Smarty Jones loses the Belmont.

[Ryan Pode]

He had it. I was disappointed to see him drop like that at the end, always next year.

[Jinn Fizz]

I thought for sure Smarty would pull it off...I was truly bummed to see him fade at the end. But he's still a great horse. :)

[Ryan Pode]

Yes. He will make excellent glue.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Ryan! :x

[Jinn Fizz]

:mneh

[Jedi Master Carr]

HaHa the horse was a big winner I am sure he will do well at the next level. I was bummed about it too, I have never seen a Triple Crown.

[JMK]

Not many of us have. It was disappointing to see it come to an end, but that just goes to show just how hard it is to win the triple crown.

[Figrin D'an]

I love how so many of the supposed horse racing experts were saying that Smarty Jones couldn't be beaten because of his dominance at the Preakness. If history has told us anything about the Belmont, it should be that even horses who dominate the first two legs of the Triple Crown end up in close races in the final leg. It's that extra 1/4 mile that seems to doom so many Triple Crown hopes. What happened to Smarty Jones was no different than what happened to Silver Charm and Real Quiet... he simply couldn't hold the lead against a horse that held back earlier, then put on a huge charge coming out of the final turn.

That guy who bought 6000 of those $2 souvineer tickets must feel like a total moron now.

[Ryan Pode]

.... Six thousand?!?! >_<

[Jinn Fizz]

Plus, Smarty has done great for a horse who had a fractured skull last year. His back story is an amazing one...very much like Seabiscuit in many ways. It even involved murder, with his original trainer being killed by his stepson, who was stealing from the trainer. Crazy stuff.

Smarty will still have his place in racing history, even though he lost the Belmont.

[JMK]

Originally posted by Figrin D'an
I love how so many of the supposed horse racing experts were saying that Smarty Jones couldn't be beaten because of his dominance at the Preakness. If history has told us anything about the Belmont, it should be that even horses who dominate the first two legs of the Triple Crown end up in close races in the final leg. It's that extra 1/4 mile that seems to doom so many Triple Crown hopes. What happened to Smarty Jones was no different than what happened to Silver Charm and Real Quiet... he simply couldn't hold the lead against a horse that held back earlier, then put on a huge charge coming out of the final turn.

That guy who bought 6000 of those $2 souvineer tickets must feel like a total moron now.

I think the reason the 'experts' made SJ the huge favorite is because they felt the rest of the field was too weak, not that SJ couldn't be beaten, but whatever, time and time again these predictions are wrong. Wrong by only 1 length, but still wrong. :p

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah the next two best horses pulled out and the rest weren't very good so I think it looked like he would win, that horse just came out of nowhere, I thought Jones had it won for a second and was going to pull away.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Originally posted by Ryan Pode
Yes. He will make excellent glue.

Write this down. The single and I bet only time I agree with Pode. If the horse racing industry and it's gambling prop disappeared tomorrow... I wont be crying, that's for sure.

[CMJ]

I missed the race live, because I was at my best friend's wedding, but I saw a replay and was pretty dang disappointed. I wonder how much he'll race this summer - and if he continues at 4.

[Ryan Pode]

Write this down. The single and I bet only time I agree with Pode. If the horse racing industry and it's gambling prop disappeared tomorrow... I wont be crying, that's for sure.

... Did anyone else have minor cardiac arrest?

[Doc Milo]

He didn't race this one as he raced the other two. It's the trap that most of the Triple Crown hopefuls fall into. Smarty went for the lead too soon, and tried to keep it. He should have held off, followed in second or third, just off pace, and then made his move in the end. It's how he won both the Derby and the Preakness, yet he went away from that for the Belmont -- and he had the perfect post position to do that too. Instead, he expended too much energy going for the lead early and had nothing left for the end charge...

[JMK]

Is it possible that the other jockeys know this strategy in the longer race and allowed SJ to take the lead and hold it for so long?

[CMJ]

He was definitely baited into the lead, but I felt he had the ability to hold on. This was one of the more depressing near misses.

The worst I've seen is still Real Quiet losing by a nostril in 1998. I felt like crying - because he had that race won.

[jjwr]

I actually watched the race, first time I've ever watched a horse race.

As the race progressed and Smarty pulled away I thought he had it, I was saying to myself the race was over and I was seeing history....course as I don't know squat about horse racing I thought the race was almost over but they kept going and going :)

It really is too bad, as a sport the triple crown is something it needs to bring it attention, the longer they go without one the worse it will get. The only real main stream attention they get is after the Stakes if a horse has won the first two.

[CMJ]

An article I read on another board. Puts SJ's race into perspective. BTW: Spectacular Bid, who is mentioned, is considered one of the 3-5 best horses never to win the TC.

******************************

Smarty's The Best We've Seen Since "The Bid"
By Mike "The Kid" Pawluck

What Smarty Jones did in the Belmont Stakes was probably the most incredible thing I have ever seen a three year old horse do.
Problem is only knowledgeable fans will ever understand what he
did.

Floated wide in the first turn Elliott displayed the coolness he had
displayed throughout the year. Reining him in but allowing him to
free run, he settled nicely off comfortable fractions of 24:1 and
48:3 and appeared to be running in a settled and reserved manner. Then Stewart Elliott, who must have been feeling pressure unlike any
other man on the planet, suffered a total collapse in which it
seemed that all the coolness and butterflies he had been fighting
off in the Derby and Preakness united in force and came exploding
out.

