Smarty Jones Is One for Money

First-time jockeys hardly ever win the Kentucky Derby. Before Saturday, only one Pennsylvania-bred had ever won the Derby. Undefeated horses have a way of stumbling in the Derby. Favorites in the Derby do even worse.

But nobody passed on any of these drawbacks to Smarty Jones, who put the lie to the historical obstacles as he mowed down Lion Heart in the stretch and completed a 2 3/4-length win in the 130th Derby before 140,054 at rain-battered Churchill Downs.

On a sloppy track that was hard-hit by rain much of the day, Stewart Elliott rode unbeaten Smarty Jones to his seventh straight victory. An undefeated horse hadn’t won the Derby since Seattle Slew, the Triple Crown champion of 1977, and seven had failed in the interim.

“There are no words for this,” said the 39-year-old Elliott, who had never won a race richer than $200,000 before. Smarty Jones earned $5,854,800 -- $5 million of that a bonus paid by Oaklawn Park for his sweeping the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby there and also winning the Kentucky Derby.

Running 1 1/4 miles in 2:04 -- slowest time since Sunday Silence won in the mud in 1989 -- Smarty Jones won what turned into a two-horse race and paid $10.20 as only the second favorite to win the Derby in 25 years. Lion Heart, whose stamina had been questioned in pre-race analyses, was a gritty second, 3 1/4 lengths ahead of Imperialism, with Limehouse fourth. Following them across the wire in the 18-horse field were The Cliff’s Edge, the morning-line favorite who went off at 8-1, Action This Day, Read The Footnotes, Birdstone, Tapit, Borrego, Song Of The Sword, Master David, Pro Prado, Castledale, Friends Lake, Minister Eric, Pollard’s Vision and Quintons Gold Rush.

Elliott, who has ridden Smarty Jones in all seven races, justified the support he received from trainer John Servis and Patricia and Roy Chapman, who bred and race the colt. Before Saturday, Elliott was hardly a household word. He had won more than 3,000 races, and dominated minor league Philadelphia Park for the last four years, but seldom rode in a race of national import.

“He gave my horse a masterful ride,” said the 45-year-old Servis, another Philadelphia Park regular, who was starting his first Derby horse. “Stewart’s phone will be ringing off the hook now. I might not be getting him to ride for me in Philadelphia anymore. He can go anywhere he wants now.”

After Smarty Jones broke from a stall that was inside only five horses, Elliott placed him in contention as Lion Heart, as expected, went to the lead. Down the backstretch, Smarty Jones tracked Lion Heart, inside of Minister Eric and Quintons Gold Rush. Those two horses faded quickly, leaving the race to Lion Heart and Smarty Jones. With a quarter-mile left, there was a gap of four lengths between the two leaders and Read The Footnotes in third place.

“He left the gate more relaxed than he’s ever been,” said Elliott, who is the first “rookie” Derby jockey to win the race since Ronnie Franklin aboard Spectacular Bid in 1979. “I nudged him to get a good position, and he did the rest. At the three-eighths pole, we were biding our time. Lion Heart was ahead of us, but I had a loaded gun underneath me. When we passed Lion Heart [inside the eighth pole], I knew a horse would have to come running to get us.”

Lion Heart, who had never won beyond 1 1/16 miles, has been second in all three starts this year.

“I had a great trip and had every opportunity to beat him, but Smarty Jones just had another gear today,” said Mike Smith, Lion Heart’s jockey. “I thought I had enough horse to hold him off. I tried to get away from him, and he hung with me, so I knew it was going to be a dogfight to the end. Everything worked to a ‘T,’ but I didn’t win.”

Kent Desormeaux, the rider of Imperialism, is looking forward to a possible rematch with Smarty Jones, which is expected to come in the Preakness at Pimlico on May 15.

“I’m the kind of jockey who likes to run out of horse at the sixteenth pole,” Desormeaux said, “then get into my bag of tricks and figure out a way to get them to win anyway. But today I went under the wire with a horse that had a ton of run left. The reason that happened was that all around the [far turn] -- for about 200 yards, I’d say -- I was about frozen in my position. The horses around me weren’t going anywhere. I finally decided that I had to go out and around, and when I did, the horse cut it loose. But I’d given him too much to do. I didn’t want it that way, but that’s how it turned out.”

The Cliff’s Edge, who had beaten Lion Heart in the Blue Grass at Keeneland three weeks ago, was fifth, but he was 12 1/2 lengths back of the winner.

“He didn’t handle the track at all, not one bit, and he had to overcome a horrible trip,” said Shane Sellers, who rode The Cliff’s Edge. “There were 16 horses in front of me, bumping me around. It’s the greatest race in America, and the toughest race to win. I was following Tapit at the quarter pole, because I thought he was a colt who could close, and he came back in my face. I had to swing out, and when I called on him, he just went to swimming.”

Three years ago, Smarty Jones was born on Feb. 28, the same birth date as Patricia Chapman’s mother, whose childhood nickname carried over to the horse.

