Smarty Jones may face small Belmont field

NEW YORK - Smarty Jones could face as few as five rivals in the Belmont Stakes when the undefeated colt attempts to become the first Triple Crown champion in 26 years.

Those set to take on the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner are Rock Hard Ten, Eddington, Tapit, Royal Assault and Tap Dancer.

Possible entries include Birdstone, The Cliff's Edge and Mustanfar and Peter Pan Stakes winner Purge.

Several Belmont hopefuls were dropped from consideration after subpar efforts in Saturday's Peter Pan at Belmont, including Swingforthefences (second), Master David (third), Friends Lake (seventh) and Sinister G (eighth).

Meanwhile, Smarty Jones jogged 1 1/2 miles at Philadelphia Park as he builds to a timed workout Friday or Saturday.

With the potential field looking smaller and smaller I'm surprised the odds on Smarty winning the Belmont hasn't been made higher (roughly between -250 to -280 depending on the book).

Tuley - good point don't be surprized to see movement as the race draws closer. With a small field he may go off 1 to 9.


wil.

What determines how many horses are in the field?

IS

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by InSpades:
What determines how many horses are in the field?

IS<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Depends on which owners want to step up for the nomination fee. Obviously the horse has to fit into the conditions, but if owners think they are outmatched, they may blow it off.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Monmouth Park's racing season, set to open Saturday with the biggest prizemoney in its history, is in the catbird's seat to snag the biggest draw in the business, Smarty Jones, for its $1 million Haskell Invitational in August.


And that means one thing: Don't look for "Smarty" in the Travers at Saratoga.


Smarty Jones, one race away from being crowned Horse of the Century (the new century, that is), has only one firm commitment after the Belmont Stakes a week from Saturday, and that's the Pennsylvania Derby on Labor Day.


Monmouth's racing vice president Bob Kulina, a longtime friend of Smarty Jones' connections, said yesterday that the horse's summer itinerary was on hold until after the Belmont.


"But I know his people definitely want him to go in the Pennsylvania Derby at Philadelphia Park because that is his home court," Kulina said. "The Pennsylvania Derby is run one week after the Travers."


Left unspoken was the obvious: There is no way Smarty Jones would run in both. And since Monmouth's Haskell is run Aug. 8, a month before the Pennsylvania Derby, the Haskell looks a likely spot for "Smarty" to get back on track after his hard Triple Crown campaign.


Kulina has had great success in recent years wooing Classic winners to the Haskell, including Funny Cide, War Emblem and Point Given in the last three years. An appearance by Smarty Jones, especially if he nails down the Triple Crown, would be the icing on what appears to be the best racing cake Monmouth has ever baked.


With a guarantee of $320,000 in daily overnight purses - highest in the track's history - and barns filled to bursting with horses ready to run, Monmouth expects a boom meet with good fields and prices.


It has been a hard road in recent years, but New Jersey racing is off to a banner year with an infusion of $86 million from the state's casinos over the next four years. The Meadowlands, for example, put up a lean $190,000 in daily purses last season. This year, it will zoom to $300,000.


The difference was seen immediately yesterday when the season's press launch was crowded with owners, trainers and jockeys. The mood was soaring.


"This is a new era of racing in New Jersey," said Bruce Garland, the Sports Authority's racing vice president. "The new money will enable us to do something bold and creative. We now can guarantee purses and racing dates for the next four years."


And that's only the beginning. New Jersey will have a phone betting system and a couple of off-track betting sites in operation before the end of the year after five years of industry infighting.


Monmouth will unveil a new tote board to accommodate 14 entries and it confidently expects it will host its first Breeders' Cup event in 2007.

I think racing is making this as favorable as possible for him to win the crown. The sport needs this ...It has been to long since it was done..IMO

Remember, the field was very small by the time SECRETARIAT reached the Belmont and we all know what happened then....

I think it was a field of just 5 then...as he romped home in a landslide...

Go Smarty Go!

It only takes one horse to beat him and with his running style don't matter if there is 5 or 15, he'll still be in the top 3 most of the way till the stretch!

Trainer made all the right moves with Smarty Jones
By Richard Rosenblatt, Associated Press, 5/26/2004 16:10

BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) The first month did not go well for trainer John Servis and his new colt, Smarty Jones.

Less than two weeks after arriving at Servis' Philadelphia Park barn last summer, Smarty Jones almost died after smashing his head against the top of a starting gate.

