Legends: Smarty Jones an Unlikely Hero

By Tom Pedulla

Content Courtesy of America's Best Racing

When John Servis was growing up in Philadelphia, he experienced a recurring dream. He pictured himself in the winner's circle at Churchill Downs, having won the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) as a trainer.

The dream became a little more real when he took out his trainer's license and began to oversee a modest string of horses at what was then called Philadelphia Park (now Parx). But no one had to remind him that the odds of reaching Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May from the relative obscurity of a track in Bensalem, Pa., were so steep as to be seemingly insurmountable.

Then Smarty Jones   arrived as a 2-year-old in 2003.

"When he came, he came with a label on him that he had some talent," Servis recalled during a recent interview at Palm Meadows Training Center. "Obviously, nobody knew how much."

He remembers that the Pennsylvania-bred son of Elusive Quality   was one of two young horses to clamber out of the van one morning. "One horse was a big strapping horse and I said, 'That's got to be him,'" he remembered.

It was not.

Smarty Jones did not look the part of a high-caliber horse until he took to the track. The buzz surrounding him was so strong that owners Pat and Roy Chapman rejected offers before he began to train.

Still, Servis kept his expectations in check even as the 2-year-old took his debut at his home track by 7 3/4 lengths and remained there to dominate the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes by 15 lengths. The latter victory came so easily that the trainer began to allow himself thoughts of reaching the Derby.

He entered Smarty Jones in the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack for a 3-year-old debut that would tell him whether or not he should be on the Derby trail. The emphatic answer came in the form of a five-length victory.

On to Oaklawn Park, where the blossoming 3-year-old added the Southwest Stakes (gr. III), Rebel Stakes (gr. II) and Arkansas Derby (gr. I) to his resume for regular rider Stewart Elliott.

On to Louisville!

Servis realized had a big shot in the early stages of the Derby. "Everybody was jockeying for position and getting bounced around and he had enough gusto to stay up in there," the trainer said. "Smarty came into the first turn in great position and I remember thinking, 'If he's good enough, he's going to be tough to beat.' "

Smarty Jones was plenty good enough, joining Lil E. Tee (1992) as the only Pennsylvania-breds to bring home the roses. It turned out the recurring dream that stayed with Servis as a boy was a harbinger of the delirium to come.

Smarty captured the Preakness (gr. I) by a whopping 11 1/2 lengths only to be denied the Triple Crown when 36-1 Birdstone   launched a stunning rally to defeat him by one length in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).

Sadly for racing, the Chapmans, and Servis, the magical ride ended there. Smarty was retired less than two months after his final start with what was diagnosed as "chronic bruising of the bottom of the cannon bone in all four fetlock joints."

He won eight of nine starts and earned $7,613,155, including a $5 million bonus from Oaklawn Park for taking the Rebel, Arkansas Derby and Kentucky Derby.

"He was an exceptional horse," Servis said. "The only negative on him was that he was hard on himself. He loved to train."

And the other horse, the one that exited the van with Smarty and looked so grand? He never developed into more than a low-level claimer.

Fun Facts

Smarty Jones was named after Milly "Smarty Jones" McNair, mother of co-owner Pat Chapman.

Soaring popularity led him to adorn a Sports Illustrated cover after he won Kentucky Derby.

He mirrored the career of Majestic Prince, who entered 1969 Belmont Stakes undefeated after sweeping first two legs of Triple Crown and placed second in Belmont in final career start.

He was retired to Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., where he initially took stall previously occupied by 1977 Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew. He now stands at Calumet Farm.

Oaklawn Park honors him with early Derby prep race in his name.