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Trainer Profiles<br />
Tom Proctor<br />
Born: April 21, 1956<br />
Birthplace: Gilmer, TX<br />
Residence: Louisville, KY<br />
Family: Son, Will; daughter, Heather<br />
First Win: I’m Smokin, Hollywood Park, 1978<br />
Started Training: 1978, Hollywood Park<br />
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Delaware Park, Monmouth Park, Laurel, Saratoga<br />
Even when he doesn’t win a training title, the soft-spoken Ness continues to<br />
collect hardware. Despite finishing runner-up to Gerald Bennett in the 2015-<br />
20<strong>16</strong> Oldsmar trainer standings with 39 victories, Ness and his Jagger, Inc.,<br />
ownership operation captured the owners’ crown by sending out 15 winners.<br />
Ness dethroned Midwest Thoroughbreds, which had won six consecutive<br />
Oldsmar owner titles under his guidance but pulled its horses from the<br />
conditioner early in the 2015-20<strong>16</strong> meeting to pursue opportunities at other<br />
tracks. Ness reached the 2,500-victory mark for his training career in July<br />
at Delaware with a victory by Charlesbrecknridge, a gelding he owns in<br />
partnership with Mark Hoffman. His best year as a trainer came in 2012, when<br />
Ness led all North American conditioners with 395 victories. He had finished<br />
second in the country in 2011 and 2010 with 330 and 291, respectively. Ness<br />
won four track training titles in 2015, with crowns at Pimlico, Delaware and<br />
Meadowlands in addition to his Tampa Bay Downs success. Ness set a Tampa<br />
Bay Downs record during the 2011-2012 meeting with 79 victories. In November<br />
of 2013, Ness earned his 2,000th career victory at Laurel Park with 6-year-old<br />
gelding Caylee’s Song. One of his biggest success stories was multiple Tampa<br />
Bay Downs stakes winner Lookinforthesecret. Ness claimed Lookinforthesecret<br />
for $12,500 at the beginning of the 2006-07 Tampa Bay Downs meet, and<br />
within five starts moved the gelding to stakes company. Ness also won the 2011<br />
Pelican Stakes for Midwest with See I A and won the Florida Cup Hilton Garden<br />
Inn/Hampton Inn & Suites Sprint with Sneaking Uponyou in 2011 and 2014. “My<br />
father was a trainer, and I grew up in the summers going to tracks with him to<br />
work. Racing got into my blood at an early age,” Ness said. Wife Mandy is also<br />
a trainer and a former jockey.<br />
Robert A.“Bobby”Raymond<br />
Born: December 18, 1947<br />
Birthplace: Woonsocket, RI<br />
Residence: North Smithfield, RI<br />
Family: Wife, Kathy; son, Robert II<br />
First Win: That I Believe, Narragansett, 1979<br />
Started Training: 1979, Narragansett<br />
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Delaware Park, Suffolk Downs<br />
Even when he doesn’t win a training title, the soft-spoken Ness continues to<br />
collect hardware. Despite finishing runner-up to Gerald Bennett in the 2015-<br />
20<strong>16</strong> Oldsmar trainer standings with 39 victories, Ness and his Jagger, Inc.,<br />
ownership operation captured the owners’ crown by sending out 15 winners.<br />
Ness dethroned Midwest Thoroughbreds, which had won six consecutive<br />
Oldsmar owner titles under his guidance but pulled its horses from the<br />
conditioner early in the 2015-20<strong>16</strong> meeting to pursue opportunities at other<br />
tracks. Ness reached the 2,500-victory mark for his training career in July<br />
at Delaware with a victory by Charlesbrecknridge, a gelding he owns in<br />
partnership with Mark Hoffman. His best year as a trainer came in 2012, when<br />
Ness led all North American conditioners with 395 victories. He had finished<br />
second in the country in 2011 and 2010 with 330 and 291, respectively. Ness<br />
won four track training titles in 2015, with crowns at Pimlico, Delaware and<br />
Meadowlands in addition to his Tampa Bay Downs success. Ness set a Tampa<br />
Bay Downs record during the 2011-2012 meeting with 79 victories. In November<br />
of 2013, Ness earned his 2,000th career victory at Laurel Park with 6-year-old<br />
gelding Caylee’s Song. One of his biggest success stories was multiple Tampa<br />
Bay Downs stakes winner Lookinforthesecret. Ness claimed Lookinforthesecret<br />
for $12,500 at the beginning of the 2006-07 Tampa Bay Downs meet, and<br />
within five starts moved the gelding to stakes company. Ness also won the 2011<br />
Pelican Stakes for Midwest with See I A and won the Florida Cup Hilton Garden<br />
Inn/Hampton Inn & Suites Sprint with Sneaking Uponyou in 2011 and 2014. “My<br />
father was a trainer, and I grew up in the summers going to tracks with him to<br />
work. Racing got into my blood at an early age,” Ness said. Wife Mandy is also<br />
a trainer and a former jockey.<br />
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