Some stories, not all, age nicely in retelling. More actors than one can name have played Hamlet -- self-directed Laurence Olivier winning an Oscar -- and it matters not if the Dane can't make up his mind.
Readers of this column perhaps know the Smarty Jones story front to back. It has been told often enough, goodness knows, and like a good suit that holds its press, one more time shouldn't hurt.
Right down to the final furlong of what proved his last race, he provided one thrill after another for racing fans in and out of Hot Springs. Talk about tough losses, bad beats: He was one length behind Birdstone in the 2004 Belmont Stakes -- and eight lengths clear of the third-place horse.
Tuesday marked Smarty's 22nd birthday. Feb. 28 is an important date in the Smarty saga for another reason. On the day that he turned 3 by the calendar, Smarty won the Southwest Stakes before Oaklawn underwent its massive redo and became a racing-casino-resort. He would win the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby, then collect a $5 million bonus from the local track for a three-race sweep including the Kentucky Derby.
Little did anyone know that Elusive Quality's son would usher in a stretch that Oaklawn would see Arkansas Derby winners Afleet Alex, Lawyer Ron and Curlin take Eclipse Awards. Surpassing glory for Oaklawn racing came in 2015 when Rebel and Derby winner American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown champion in 37 years.
Smarty Jones was just another 3-year-old with dreams when he came to Oaklawn off victories at Aqueduct and then-Philadelphia Park (now Parx Racing). Trainer John Servis never doubted the colt's ability, although saying that he "comes in a plain brown wrapper." Rock Hard Ten won the beauty contest every time among that 3-year-old class, which has produced supersire Tapit and Grade 1 winner Purge along with the speedy Lion Heart among others.
Smarty Jones stalked a horse like nobody's business until jockey Stewart Elliott asked for more when they turned for home. He won the Southwest on class, Servis saying he was at best 70% tops physically, but the word was out. He shot up Derby checklists after winning the Rebel in what was his best race until mid-May. He added the Arkansas Derby when in need of qualifying points just to enter the May 1 'other' Derby at Churchill Downs.
His Oaklawn business settled, Smarty Jones chased down Lion Heart by 2 1/2 lengths in Louisville, collecting $854,500 for owner-breeders Roy and Patricia Chapman plus the $5 million payoff from Arkansas for a Rebel-Derby-Derby sweep. The late Charles J. Cella, hoping to catch lightning in the Hot Springs track's centennial racing season, took out enough insurance to cover the blow of Smarty Jones' financial windfall. Cella escorted an Arkansas delegation (myself included) to Philadelphia Park on Monday of Preakness week at Pimlico to reward the Chapmans, who campaigned Smarty as Someday Farms and whom Patricia Chapman lovingly named after her mother, also a Feb. 28 arrival.
Smarty Jones won the Preakness by 11 1/2 lengths after gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated following the Derby. A few doubts remained about his damside stamina influences, but Smarty went to Belmont Park for the Test of the Champion as the poster child for a sport ever in need of one.
It was thought by many that no Belmont Stakes rival might be better than Smarty but that the race's mile-and-half distance, the Triple Crown jinx or unforeseen factors might beset him. On the eve of the race, a first-time visitor to Belmont Park wrote: "If not him, who? If not now, when?"
A race-day crowd of 120,139 -- largest ever to see a sporting event in New York -- became muted unexpectedly in late afternoon. Smarty Jones was caught in midstretch by Birdstone, a 36-1 longshot, in an outcome that owner Marylou Whitney and trainer Nick Zito later insisted they would have gladly reversed.
To their credit, neither Servis nor the Chapmans blamed jockey Elliott for what some considered a premature move on the second turn. That gripe has been leveled against other Belmont losers, although perhaps none got bullied early like Smarty Jones. A Hall of Fame jockey's name became mud in Hot Springs for his early ride of an opponent. As it was, he ran the opening mile and a quarter fast enough to take all but three Kentucky Derbys in history.
That he was not named Horse of the Year (that honor going to Breeders' Cup Classic winner Ghostzapper after a tour de force at Lone Star Park) remains a sore spot. Of more wonder is how someone who watched all three of his races at Oaklawn picked against him on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs. I heard about it at Oaklawn a moment or two after Smarty crossed the wire first.
The late Terry Wallace, then Oaklawn's announcer and media relations director, said he could not remember more Hot Springs people taking a loss harder than the Belmont. American Pharoah put the smile back on their faces, although it took 11 years and, try as he might, AP couldn't be Smarty Jones.
Fittingly, Oaklawn named a race after him, a one-mile event for 3-year-olds that today awards qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby to the top five finishers). Though not the star at stud many expected, Smarty Jones was Arkansas' horse long before he became America's. Don't look for another like him. He came one to the bunch. End of story.