Servis was stunned: ''This horse can really run. Please take care of him,'' he pleaded with Dr. Patricia Hogan of The New Jersey Equine Center, where Smarty was sent the day after his accident.

The horse recovered and finally made it back to the racetrack Nov. 9. It's been a perfect ride ever since.

The trainer drew up an unusual but flawless Kentucky Derby campaign that went through Arkansas, and the little red chestnut responded with win after win after win.

On June 5, the undefeated Derby and Preakness winner will try to capture the Belmont Stakes and become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.

Whatever happens, though, Servis has already accomplished what owners Pat and Roy Chapman asked him to: Get Smarty to the Derby.

''The Triple Crown's icing on the cake, but the Kentucky Derby, that was the one,'' Servis said. ''That was the main goal since early January.''

While this Pennsylvania-bred colt has captured the public's fancy with his soap-opera tale and dominating victories, it's Servis' knack for knowing his horse that allowed a promising juvenile to blossom into a 3-year-old wonder horse.

The following is not your typical Derby prep fare: Two races at hometown Philly Park; one at Aqueduct in the dead of winter; and three more the Southwest, Rebel and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Servis had his reasons.

''We went to Arkansas because we thought that would be the easiest route,'' the 45-year-old trainer said. ''We knew he was fast. But he was immature at the time, and if we hooked up with top company (in California, Florida, Kentucky and New York), it might ruin him.''

After Smarty won his first race by 7¾ lengths, Servis knew he had a talented horse, ''but I had no idea how talented.'' Then came a 15-length romp in a seven-furlong race for state breds.

In January, it was off to New York for a distance test at a mile and 70 yards. Even after stumbling at the start, Smarty Jones won the Count Fleet by five lengths.

Next stop, Arkansas.

Servis told the Chapmans the Arkansas route would give him time to harness Smarty's greatest asset speed. He also told them he had no plans to replace jockey Stewart Elliott with a more experienced rider.

''We wanted to get to the Derby, and John was our guy,'' Roy Chapman said. ''It was no problem when he told us how he was going to get us there.''

While Read the Footnotes, Birdstone and Eurosilver were being touted as top Derby prospects in Florida and Kentucky, Servis was busy bottling Smarty's blazing speed.

''He was real tough to gallop, throwing his head up and trying to run off,'' Servis said. ''I'd tell the exercise rider, `You've got to slow him down. You can't let him throw his head up or we'll never get a distance.' It was frustrating.''

So Smarty Jones was taken for long, slow morning gallops to instill patience.

''He'd be out there a half-hour at a time,'' the trainer said, ''and finally it started to sink in. He began to realize he didn't have to go as fast as he could every time. It's been all the difference in the world.''

After taking the 1-mile Southwest Stakes by a not-so-dominant three-quarters of a length, Servis made another change: He equipped Smarty with German Martingale reins, which allow the rider to keep a horse's head low and keep him more focused.

Then came a powerful 3¼-length victory in the 1 1-16th-mile Rebel Stakes, followed by a 1½-length triumph in the Arkansas Derby that gave him the graded-stakes earnings needed to get into the Kentucky Derby.

Servis still had decisions to make. Trying to keep his colt in relaxing surroundings in the final weeks before the Derby, the trainer sent Smarty to Keeneland 80 miles from Churchill Downs. However, Servis didn't like the way Smarty galloped over the track and shipped him to Louisville ahead of schedule.

Smarty Jones then worked five furlongs in 58 seconds on April 24 before running off from 17 rivals to win the Derby by 2¾ lengths.

Elliott says Servis deserves all the credit for getting the best out of Smarty Jones.

''Even though horses may have a lot of ability, their confidence becomes so great from winning,'' Elliott said. ''And their hearts get so big, they just want to win so badly. I think that's what Mr. Servis has done with this horse.''

After the Derby, Servis decided to train Smarty for the Preakness without a timed workout, something most trainers would not consider. Servis said: ''The horse just ran a mile-and-a-quarter. He's dead fit.''

Right again. Smarty Jones romped in the Preakness by a record 11½ lengths.

For the Belmont, Servis will be bucking tradition again. Smarty will have only one timed workout Friday at Philadelphia Park. Each of the 11 Triple Crown winners had at least two timed workouts before the Belmont, and at least one race over the track.

