1/7/2024 0 Comments Smarty jonesSmarty Jones also became only the second Pennsylvania-bred horse in history to win the race, the first being Lil E. Servis and jockey Stewart Elliot become the first team in 25 years to win the Derby in their debut start. He became the first unbeaten horse to win the race since Seattle Slew in 1977. He won five more races before his biggest test to date, the 2004 Kentucky Derby. They all wanted to see Pennsylvania’s prodigal son return home.”īorn in Chester County and trained by John Servis out of Philadelphia Park, Smarty Jones began his now famous winning streak at the Bensalem race track, winning his first race by six furlongs. “We weren’t expecting a very big turnout, but 3,500 people showed up. “We held a welcome home party for him later that month,” Carl McEntree, general manager at Ghost Ridge, said. After looking at other farms in the state, Chapman settled on Ghost Ridge, where Smarty was relocated on Nov. The 10-year-old chestnut Thoroughbred stallion had previously started his breeding career at historic Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., home to such storied stallions as Dynaformer, Point Given, Rahy and Silver Charm.īut owner Pat Chapman, who named the horse after her mother Milly “Smarty Jones” McNair, decided last year to bring the horse back to his home turf in Pennsylvania, where she felt breeders might better appreciate him. Smarty Jones, fondly remembered as Pennsylvania’s sweetheart who narrowly missed winning the Triple Crown in 2004, quietly made the trip last fall back to his home state, where he now stands at Ghost Ridge Farms in York. His first foals were born earlier this year and are expected to race in 2008.After breeding only 50 mares last year in Kentucky, 2004 Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones will be bred to more than 200 this year at Ghost Ridge Farms in York, PA, and in Uraguay, where he will be shipped this month. He is a stallion at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky. But, at the Belmont Stakes, he experienced what would be his lone career defeat when he was beaten by Birdstone.Īfterward, Smarty Jones sustained a mild injury and never raced again. "He was a really great guy to train for."Īfter winning the Preakness, Smarty Jones was poised to become the first horse to capture the Triple Crown since 1978. He won many admirers with his ability to put his illness aside and enjoy and participate in Smarty Jones's run. He used a wheelchair and often needed the assistance of an oxygen tank. He was already quite ill by the time Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby. Once Smarty Jones started racing, he was considered an underdog because he had come from Philadelphia Park, a minor league track in Bensalem, Pa.Ĭhapman was also a major part of the story. John Servis took over the Chapman stable, only to have Smarty Jones sustain a serious and freakish accident in the starting gate before his first race. Shortly after the horse's birth, Chapman's trainer, Robert Camac, was killed.
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