As Bailey ranged up with Eddington I screamed out loud at the
television set, DON'T BITE!!!! And bite Stewart did.

With 5 weeks of emotions, that only a second tier rider who has been
making a living and not much more his whole life who has been thrown
into a life changing situation would have, he panicked and
surrendered to the butterflies and subconscious notions of "do I
deserve this" and "can I really beat these guys". Elliott, in one
moment, would have the rest of his life changed and assure himself
and Smarty's fans and owners and trainers that for the rest of their
lives they would be saying what if. the two most painful words in
the English language.

Even though Stewart knew he was on the best horse, he was probably
more worried about what the media would say if he allowed Bailey to
go by or get himself trapped in a jam between horses. Irrational as
that may seem, with one mile still to go on a track with sweeping
turns, a jockey who has been beaten by that same move thousands of
times at second rate tracks in claiming races came unglued and
pressed the button.

As he did it I screamed NO STEWART NO!! But the damage was done.
Smarty has never been given his cue to run at any time in his life
on the backside. From the time he stepped foot on a racetrack he
was only asked to run when it mattered and he had always responded.
The bond between he and Elliott, which had become so astonishingly
apparent, worked against them for the first time in his career.
Every other time Stewart had asked him to run and moved his hands on
his neck, Smarty had flown and flown well. As his rider moved on
him and conveyed the sense of urgency to run, Smarty did what he was
told.

At this point the horse showed why he is the greatest three year old
since the Bid. Solis, with plenty of money in his bank account and
plenty more assured to come, had nothing to lose. he asked a very
good RHT to respond and go after Smarty and put his horse into a
drive. Meanwhile, a man who has been classy his whole life
blemished his reputation with something that most will remember as
the single most unprofessional move of his career. Jerry Dale
Bailey has been the greatest jockey alive for a long time until age
slowed him recently. Unable to ride a lot of races a day anymore
and showing lapses coming out of the gate in the last year, he has
become human. Winning very few Grade One's this year, trainers have
stopped giving him any mount he desires and it was no secret that he
and his agent had worked very hard to get the SJ mount for the
Derby. Being denied, he accepted a mount on a horse who would be
scratched, Wimbledon.

Whether it was personal about not being awarded the mount on SJ, or
whether he was bitter about fading from the spotlight, he chose to
ride his mount as if it were the last furlong in the race instead of
the last mile. He sacrificed his horse and any chance he had of
hitting the board seemingly to antagonize SJ and get him beat. I'm
sure that Hennig and the owners did not enter their horse to "beat"
Smarty. Rather I think they wanted some of the great purse money
for hitting the board and to raise the value of their colt and
possible stud duties by hitting the board in the Belmont Stakes.
It's a jockeys job to finish the race in the best possible position
and when Jerry pulled this move, he did his best to assure that his
colt would not be on the board.

Smarty had already been asked to kick, he responded with a quarter
and half mile unlike any in the history of the Belmont Stakes down
the backside. After laying a length off of the half in 48:3 (which
meant he had gone 48:4), Smarty hit 6F in 1:11:4 and then the mile
in 1:35:2. Basically what he did will always be remembered by me as
the greatest display of talent and heart bundled into one that I
have ever seen in any race. He ran the 2nd half mile of a mile and
a half race in 46:3!!! And he did this while being screamed at and
hollered at by the other two riders who attacked him with all they
had of their mounts.

Alas, Solis and Bailey and their screaming did nothing to help THEIR
chances or their mounts. A display of why jockeys are so overrated
and overpaid. Jason Orman and Madeline Paulson and Mark Hennig and
Wilmott had the pleasure of watching two overpaid guys who are rich
because they are short, destroy the money they had spent and the
time Orman and Hennig had spent watching and training for this
moment by caring more about "beating someone" then they did about
winning a race. They battled with all their might trying to get by
SJ and SJ responded by leaving them reeling on the turn, battered
and gasping for air. Looking as if they had been shot, first one,
then the other gave way.

As Smarty clicked off a mile and a quarter in 2:00:2 it was too late
for Elliott to do anything other than ride for his life. With the
thought already spinning in his head, "Why did I do that!!!" he
asked his mount again to kick on.. SJ incredibly did. On legs that
were wobbly and lungs that must have been breathing fire, Smarty
battled until the shadow of the line when Birdstone collared him.

As a Yankees fan, I hardly remember that they lost the World Series
last year. Etched in my mind is the win over the Red Sox. It just
seems more important. As a Smarty fan, the thing that would have
stuck in my mind even had he won, was the incredible display of
going the 2nd half mile in a 12 furlong race in 46:3 with two of the
world's "best riders" screaming, waving whips, and taking him on
from both sides. I will always remember them dropping off to a
stone cold walk as Smarty kicked on and hit the timer in 2:00:2. I
will always remember the horse trying desperately to find more in
the stretch even though he had every right to lay down with RHT and
Eddington. I will always remember Birdstone looking like he was
going to blow by Smarty and Smarty giving one last amazing bit of
fight trying to hold on.

Smarty may have lost this race and he may have lost the Triple
Crown. In the minds and hearts of anyone who knows anything about
horseracing, they will always realize what they saw on Saturday was
the most incredible display of speed and stamina on a racetrack
since Spectacular Bid. I pray that in my lifetime I get to see
another horse as special as he is.