As the field of nine 3-year-olds thundered past the quarter-pole for the 136th Belmont Stakes, the ear-splitting roar from the record crowd of 120,139 was rapidly approaching rocket launch status.
Triple Crown hopeful Smarty Jones had shaken clear of Rock Hard Ten and Eddington, who had dogged the prohibitive favorite through much of the 1 ½-mile race and swung into the stretch with a seemingly clear path to becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Smarty Jones – Photo courtesy of Coady photography
Smarty Jones’ party pooper Birdstone nixed his Triple Crown bid
“Smarty Jones has a four-length lead … Birdstone is moving up to be second on the outside,” track announcer Tom Durkin yelled into the microphone in one of the greatest race calls ever. “Smarty Jones enters the stretch to the roar of 120,000, but Birdstone is going to make him earn it today. The whip is out on Smarty Jones! It’s been 26 years! It’s just one furlong away! Can Smarty Jones hold on? They’re coming down to the finish … Birdstone surges past! Birdstone wins the Belmont Stakes.”
The raucous atmosphere became almost funereal as the crowd, deliriously anticipating horse racing history just moments before, was suddenly silenced.
The victors, far from being delighted to win an American classic and $600,000, were almost aghast at the outcome.
“I’m so sorry, sorry, sorry Smarty Jones couldn’t win,” said winning owner Marylou Whitney.
“Smarty Jones will still go down as one of the greats,” said trainer Nick Zito in winning his first Belmont Stakes after coming in second five times.
“I’m very sorry for the connections of Smarty Jones,” said winning jockey Edgar Prado, who two years earlier had thwarted War Emblem’s bid for racing immortality with an improbable victory in the Belmont aboard 70-1 shot Sarava.
The Long Road to Triple Crown Glory: Smarty Jones’ Near-Miss
For the sixth time in eight years, a Triple Crown try had been vanquished. One after the other, they came up short: Silver Charm, who lost to Touch Gold in 1997. Real Quiet, nosed out by Victory Gallop’s single flaring nostril the following year. Charismatic, injured in the final yards of the 1999 edition. The aforementioned War Emblem, who was followed by New York-bred Funny Cide, who could only muster third behind Empire Maker.
Small wonder the throng at Belmont Park on that cool and cloudy June afternoon was so desperately anxious for Smarty Jones, who was 8-for-8 heading into the race, to end that 36-year-long drought. There had been other Triple Crown “near-misses” since 1978, of course: Spectacular Bid in 1979, Pleasant Colony in 1981 and Sunday Silence in 1989.
But none had captured the imagination of racing fans and racing newbies alike as did the little Pennsylvania-bred son of Elusive Quality, who had won a pair of races as a juvenile and then swept through, in order, the Count Fleet, Southwest, Rebel, Arkansas Derby, Kentucky Derby and Preakness en route to the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Remembering Smarty Jones: The Horse Who Won Hearts and Races
Whether it was his catchy name, his small-town breeders and owners, Roy and Pat Chapman, who owned a local auto group, or the fact he resided at little Philadelphia Park (now Parx Racing), Smarty Jones was an instant hit after he won the Kentucky Derby.
His 11 ½-length win in the Preakness only served to grow his legend, and it swelled even more in the three weeks leading up to the Belmont.
“We had no idea how crazy it was going to get,” trainer John Servis said. “And it got real crazy.”
By the morning of the draw for the Belmont, even Zito all but conceded the race to Smarty Jones. If you weren’t among the 120,000-plus fans at the track, chances are you knew someone who was having, or had been invited to, a “Smarty Party.”
And, sadly for his fans, there was to be no chance to avenge his loss. He retired as a winner of eight of his nine races, with earnings of $7.6 million, and became a prolific traveler as a stallion, even spending time in Uruguay. He returned to Pennsylvania five years ago and is still an active stallion there.
Although he didn’t enter the annals of horse racing history, he will always be remembered for the excitement and passion he stirred 20 years ago.