Wednesday, May 19, 2004
And Then There’s Smarty Jones Smarty Jones A small nondescript chestnut colt who is virtually blind in one eye after fracturing his skull in an accident last year is headed for greatness.
He is a Cinderella story whose likes we have not seen since the great Seabiscuit. Similarities abound, the colt with his physical ailments and small stature, a jockey with a questionable past and owners that had disbanded their breeding operation and sold all their horses except for 2, Smarty and a 2-yr old, after the slaying of their trainer and his wife in a tragic double murder the year Smarty was born. Yet through all the adversity the owner’s, new trainer, jockey and of course Smarty have risen above it all. Could it be that we have a great one in our midst? A horse that the whole country can get behind for a moment in time and forget about the chaos that is happing around the world. He won the Kentucky Derby by a length and was questioned about his ability heading into the Preaknes by neigh sayers. He left no doubt in anyones mind about his superiority with his 11 ½ length victory there. He shares many traits of other great Triple Crown winning horses from the past. Will he join the ranks with Affirmed who was the last Triple Crown winner in 1978, or Secretariat (1973) with his powerful stride and track record setting speed or Seattle Slew who was the only triple crown winner (1977) with an unbeaten record? By winning the Triple Crown he would also surpass Cigar as the richest racehorse in North America. It seems to me that the timing is about right for a superstar, who better than this hard luck colt with a heart as big as New York. Pennsylvania, home to Pittsburgh’s Steel Town, Rolling Rocks Latrobe Brewery, Philadelphia the city of brotherly love and Smarty Jones is rejoicing as their home grown hard luck colt makes it at the big show while an anxious equine loving population looks on and wonders, what’s next? I know who I will be rooting for on June 5th as the sleek thoroughbred horses enter the starting gate at Belmont Park.
On Another Subject
I made an attempt to customize my blog a bit, starting in the profile area. I’m sure that more updates will appear gradually as I warm up to the possibilities of what can be done. The biggest question is what do I use this space for? Should I keep it as a personal diary separate from my websites or as a farm journal since most of my waking moments involve horses? Well not all of my waking moments involve horses since I do have to work for a living. That’s one to ponder.
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