Smarty loaded into the gate like a pro, made a clean break, and breezed around the track in a glorious run. He galloped effortlessly in the first turn, just behind Lion Heart, the frontrunner, and then fired in the stretch, to leave the rest of the field, helplessly, watching him go.
When his horse stretched 11 and 1/2 lengths into first place, owner Roy Chapman, who just turned 78 and is wheelchair-bound due to emphysema, spoke proudly, "I thought he might win, but I never thought he'd blow them away like he blew them away, "
Jockey Stewart Elliott said, "My horse was running so easy. I just took him to the inside and he did the rest."
1978 still stands as the last year to see a Triple Crown winner but our wait for another may be just about over at long last. The Belmont Stakes, at a mile and a half, is a longer distance and a tougher race than the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness but trainer John Servis claims, "Everything I have asked him for, he's stepped right up to the plate." .
Neither Chapman, Servis nor Elliott had competed in a Triple Crown race before but Smarty Jones seems to make up all slack if any there be.
A tragic background makes Smarty Jones' success even sweeter. Bob Camac, the trainer who arranged the breeding that resulted in Smarty Jones, and his wife, Maryann, were murdered and their son charged, in December of 2001. Devastated and discouraged, the Chapmans wanted out of horse racing. As they were selling their horses, a trainer friend convinced them to keep Smarty. But last July, the inexperienced colt reared in the starting gate during a training session, sustaining a head injury that knocked him out cold and put him in the equine hospital for three weeks, and out of racing for a longer time. An amazing recovery opened the path for Smarty's exhilirating career.
With eight victories and zero defeats, this fiery chestnut has proved himself against all competition, at every distance, in all kinds of weather, and on various tracks. It's not just his record, but his style, that convinces me this boy will be tough to beat in New York on June 5th. Flicking his ears, shamelessly, as he left them all behind in Maryland, this thoroughbred powerhouse clearly signaled that he was just having a good time!
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