Smarty Jones to Stand at Calumet Farm

Champion and dual classic winner Smarty Jones  , whose 2004 Triple Crown bid and affable connections earned him legions of fans, is returning to Central Kentucky from Pennsylvania to take up stallion duties at Calumet Farm. His fee for 2016 will be $7,500.

Bred and raced by Roy and Pat Chapman's Someday Farm, the son of Elusive Quality   originally retired to Three Chimneys Farm after a career that saw him win the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), Preakness Stakes (gr. I), and Arkansas Derby (gr. II), among others. The only loss in his nine-race career for trainer John Servis was a second to Birdstone   in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), his final start. He retired with earnings of $7,613,155.

After Smarty Jones stood at Three Chimneys for six years with marginal success, Patricia Chapman decided to move the stallion she had owned with her late husband back to Pennsylvania, where the talented chestnut was born and raised, to take up stallion duties at Ghost Ridge Farm. News of his relocation caused an excitement among breeders and fans alike throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and the horse received a hero's welcome as thousands flocked to see him.

Two years later, when Ghost Ridge Farm announced it would be taking a step back from standing stallions, Smarty Jones, along with Ghost Ridge stablemates Jump Start   and E Dubai (the latter now in Louisiana) were transferred to Northview Stallion Station's Pennsylvania division.

Someday Farm, which still owns controlling interest in the 14-year-old stallion, is happy the Kentucky Derby hero will return to the Bluegrass to continue his stud career. The deal will see Smarty Jones arrive at Calumet Farm in late November, and after allowing him time to settle in, he will be available to breeders for inspection by appointment. While he shuttled several times to Uruguay, there are no plans for the horse to shuttle for Southern Hemisphere duties in the future.

"It's humbling to know that Smarty Jones will occupy the same barn and walk the same hallowed grounds as so many great horses before him," said Chapman. "Someday Farm is happy that our Kentucky Derby champion is returning to the Bluegrass."

Smarty Jones, who stood for a $4,000 fee in 2015, is the sire of 27 stakes winners, including grade I winner Centralinteligence and champions Better Life and Smart D N A. He currently ranks third among Pennsylvania stallions and fourth among all stallions in the Mid-Atlantic region. He was represented as recently as Nov. 7 by 2012 La Jolla Handicap (gr. II) winner Old Time Hockey, who won the $100,000 Millions Preview Stakes at Gulfstream Park West.

Smarty Jones will be both the ninth Kentucky Derby winner and the ninth Preakness Stakes winner to call Calumet's grounds home.