“People love him, and I love that they love him. “I know he’s just a horse, but you know what? He became so much more than a horse,’’ says his owner, Pat Chapman. The horse created something magical with the public, a connection so potent that, even after all these years and two actual Triple Crown winners now in the books, people still want to see Smarty Jones. A longshot by the name of Birdstone caught him in the final strides of the Belmont Stakes to ruin the fairy tale. Smarty Jones - trained and ridden by Derby rookies, owned by kindly senior citizens, born into a life marred by tragedy before triumph, and of a blue-collar city so tired of losing it feverishly contemplated a celebratory parade for a horse - would go on to win the Preakness that year in record-setting fashion, but he fell just short of the Triple Crown. Over the holidays, Christmas cards filled Eckenrode’s mailbox, addressed not to him but to his newest tenant, the one everyone still wants to see.įifteen years ago today, a plucky horse from a track parked on the wrong side of the horse racing elite sprinted through the slop and the rain at Churchill Downs to win the 2004 Kentucky Derby. A few months ago, a family from Washington state popped in, with a woman so overcome by her visit that she stood outside the stall and wept. Just last week, a man from Boston asked to come by, hoping to make a pit stop on his way to Kentucky. He had big dreams if not grand plans, certainly nothing like what’s happened in the past four months.
Rodney Eckenrode bought the place back in 2004, lured by its affordability and the chance to get out of the less-lucrative Arabian horse market and into thoroughbreds. Nestled between two of the curves that give Crooked Road its apt name, the farm sits a good 10 minutes from anywhere, with lounging cows more common neighbors than humans. You have to want to find Equistar Farm. David Cabrera will be in the silks atop the talented colt.ANNVILLE, Pa. would suggest.īig Thorn has proven to be more than capable of rating off the pace and passing runners in the stretch, and he will receive a set up that plays to his strengths on Friday. And Big Thorn is much better than his most recent effort in the Mucho Macho Man S. By The Big Beast, the Florida-bred is the lone stakes victor in the cast. The value play for the vertical gimmicks comes from the Steve Asmussen-conditioned Big Thorn, who makes his initial try since being transferred to the stout barn. Caddo River shows three promising morning drills on the Oaklawn strip in preparation of his stakes bow, including a bullet 6 panels in his most recent breeze. The tactical sophomore has excellent gate presence and should be able to be placed perfectly in the early stages while pressing the early tempo. In the Smarty Jones, the 3-year-old colt drew outside in the field, which will be of benefit to him. He broke on top and never looked back, recording a powerful 9 1/2-length victory under regular pilot Florent Geroux.
After being the bridesmaid once again the second time out at Belmont Park, the dark bay son of Hard Spun put it all together in his third appearance. He is the Expert Pick of the Week.Ĭaddo River was a smart runner-up on debut at Saratoga going 7 furlongs.
The Shortleaf Stable’s homebred has shown improvement with each lifetime performance, led by a dominating tally in a maiden special weight event at Churchill Downs last time out. The Brad Cox-trained Caddo River will take a lot of money in his stakes debut on Friday, and deservedly so.
#Smarty jones horse series#
at Oaklawn Park. The 2021 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series tilt will give out qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 basis to the top-four finishers towards a start in the Run for the Roses on May 1. A field of seven sophomores will travel a two-turn mile in Friday’s $150,000 Smarty Jones S.