Maybe Smarty knocked himself on the head one too many times.

Before the race, at least four publishers had submitted proposals to land the official book rights to Smarty's story. After the success of Laura Hillebrand's best-selling "Seabiscuit," along with the movie about the Depression-era racehorse, book and film rights to the stories of any future Triple Crown winners have the potential to be lucrative.

Despite Smarty's promising story -- eight straight victories, including the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness -- the horse will now be compared to the five others in the past eight years who won the first two races of the Triple Crown and couldn't follow through in the last. Not many people want to read the tale of an also-ran.

The authorized book telling the story of Funny Cide, last year's failed Triple Crown hopeful, hit shelves six weeks ago. The book currently is a respectable No. 4,154 on Amazon's sales rankings, but the New York Daily News reported late last month that Penguin, the book's publisher, offered retailers a credit to lower the retail price from $24.95 to $12.48 -- an indication that sales have been slow, according to the paper.

Also, in terms of basic winnings, the Chapmans, who own Smarty, came away from the Belmont with $200,000. But that's only a third of the $600,000 Birdstone's owners took home -- and a pauper's payoff compared to the $5 million bonus they would have pocketed with a Triple Crown win.

The second-place finish also cost the Chapmans a chance at making millions in merchandising, and put merchandisers out thousands of dollars in potential revenue. The staggering heap of products with the Smarty Jones' name on them likely will soon hit sale racks, much as they did for 2003's favorite, Funny Cide.

David Williams of Horsehats.com secured licensing rights to Smarty Jones after his win in the Arkansas Derby in April. "If the horse doesn't win, it takes the air out of it," Williams said Friday.

In the past month, Williams has sold 10,000 Smarty Jones hats (at a cost of $20 apiece, with a $2 licensing fee going to the Chapmans). Williams had plans to break out a "Smarty Jones Triple Crown winner" hat Saturday night. That plan is out the window, and there's little chance a "second-place winner" cap would move the masses.

The speculative collectibles market was huge on the horse; eBay peaked with 2,000 auctions on Saturday. Prices for uncashed betting slips for the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, which were going for more than $100 apiece earlier in the week, are now expected to plummet. According to the NBC broadcast, one unsuspecting collector bought 6,000 betting slips before the Belmont, banking that Smarty Jones would pull it out and his profits from the souvenirs would skyrocket.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn3.com.