Bob Baffert, who trained three Derby-Preakness winners only to watch them fall short in the Belmont, admires the way Servis has prepared Smarty Jones.

''He's done a masterful job with that horse,'' he said. ''Mapped it out perfectly.''

Smarty Jones will have one less horse to worry about in the Belmont: Tapit is out of the race.

Tapit, a Grade I winner who appeared to be among the stronger challengers to Smarty Jones in the final leg of the Triple Crown, has not been training to the satisfaction of trainer Michael Dickinson and, therefore, will not run.

Dickinson posted a notice on his website that the horse would miss the race because of lingering effects of a lung infection. Dickinson attributed Tapit's poor showing in the Florida Derby, where he was sixth, to a lung problem. But Tapit bounced back and won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct before running a disappointing ninth in the Kentucky Derby when he apparently didn't handle a sloppy track. It was felt that should Tapit regain the form he showed in the Wood Memorial he could pose a test for Smarty Jones.

Tapit seemed on course for the Belmont after working six furlongs Wednesday at Dickinson's training facility in Maryland.

"At first, it seemed that he came out of the work okay, but, for whatever reason, he doesn't seem to be himself," said David Fiske, racing manager for owner Ron Winchell. Fiske said that it's not clear exactly what is bothering Tapit and added that allergies are another possible cause for the colt's lackluster behavior.

"Michael had a vet come down from Tufts three weeks ago to do some allergy tests and they tested nine horses," Fiske said. "Tapit was by far the worst of the nine. Apparently, he was hypersenstitive to some of the typical things you find around a barn. I have not had an extended conversation with Michael, but he said the horse is not quite right and is not good enough right now to beat Smarty Jones. If it were another horse and another race, maybe we'd run him. But given that he is a Grade I winner and has a stallion career ahead of him, we'd rather not run unless he's 100 percent. And he'd have to be 110 percent to beat Smarty Jones."

Fiske did not give any time table for Tapit's return.

With Tapit's defection, there are only six confirmed starters for the Belmont: Smarty Jones, Rock Hard Ten, Eddington, Birdstone, Royal Assault and Tap Dancer. Trainer Nick Zito has not ruled out starting The Cliff's Edge, but has said that the lingering effects of a bruised foot will likely keep the Blue Grass winner out of the race.

Two other possible starters emerged yesterday as the New York Racing Association racing office reported that Master David and Purge are possible starters. Purge is coming off an impressive 6 3/4-length win in the Peter Pan Stakes, but was fifth behind Smarty Jones in the Arkansas Derby and second behind him in the Rebel Stakes. Trainer Todd Pletcher said a decision would be made some time after Purge has a workout Monday.

The Smarty Jones camp reported Saturday that the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner came out of his workout a day earlier at Philadelphia Park in good shape.

"He came out of the work perfect," said barn foreman Bill Foster. "We walked him for 25 minutes this morning and he was really on the muscle–squealing and bucking. I even had to put a shank in his mouth to keep him under control. He's absolutely 100 percent. He's doing very, very good."

http://espn.go.com/horse/triplecrown04/s/2004/0529/1812103.html

Jockey Stewart Elliott aboard Smarty Jones, left, is led by exercise rider Pete Van Trump atop Butterscotch, after a morning workout at Philadelphia Park Racetrack, Friday, May 28, 2004, in Bensalem, Pa.
Smarty Jones appeared in top form Saturday, a day after a seven-furlong workout on his home track and a week before the third and final leg of his Triple Crown bid. Bill Foster, the barn foreman for trainer John Servis, found the 3-year-old Pennsylvania-bred ready to go.

"We walked him for 25 minutes and he was really on the muscle squealing and bucking. I even had to put a (lead) shank in his mouth to keep him under control," Foster said.
"He gobbled down all of his dinner last night. His temperature is good, his legs are cold. He's just perfect."


wil.

The Cliffs Edge wont run either - The Cliff's Edge finished fifth behind Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby, but missed the Preakness with a bruised right front foot. The colt has recovered, but after a workout Saturday at Saratoga, trainer Nick Zito pulled his Blue Grass Stakes winner from consideration.

"He got very, very tired after the work," Zito said, and after talking to owner Robert LaPenta, "we decided not to run. He missed a whole week of training in Baltimore, so he would have been only 90 percent ready to run in the Belmont."


wil.