Smarty
Jones overcomes odds at Derby
Horse
Racing: The colt becomes the first undefeated
horse to win the Kentucky Derby since 1977.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Make it two in a
row for the people's choice at the Kentucky
Derby.
Smarty
Jones splashed his way past Lion Heart in
the stretch and won America's premier horse
race Saturday a year after Funny Cide captured
the fancy of the racing world.
The
victory triggered the biggest payoff in
the game, with the undefeated favorite earning
a $5 million bonus from Oaklawn Park along
with the Derby winner's share of $854,800.
Smarty
Jones ran his record to 7-for-7 and became
the first unbeaten Derby winner since Seattle
Slew in 1977. Seattle Slew went on to win
the Triple Crown, a feat Smarty Jones will
attempt when he heads to the Preakness in
two weeks.
''He
seems to be the people's horse,'' Derby
rookie rider Stewart Elliott said.
Even
over a sloppy track at Churchill Downs --
the first in 10 years -- Smarty Jones raced
just behind pace-setter Lion Heart. As the
18-horse field came off the final turn,
the chestnut colt moved up to challenge
for the lead. Under Elliott, Smarty Jones
staged his patented stretch surge and pulled
away for the win.
''At
the three-eighths pole I was biding my time,''
Elliott said. ''I knew I had a loaded gun
beneath me. He straightened up, switched
leads and I figured it was time to go.
''When
I had the chance, I took it. I was pretty
confident when we passed Lion Heart. My
horse was running,'' he said.
Winning
trainer John Servis couldn't have asked
for a better first Derby: ''That was a beautiful
race. Picture perfect.''
Mike
Smith, aboard Lion Heart, concurred: ''The
winner was just too much for us.''
Servis
and Elliott, a pair of Philadelphia Park
regulars, became the first trainer-jockey
duo to win the Derby on their first try
since favorite Spectacular Bid won in 1979
for trainer Bud Delp and jockey Rodney Franklin.
And
even though the favorite won, until the
gates opened, the race was considered a
wide- open affair with at least a half dozen
horses capable of winning.
In
the stands, 77-year-old owner Roy Chapman
got out of his wheelchair and shouted, ''I
can't believe it!'' as he received hugs
from Servis, friends and relatives. Chapman,
hooked up to an oxygen tank because of his
emphysema, then sat back down, taking deep
breaths to calm himself, but smiling the
whole time.
Smarty
Jones has been the Derby darling ever since
he arrived in Louisville two weeks ago.
And that's partly because the 3-year-old
colt's biography reads like a soap-opera
doozy: A Pennsylvania bred who nearly died
when he slammed his head on an iron bar;
a trainer and jockey based at a small-time
park; owners who refused a blank check for
the horse.
Roy
and Pat Chapman will now collect a $5 million
bonus from Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs,
Ark., because their horse swept the Rebel
Stakes, Arkansas Derby and Kentucky Derby.
With the huge payday, Smarty Jones becomes
the sixth biggest winner in racing history
with earnings of $6,733,155.
The
crowd, 140,054, was the smallest since 1994,
when Go for Gin won over the last sloppy
track.
Any
horse would be hard-pressed to come up with
a made-for-TV story to match Smarty's. And
it all started just months after he was
born at the Chapmans' Someday Farm in Chester
County, Pa., the lush countryside outside
Philadelphia.
First,
original trainer Bob Camac and his wife
were murdered at their farm in New Jersey,
and the Chapmans nearly got out of the business
altogether. They sold off most of their
stock and kept only two horses -- one was
Smarty Jones. He was sent to Florida to
be broken for racing, and when he returned
last year he was sent to Servis, a friend
of Camac's.
So
far, so good. But last July, misfortune
struck again.
While
schooling in the starting gate at Philly
Park, the colt suddenly reared up and slammed
his head on an unpadded iron bar.
''Oh
my God, this horse killed himself,'' Servis
recalled thinking.
He
fractured his skull, shattered orbital bones
and nearly lost his left eye. He was nursed
back to health at the New Jersey Equine
Clinic. To this day, one can still see the
dents in his head.
Smarty
Jones finally made it to the races, and
hasn't stopped running since. He broke his
maiden on Nov. 9, winning by 7 3/4 lengths
at Philly Park. He won by 15 lengths two
weeks later -- and that's when Servis knew
he had himself a Derby horse.
And
now it's on to Baltimore.
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