Smarty Jones was supposed to be trained by Bobby Camac, but he was murdered, along with his wife, by his stepson, who has been sentenced to 28 years in prison. The Chapmans wanted to leave the game but, encouraged by reports that Smarty Jones might be special, kept him and one other horse. Servis laid out a plan to get Smarty Jones to the Kentucky Derby, and never wavered.

Roy Chapman, who’ll be 78 on Tuesday, sells Fords in Pennsylvania. He suffers from asthma and other breathing problems.

“My wife has said we’re backyard horse people, but I think that we’re really ham-and-eggers,” said Chapman. “We’ve had a lot of claiming horses over the years, and sure didn’t think we’d ever get here. I don’t think our horse got a lot of respect. One handicapper who’s been around here for 22 years didn’t even mention our horse’s name. Another one said that we hadn’t beaten anybody. Now I just hope everybody gives this horse the due he’s due.”

They will. Smarty Jones outsmarted them all.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The Finish

The Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky. 1 1/4 Miles. 3-Year-Olds

*--* # Horse Jockey Win Place Show 15 Smarty Jones Stewart Elliott $10.20 $6.20 $4.80 3 Lion Heart Mike Smith $8.20 $5.80 10 Imperialism Kent Desormeaux $6.20

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Finish Time: 2:04.06; Winning Trainer : John Servis; Owner : Someday Farm

Exotics: $2 Exacta $65.20; $2 Trifecta $987.60; $2 Superfecta (15-3-10-1) $41,380.20

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The Race

How the Derby was run:

* SMARTY JONES, bumped between horses approaching the first turn, settled in good position along the backstretch, raced just behind the pacesetter leaving the far turn, closed the gap from outside midway on the turn, made a run to challenge at the top of the stretch, surged to the front with a furlong remaining, then edged away under steady right- and left-hand encouragement.

* LION HEART rushed up to gain the early advantage, raced uncontested on the lead along the backstretch, set a rapid pace along the rail for a mile, dug in when challenged leaving the quarter pole, battled heads apart into midstretch but couldn’t stay with the winner through the final sixteenth.

* IMPERIALISM, bumped and steadied in traffic at the seven-eighths pole, raced far back for six furlongs, saved ground into the far turn, began to work his way out for room on the turn, swung six wide at the top of the stretch, then closed late while drifting in through the stretch to gain a share.

* LIMEHOUSE was shuffled back a bit along the inside on the first turn, raced in the middle of the pack for six furlongs, saved ground while launching his bid approaching the quarter pole, made a run to reach contention in midstretch but couldn’t sustain his bid.

* THE CLIFF’S EDGE broke a bit slowly, was outrun while strung out five wide going into the first turn, moved to the outside of TAPIT midway down the backstretch, continued wide while far back to the top of the stretch then failed to threaten while improving his position with a mild late run in the middle of the track.

* ACTION THIS DAY was well off the pace early, steadied along the inside midway on the turn, swung out in upper stretch, then passed mostly tiring horses.

* READ THE FOOTNOTES steadied in traffic between horses on the first turn, raced three wide while gaining ground along the backstretch, steadied in traffic on the far turn, made a run to reach contention midway on the turn but couldn’t sustain his rally.

* BIRDSTONE was pinched back a bit at the start then steadied in traffic, worked his way forward between horses at the half-mile pole, raced within striking distance on the turn, then lacked a strong closing response.

* TAPIT broke a bit slowly, steadied in traffic at the seven-eighths pole, was caught five wide leaving the first turn, continued well off the rail along the backstretch, angled in a bit while gaining slightly at the top of the stretch, then lacked a further response.

* BORREGO was reserved for a half, steadied between horses at the half-mile pole, made a move to reach contention leaving the turn, then faded in the stretch.

* SONG OF THE SWORD was checked along the inside on the first turn and failed to seriously threaten thereafter.

* MASTER DAVID was bumped while between horses on the first turn, raced well back for six furlongs, steadied in traffic at the half-mile pole and was never close thereafter.

* PRO PRADO was caught four wide on the first turn, chased the leaders from outside along the backstretch, edged a bit closer midway on the turn, then flattened out.

* CASTLEDALE swerved out in the early stages, raced in tight approaching the far turn, then failed to mount a serious rally thereafter.

* FRIENDS LAKE steadied between horses while in tight on the first turn, never reached contention.

* MINISTER ERIC steadied along the rail leaving the first turn, moved up along the inside on the backstretch, dropped back on the turn and gave way in the stretch.

* POLLARD’S VISION was bumped at the start, stalked the leaders while four wide for six furlongs, then gave way.

* QUINTONS GOLD RUSH was up close early, took up between horses at the half-mile pole, then gave way and was eased late.

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Perfect

Undefeated Kentucky Derby starters that have won the Derby, with records entering the race:

*--* YEAR HORSE RECORD 2004 Smarty Jones 6-0 1977 Seattle Slew 6-0 1969 Majestic Prince 7-0 1922 Morvich 11-0 1915 Regret 3-0

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