Success can be as simple as finding the right situation in the proper location. And while the sample size is admittedly small, veteran Thoroughbred trainer Ian Jewell appears to have found just such a sweet spot at Emerald Downs.
In 1991, Jewell was a young trainer with a lone horse, Just Sailing, whom he entered in a dozen races at Exhibition Park (now Hastings) and Sandown Park in his native British Columbia. The horse, and Jewell, went 0 for 12.
Jewell earned his first win the following year at Sandown before settling into a role as an assistant to esteemed Canadian trainers Glen Todd and Larry Grieve. In 2012, Jewell quietly resumed saddling a few runners of his own and in 2014 went a respectable 4 for 15 in low-level claiming races at Portland Meadows.
In 2024, Jewell went 1 for 43, with his lone win coming in a Hastings maiden race. He also raced at Oaklawn Park that year and had one start at Emerald, in the $150,000 Longacres Mile, where he finished sixth with Phantom Ride.
This past January, he finally got his first win at Oaklawn, a track he found himself at after a discussion with his primary owners, Chris and Tasha Ceraldi of WYN Racing Stables.
“The Ceraldis asked me what my goal was, and I said my bucket list was to race at Churchill, and they said, ‘How’d you like to race at Oaklawn?’ ” Jewell recalled. “I said I’d love it. It’s not an easy place to win races, but I’ve loved every minute of it.”
At the conclusion of the Oaklawn meet, a shift in tack to Hastings would have seemed logical in light of Jewell’s roots. But the Ceraldis already had a string stabled with Grieve there, while the horses they had in training with Jewell were accustomed to running on a mile track at Oaklawn and therefore seemed a fit for Emerald.
Things have gone swimmingly for Jewell at Emerald, where he’s won five of 13 starts.
“I’m quite happy I’m here,” said Jewell. “The horses have really seemed to fit nice.”
Jewell has an Oaklawn shipper, Seas of Normandy, drawn on the outside in Saturday’s race 8, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint with a purse of $25,000. While he’s unlikely to be among the favorites, the 5-year-old gelding has the tactical speed to take advantage of a pace meltdown if Papa’s Golden Boy or Prisoner run blazing early fractions.
“I love my post,” said Jewell. “One thing about being on the outside is you can watch the race develop. I’m hoping just to tuck in behind them and hopefully run them down.”
The distance is a concern. Seas of Normandy is a router who has only tried 6 1/2 furlongs once, finishing a distant 10th as a 2-year-old at Keeneland. But Jewell isn’t concerned with the cutback.
“He’s absolutely loved the racetrack and worked really well,” he said. “I entered him in a couple mile races and they didn’t go, but we’ve got to get a race in him.”
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