When Dark Horses Turn Out the Lights

Easy Goer had lost the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, as the 3-10 favorite, but he quickly atoned early the next year, winning three prep races by almost 25 lengths and blowing into Louisville the odds-on favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

Then Sunday Silence got in his way. The colt from California won the Derby, defeated Easy Goer in one of the tightest Preaknesses ever run and three weeks later was ready to become the 12th horse to win the Belmont and sweep the Triple Crown.

In New York, it was Easy Goer’s turn to be the roadblock. It was the only time Sunday Silence would lose to Easy Goer in four showdowns, but it deprived trainer Charlie Whittingham’s colt of racing immortality. The Belmont wasn’t even close. In winning by eight lengths, Easy Goer ran 1 1/2 miles in 2:26. Only Secretariat’s world-record 2:24 in 1973 has been faster at the Belmont.

In the Triple Crown, there are spoilers and then there are Spoilers, and Easy Goer deserves upper-case designation. Sunday Silence may have beaten him into the Racing Hall of Fame by a year, but on a June day 15 years ago, Easy Goer was easily the best horse. He’s one of 17 spoilers who have prevented a Triple Crown. Nine of them have struck since Affirmed, in 1978, became the last Triple Crown winner.

“We wanted to win the Belmont real bad,” said Shug McGaughey, the trainer of Easy Goer who was recently elected to the Hall of Fame. “Quite frankly, we were shell-shocked after the Derby. We were very confident going into Churchill Downs.”

His confidence was rejuvenated going into the Belmont.

“We didn’t think Sunday Silence was completely right,” McGaughey said. “Charlie had got him through some foot problems at the Preakness, but he was still fighting that foot thing between the Preakness and the Belmont. The horse even kicked Charlie the day before the race.”

Triple Crown spoilers are usually greeted with mixed feelings here. Sometimes they’re even booed when they reach the winner’s circle, but Easy Goer’s win was warmly received by the big crowd. His trainer was Belmont-based and his owner-breeder, Ogden Phipps, was one of the pillars of the New York racing establishment. “Here comes New York’s Easy Goer!” the track announcer, Tom Durkin, shouted as the horse neared the finish line.

Of the nine most recent spoilers, only Bet Twice (1987), Easy Goer and Victory Gallop (1998) ran in the first two Triple Crown races. A typical profile shows that the horse skips either the Derby or Preakness, or both.

Of the nine horses running in Saturday’s Belmont, only Smarty Jones has run in both the Derby and the Preakness. Four of the remaining eight -- Purge, Caiman, Royal Assault and Tap Dancer -- are Triple Crown beginners. Master David and Birdstone were badly beaten in the Derby, their only Triple Crown starts, and Rock Hard Ten and Eddington ran 2-3 behind Smarty Jones in the Preakness after they were precluded from running in the Derby because of Churchill Downs’ earnings rule.

Three of the last nine spoilers -- Coastal (1979), Summing (1981) and Sarava (2002) -- were making their Triple Crown debuts in the Belmont. Last year, Empire Maker ran in the Derby and skipped the Preakness as he foiled Funny Cide, a pattern that was matched by Lemon Drop Kid when he derailed Charismatic in 1999. Touch Gold, who knocked off Silver Charm in the 1997 Belmont, took an unusual route: He didn’t run in the Derby but was fourth, after almost falling down, in the Preakness.

Smarty Jones is a win away from a $5-million bonus that goes with a Triple Crown sweep. Few handicappers are lining up against him, but his trainer, John Servis, who is fairly knowledgeable about Triple Crown history, is still wary.

“Lots of things can happen,” Servis said. “Look at War Emblem,” who was defeated by 70-1 shot Sarava in 2002. “He stumbled leaving the gate, and lost the race right there.”

Smarty Jones will go off at odds of 2-5 or less, one of the shortest-priced horses in Belmont history. The last five odds-on horses in the Belmont -- Real Quiet, Sunday Silence, Alysheba, Pleasant Colony and Spectacular Bid -- were beaten.

In 1977, Seattle Slew avoided seven potential spoilers, winning the Belmont and becoming the only horse to emerge from the Triple Crown with an unblemished record. Like Seattle Slew, Smarty Jones goes into the race with eight straight wins.

“Being undefeated after the Triple Crown is unique in itself,” said Billy Turner, who trained Seattle Slew.

“The only difference is that Seattle Slew won three races as a 2-year-old and this horse only won two. If nothing goes wrong, Smarty Jones should be the next Triple Crown winner. The biggest pitfall in this thing is Lady Luck. Look at what almost happened to us in the Derby. It was a horror show. The assistant starter, who was afraid of my horse, wouldn’t let him go when the gate opened. The horse was pulled to the side of the gate. Jean Cruguet almost fell off.”

Cruguet invited disaster in the final strides of the Belmont. Twenty yards from the wire, he stood up in the irons and waved his whip triumphantly. A four-length win still turned into a precarious adventure.

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Stealing the Show

Horses who prevented a Triple Crown sweep since Affirmed won all three races in 1978:

*--* Year Belmont Winner Odds Derby-Preakness Winner Finish Beh. Win. 1979 Coastal 4-1 Spectacular Bid Third 3 1/4 lengths 1981 Summing 7-1 Pleasant Colony Third 1 1/2 lengths 1987 Bet Twice 8-1 Alysheba Fourth 14 lengths 1989 Easy Goer 8-5 Sunday Silence Second 8 lengths 1997 Touch Gold 5-2 Silver Charm Second 3/4 length 1998 Victory Gallop 9-2 Real Quiet Second Nose 1999 Lemon Drop Kid 29-1 Charismatic Third 1 1/2 lengths 2002 Sarava 70-1 War Emblem Eighth 19 1/2 lengths 2003 Empire Maker 2-1 Funny Cide Third 5 lengths

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