Smarty Jones Loses Triple Crown Bid

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06-06-2004, 12:25 AM
AIWANNABE

Smarty Jones Loses Triple Crown Bid

Quote:

By Steve Ginsburg
ELMONT, New York (Reuters) - Birdstone caught Smarty Jones in an explosive stretch drive Saturday to ruin Smarty Jones's attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner in more than 25 years.

Ridden by Edgar Prado, Birdstone caught race leader Smarty Jones inside the sixteenth pole and won going away, giving trainer Nick Zito his first Belmont Stakes victory.

Birdstone, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby, paid $74 for a $2 win ticket. The son of Grindstone paid $14 to place and $8.60 to show.

Smarty Jones, an overwhelming 1-5 favorite ridden by Stewart Elliott, finished a length behind Birdstone, while Royal Assault, with Pat Day in the saddle, was third.

The winning time in the nine-horse race was 2:27.5 over a fast track, well off Secretariat's Belmont Stakes record of 2:24 in 1973, the year he won the Triple Crown.

Jockey Elliott said: "He ran. The other horse just came and got him. That's horse racing. A mile and a half just got to him. He never got a break the whole race."

Smarty Jones grabbed the lead at the top of the backstretch and battled on courageously only to be outdone by Birdstone's dramatic stretch drive.

"I'm very sorry for (Smarty Jones's trainer) John Servis and Smarty Jones," said Prado. "But I had to do my job. This is the business. I'm very sorry it had to be me."

Smarty Jones, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, was trying to become the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed captured the three-race series in 1978.

"I said if we got beat I want it to be fair-and-square," said the 39-year-old Elliott. "And it was. I have no complaints."

Said Zito: "Smarty Jones will always be one of the most famous horses."

The loss was Smarty Jones's first in nine career races.

"We are disappointed. The better horse won today," said the horse's owner Patricia Chapman. "I am disappointed for the fans and for us too."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=5352625
06-06-2004, 12:42 AM
Ilikai

He ran a hellofa good race, the track was just a quarter mile too long. I believe that Birdstone has run Belmont before and is more used to that length.
06-06-2004, 02:07 AM
glennajo

Yeah, it was a good race. I really wanted Smarty Jones to win, and I thought he had it there for a few seconds. It seemed like he just ran out of steam. It would have been nice to see a triple crown winner. I'm bummed. :(
06-06-2004, 02:54 AM
QuinntheEskimo

great race, i knew Smarty was caught once they hit the final stretch...

something here really bothered me- why was everyone on the Birdstone team so apologetic that they won... they almost seemed disappointed that they won? The jockey hung his head as soon as he crossed the line?? Enjoy the moment... you'd never see this anywhere else- can you imagine Dale Earnhardt Jr- winning a race and apologizing after and hanging his head in victory circle?
06-06-2004, 05:00 AM
queenb

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ilikai

He ran a hellofa good race, the track was just a quarter mile too long. I believe that Birdstone has run Belmont before and is more used to that length.

None of the horses had gone a mile and a half before this race, in horse racing the entire track isn't always used. However Birdstone had run on this track before and had worked out here more times than Smarty. It appeared to me though, that the jockey made his move to the lead too soon, around the mile post; in prior races he's waited until 3/16 or 1/4 mile from the end. That could be due to the fact that the jockey had only ridden at this track one time prior and wasn't used to it; in any case the result was that Smarty was "out of gas" at the end.

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuinntheEskimo

something here really bothered me- why was everyone on the Birdstone team so apologetic that they won... they almost seemed disappointed that they won? The jockey hung his head as soon as he crossed the line?? Enjoy the moment... you'd never see this anywhere else- can you imagine Dale Earnhardt Jr- winning a race and apologizing after and hanging his head in victory circle?

I think the problem is that horse racing is in somewhat of a slump, and the feeling is that the general public that doesn't watch racing will get burnt out on seeing a horse take the first two races of the Triple Crown only to lose at Belmont. A Triple Crown winner would be great for the sport. You didn't see that behavior after Funny Cide lost his bid last year because everyone knew that Empire Maker was in fact far and away the better horse but had simply failed to run hard in the Derby and Preakness.In case you didn't guess, yes I'm a horse (racing and otherwise) nut! But in my opinion, what really hurts this sport is that it doesn't really translate well to tv. It's a lot of fun to go to the track, where the races are spaced so that you have just enough time to view the animals in the paddock, grab a beer, place your bet, and go watch the race; repeat until end of day. Not so fun - watching an hour or more buildup to a two minute race, with too much focus on one particular horse - kind of like Olympic Games coverage in that respect.
06-06-2004, 06:31 AM
katkitty

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuinntheEskimo

something here really bothered me- why was everyone on the Birdstone team so apologetic that they won... they almost seemed disappointed that they won? The jockey hung his head as soon as he crossed the line?? Enjoy the moment... you'd never see this anywhere else- can you imagine Dale Earnhardt Jr- winning a race and apologizing after and hanging his head in victory circle?

I think it was all the media hype made it more than a race to win this year... "the next Seabiscuit", "America needs this"... plus, just the general malaise of America needing something to embrace.

I was extremely disappointed not to see yet another Triple Crown winner. Yet, the winner's humbleness and the loser's graciousness really touched me profoundly. Moreso than the winners gloating about the win would have done.

They have every right to be proud. I'm glad they had the wisdom to accept it humbly. They lost nothing by doing so.

Congratulations Birdstone!
06-11-2004, 06:53 PM
did_it_again

Alright, I watched this @#$ "race because of all the hype and because I was at home anyway.And I felt like a sucka. Why? Because it's a damn race betwwen horses that's why. "Oh look Smarty Jones has his game face on, he's ready to go he's confidant." Yo,I thought this was Smarty Jones not Mr. Ed. How did you come up on all that information Mr announcer.
Yeah I've been around horses ,my grandmothers ,and I've yet to see them "get a game face"on unless it was time to breed.
Horse racing is not a sport ,a jockey is not an athlete ,and neither is a horse for that matter and I'll put money down that Smarty Jones could care less about "losing". How people spend they're money is up to them whether I agree with it or not, but I draw the line at seeing a bunch of fat rich cats running animals in to the ground for entertainment and a lot of these animals get wasted. I'm not a P.E.T.A freak, but I can recognise a waste when I see one and the jocky's starve themselves worse then supermodels in order to make weight.
Watch the stuff ,bet on it if you want ,but unless you have money riding on that show case mule what difference does it make if the horse won or lost. It's a freakin horse, he's just looking for his next bag of oats mixed with molassus and breeding season.