| Smarty Jones | |
|---|---|
 Smarty Jones at the 2004Belmont Stakes | |
| Sire | Elusive Quality |
| Grandsire | Gone West |
| Dam | I'll Get Along |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 2001 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Someday Farm |
| Owner | Roy and Patricia Chapman |
| Trainer | John Servis |
| Record | 9: 8-1-0 |
| Earnings | $7,613,155 |
| Major wins | |
| Count Fleet Stakes (2004) Southwest Stakes (2004) Rebel Stakes (2004) Arkansas Derby (2004) Triple Crown race wins: Kentucky Derby (2004) Preakness Stakes (2004) | |
| Awards | |
| U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (2004) | |
| Honors | |
| Smarty Jones Stakes atOaklawn Park Smarty Jones Stakes atParx Racing and Casino National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame (2025) | |
Smarty Jones (February 28, 2001) is a championThoroughbredracehorse who won the2004 Kentucky Derby andPreakness Stakes and came second in theBelmont Stakes.[1]
Smarty Jones is a third-generation descendant ofMr. Prospector, and as such Smarty Jones is related to manyTriple Crown hopefuls includingFunny Cide,Afleet Alex, andFusaichi Pegasus. Also included in his pedigree are Triple Crown winnersSecretariat,Count Fleet,War Admiral,Gallant Fox andOmaha, and Classic race winnersNorthern Dancer,Foolish Pleasure andMan o' War.
Smarty Jones is the product of Pat and Roy "Chappy" Chapman's winningest horse, the multiple-stakes-winning mareI'll Get Along, and the record-setting sprinterElusive Quality. He was born in February 2001 at Fairthorne Farm inChester County, Pennsylvania. HisDosage Index of 3.40 suggested that he might be capable of competing in the classics.[1]
He was named after Milly "Smarty Jones" McNair, the mother of co-owner Pat Chapman. The two shared a birthday, and Mrs. Chapman wanted to honor her late mother. She said the horse was a strong-willed actor from birth and her mother too was a bit of a smart aleck as a child who had gotten the nickname "Smarty."
The Chapmans originally hiredBobby Camac to train Smarty Jones, but in December 2001, Camac and his wife were murdered by Camac's stepson, Wade Russell, who was eventually convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison. "It was a total shock, numbing," Roy Chapman said. "We didn't know what to do next."
This tragedy, combined with Roy Chapman's failing health, resulted in the Chapmans' decision to disband their small breeding operation, retaining only Smarty Jones and another horse. By 2003, Chapman had sold the Someday Farm property and moved into a smaller home, training only four horses.
In 2002, Smarty Jones was sent toBridlewood Farm inOcala, Florida, to prepare for racing.[2]
In 2003, the Chapmans selectedJohn Servis as Smarty Jones' trainer. On July 27, 2003, Servis was schooling Smarty Jones at the starting gate when the colt spooked, reared, and smashed his head on the top of the gate. He fell to the ground unconscious, blood pouring from his nostrils. Servis thought the horse was dead, but Smarty Jones regained consciousness and was treated by Dr. Dan Hanf, who stopped the hemorrhaging and treated him for shock. After the bleeding stopped, the colt's head began to swell from the middle of his forehead over to his left eye. Dr. Hanf and assistant trainer Maureen Donnelly kept watch on the horse and kept him at the barn overnight. Hanf had seen the eye before the swelling and was confident the eye itself was not damaged but knew the horse must have sustained a fracture due to the excessive swelling.
The colt was sent the next day, July 28, 2003, to theNew Jersey Equine Clinic for x-rays. There he was diagnosed with a fractured skull. The bones around his left eye were so badly damaged that the veterinarians thought they might have to remove the eye. Smarty Jones overcame his injuries after three weeks in the hospital and spent more than a month recuperating on the farm. Two of the other entrants in the 2004 Kentucky Derby lacked sight in one eye, and Smarty Jones could have been the third.[3]
Servis led Smarty Jones back into training and by early November 2003, the colt had recovered completely and was ready to make his racing debut at nearby Philadelphia Park, now known asParx Casino and Racing, a racetrack inBensalem Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb ofPhiladelphia.
Canadian-bornjockeyStewart Elliott was hired to ride Smarty Jones for the Bensalem race but took over a more permanent position when the horse began his winning streak. Elliot had won 3,300 races and was the son of jockey[3] Dennis Elliott.
Smarty Jones won the six-furlong (.75 mile)(1.21 km) race by7+3⁄4 lengths.
