Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Smarty just won't go away
By Bill Finley
Special to ESPN.com
Smarty Jones hadn't run in over two months and the announcement had come down a few days earlier that he would never race again. He had a minor injury, but a minor injury is all it takes to rush a priceless superstar off to the breeding shed these days. So, it had become time to move on in the 3-year-old division, time to crown a new leader and maybe even strike up a debate about the chances of someone else winning the 3-year-old championship.
But Smarty just won't go away. He, of course, didn't race last weekend, but he managed to dominate the weekend's storylines, nonetheless. Everywhere you went there was a horse standing in the winner's circle who had been routinely crushed by the Pennsylvania-bred superstar. Horses who struggled just to keep up with him where suddenly winning rich races at three tracks.
They always ask, "Who did he beat?' In Smarty Jones' case, some awfully good horses, or so it appears.
Lion Heart had his fill of Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby, getting a perfect trip but only holding on for second. He was worse in the Preakness, finishing a spent fourth, 13 ½ lengths behind Smarty. On Sunday, he won the $1 million Haskell at Monmouth, a comfortable length in front of My Snookie's Boy at the wire.
Few horses have taken more lumps facing Smarty Jones than Purge has. He lost two him twice in Arkansas, in the Rebel and Arkansas Derby, and then finished 36 ½ lengths behind him in the Belmont, where Smarty Jones had to settle for second. On Sunday, he won the $500,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga.
On Saturday, in the $600,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park, Sir Shackleton came up the inside to get the victory. That's the same Sir Shackleton who lost to Smarty Jones by a mere 14 3/4 lengths in the Preakness. The West Virginia Derby runner-up was Pollard's Vision, the Pollard's Vision who was defeated by 40 3/4 lengths by Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby.
Starting to get the idea: not only was this a fabulous horse, but he was beating some very nice horses at every step of the way.
Of course, that won't stop anyone whose 3-year-old has a good run between now and the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup from crowing about their horses chances for an Eclipse Award. Patrick Biancone, the trainer of Lion Heart, has already raised the issue.
"Only three 3-year-olds (Smarty Jones, Lion Heart and Birdstone) have won more than one Grade 1 race, so who knows?" Biancone said. "The spring is the spring. The summer is the summer. We'll see."
That's Biancone's prerogative, but it's a pretty flimsy argument, especially after what happened last weekend. The best 3-year-olds the rest of the way figure to come from a group that includes Lion Heart, Purge, Sir Shackleton, The Cliff's Edge and Birdstone. With the lone exception of Birdstone, each one has proven to be a vastly inferior animal to Smarty Jones. And even Birdstone's case isn't that strong. Smarty Jones beat him by 15 1/4 lengths in the Derby before Birdstone, the recipient of a perfect trip, turned the tables in the Belmont on a horse who fought gallantly to the wire after being pressed for six furlongs.
History also says Smarty Jones is a cinch for an Eclipse. According to the Daily Racing Form's Mike Watchmaker, dating back to 1971, 17 of the 18 3-year-olds who two of three Triple Crown events were voted champion 3-year-old. So let's not even waste our time pretending someone can come along and steal his title.
Remembering Phil
There were so many good aspects to Phil Johnson that I really don't know where to start, so bear with me if I just babble along. He was friendly, quotable, genuine, spoke his mind and was a man of impeccable integrity. He was a great horseman, who managed to do more with less than perhaps anyone in the game. He rarely got his hands on a beautifully bred seven-figure yearling or an owner who would write him blank checks. Yet, year after year, he made an impact on the New York scene and was deemed worthy of admission into the Hall of Fame by those who judged his career.
It was fitting that his best horse was his last good horse. When Volponi won the 2002 Breeders' Cup Classic, those outside of New York, where his work had always been admired, were finally forced to take notice of the cagey old veteran. The 2002 Classic put the period on the end of the sentence.
Volponi, they say, means sly, old fox in Italian and the name was given in honor of Johnson. Never was a horse better named.
Want to know more about this special man who passed away last week after a long bout with cancer? "The Big Horse," written by renowned author Joe McGinniss, follows Johnson and Volponi thorugh the 2003 season, capturing the man like only a very gifted author could. It's a book you shouldn't miss, now more than ever.
