Blame me, not Smarty
By ROB LONGLEY -- Toronto Sun
Enough of this talk about fresh horses spoiling the show and that the Triple Crown is just too tough to win.
The reason Smarty Jones didn't finish the deal on Saturday stares blankly back at me in the mirror each morning.
Get me anywhere near a horse with a chance at making history and I can bring it to its knees. Sometimes literally.
It began in 1996 when a horse called Cigar was all the rage and poised to set the modern record for consecutive wins.
It has continued since with six trips to Belmont Park for a chance to see a Triple Crown winner only to come up empty in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes.
I am the kiss of death, thoroughbred racing's poisoned pen.
First it was Cigar, the richest horse of all time and the winner of 16 in a row in 1995-96. It's a safe bet you are reading the words of the only racing writer to see Cigar race three times live, only three times, and never see him win a race.
It started in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar Racetrack in California when his bid for 17 in a row and sole possession of the record was snapped by a horse called Dare and Go.
We gave him a break for one start to regain his winning ways before going to New York to see him lose to Skip Away in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
There was still one more shot at redemption for both Cigar and his black-cloud observer. But I clearly spent too much time near him on the Woodbine backstretch during Breeders' Cup week and when Jerry Bailey rode him way wide around the final turn of the Classic, it happened again.
FAILURES
The Triple Crown failures have come every which way. War Emblem tumbled to the ground at the start in 2002. Silver Charm in 1997, didn't see a fast-charging Touch Gold.
And this past Saturday, Smarty Jones was gobbled up by a mostly ignored colt with a strong late kick in Birdstone.
There is a solution, a fairly reasonable and painless one. The next time there is a Triple Crown on the line, an offer will be extended to the connections of the would-be king.
This pledge here is to listen to all reasonable proposals to stay away from Belmont on the big day. What's 1% of the stake when there's a $5-million US bonus to a Triple Crown winner?
As for the latest casualty, Smarty Jones need not look through his halter in shame after a brilliant five-week run.
The fact is, his eight-race undefeated streak was ended by a classy, fresh horse who was better bred to handle the Belmont distance. And in a 1 1/2-mile race, he lost by a length while the rest of the staggering competition was open lengths in arrears.
"Let me tell you, this is a tough road," Smarty Jones' trainer, John Servis, said yesterday. "I'm glad it's over and I'm proud. I think we did a very good job.
HARDEST PART
"The hardest part is in my heart I feel he was the best horse."
Servis said that Smarty Jones will get a well-deserved rest "to fatten up" after what has already been a busy year. He will return to the track eventually, however, with an ultimate eye to the Breeders' Cup this fall in Texas.
Second-guessers will wonder if Toronto-born jockey Stewart Elliott perhaps moved a little too soon sapping energy needed for the stretch.
Perhaps more valid, others may wonder why he didn't get a little more aggressive with the whip when he saw and heard Birdstone charging in the stretch.
The fact that another horse got so close will bring about the predictable cries that the Triple Crown must be altered. In all but one of the six near misses since 1997, the spoiler had skipped either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness.
Of course, for all of six there was also a black cat skulking in the press box.
