great talent. Moreover, to those of us fortunate enough to have worked alongside him, he will remain in our memories as a man whose gentleness was a refreshing counterpoint to the competitive sphere in which he plied his trade with considerable skill.

Henry Cecil in his rose garden

The accompanying photographs were two of Trevor’s favourites. In an interview in Pacemaker back in 2001, he said of the shot depicting One So Wonderful (GB) beating Faithful Son and Chester House in a tight finish for the 1998 Juddmonte International, “This image to me is about six athletes: the three horses and their three riders. They’ve fallen into a rhythm and I like the way they are synchronised and striving for the line.”

The other photograph shows one of Trevor’s favourite members of the racing tribe, Henry Cecil, at home in his beloved rose garden.

Cecil, whose fondness of flamboyant clothes was almost equal to his ability as a racehorse trainer, was a photographer’s gift, and there was no better man to capture his colourful character than Trevor Jones. His eye for a picture, and his friendship, will be much missed.

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