Joseph P. Pons, Jr.

Joseph P. (Josh) Pons, Jr., is a 66-year-old general partner of Country Life Farm’s racing stable, which since 2000 has sent 925 starters to the post, with earnings of $5,252,797 (according to Equibase statistics through Oct. 18, 2020). Country Life has been the leading Maryland entity bringing new owners into the sport of racing through its partnerships. As of Oct. 18, Country Life is the second-leading owner at the fall Laurel race meeting.

Pons bases the Country Life racing stable at family-owned Merryland Farm, a Hydes, Md., training center with a five-furlong training track. Pons and his brother Mike purchased Merryland in 2001. The two brothers also equally own and manage Country Life Farm in Bel Air, Md. The farm was founded in 1933 by Pons’ grandfather, Adolphe, and operated through the 1980s by his father Joe.

A 1972 graduate of John Carroll High School, Pons completed his under-graduate work at the University of Virginia in 1976. In 1982, following graduation from University of Kentucky School of Law, he was admitted to the Maryland bar. He has earned two Eclipse Awards for his writing in The Blood-Horse magazine, for whom he is presently the author of a monthly series entitled “Letters from Rockland Farm.”

Actively involved in horse-racing legislation in Annapolis for decades, Pons is a past-president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association. He resides with his wife Ellen at Country Life. They have two adult sons, Josh and August.