Two weeks later, he won the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes by 15 lengths, earning the best speed figure of his generation and among the best of any Derby winner as a 2-year-old.
Now racing as a three-year-old, Smarty Jones was given his first major test in the Count Fleet Stakes atAqueduct Racetrack inNew York City in January 2004. In the home stretch, the colt pulled away from the field to win by five (5) lengths.
In February, Smarty Jones was shipped toOaklawn Park racetrack inHot Springs, Arkansas. Now in earnest preparation for theKentucky Derby, he won theSouthwest Stakes in February, theRebel Stakes in March, and theArkansas Derby in April. In the Rebel Stakes, Smarty Jones earned the fastest Thorograph[4] number that had ever been given to a three-year-old.
2004 was the 100th anniversary of the Triple Crown race series.[5]
On a rainy May 1, 2004, Smarty Jones won theKentucky Derby as the post-time favorite. He became the first unbeaten winner of the race sinceSeattle Slew in 1977. Servis and Elliott became the first trainer/jockey combination in 25 years to win the Kentucky Derby in their debut appearance. Smarty Jones won the race by2+3⁄4 lengths, earning $854,800 for the Chapmans along with a bonus of $5 million fromOaklawn Park for sweeping theRebel Stakes, theArkansas Derby, and theKentucky Derby. He also joined Lil E. Tee (1992 Derby winner) as the only Pennsylvania-bred horses to ever win the Kentucky Derby.
On May 15, 2004, Smarty Jones won the2004 Preakness Stakes by a record margin of11+1⁄2 lengths. He was the firstodds-on favorite to win the second leg of theTriple Crown sinceSpectacular Bid in 1979.
After his Preakness victory, Smarty Jones' popularity increased massively. He became, arguably, the #1 fan favorite to aspire to win the Triple Crown sinceAffirmed won it in 1978. He was the 10th horse since Affirmed to win both the Derby and the Preakness.[6] His popularity increased the attendance of the Belmont by 17,000 people and caused the highest television ratings in 14 years.[7] Breeders made offers for the breeding rights to the horse, going as high as 40 to 50 million dollars.
In the weeks between the Preakness and Belmont, many speculated against the stallion's distance abilities.[8] Although he ranked among the most brilliantly fast 2- and 3-year-olds of recent years, the1+1⁄2-mile distance of the Belmont might prove too far for his miler/sprinter pedigree and running style.
Smarty Jones carried a record-high $59,000,000betting pool for the Preakness Stakes, which doubled in amount during the Belmont Stakes.[9]
On June 5, 2004, Smarty Jones finished second in theBelmont Stakes, upset by a late charge by 36-1 long shotBirdstone. Unlike the Derby Preakness, Smarty Jones failed to relax and set a blistering pace on the front end. Birdstone, with a more distance-favoring pedigree, rallied from well off the pace. This was the first (and only) time in his career Smarty Jones was passed in a race.[1][10]
Speculation arose that the loss was a result of Elliott allowing Smarty Jones to assume the lead too early when being challenged by several competitors. Race video revealed that Elliott had a tight hold on the reins and did not urge Smarty Jones until the quarter pole. Neither Servis nor the Chapmans ever blamed the jockey.
Others pointed to Smarty Jones' relatively unfavorable 3.40Dosage Index as being a portent of his inability to successfully negotiate the1+1⁄2-mile Belmont distance (Birdstone's Dosage Index was 1.77; the lower the Dosage number, supposedly the better suited a horse is to longer races). Smarty Jones ran the opening mile and a quarter in a time that would have won all but three (3) Kentucky Derbys in history and was eight (8) lengths in front of the third-placed horse, Royal Assault. The 120,139 in attendance at Belmont Park that day marked the largest crowd ever to see a sporting event inNew York.[11]
The Belmont was Smarty Jones' only loss out of nine starts. The end of his racing career was announced on August 2, 2004, due to chronic bruising of his ankle bones. Smarty Jones finished his career with 8 wins and one place in nine starts, earning $2,613,155. He also earned a $5 million bonus from Oaklawn Park. His total earnings were $7,613,155.
Smarty Jones was voted the 2004Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Male Horse and was one of the top five (5) searched words/terms on Google for that year.
Quote by Smarty Jones' stable foreman, "Big Bill" Foster: "Number one in horse racing, you have to have the horse. Number two, you have to know what to do with the horse once you have him. A lot of people in this business have a lot of horses, and never made it because they broke them down. It happens a lot. Mismanaged. Mistrained. All because people want to be in the limelight. Which is where we're different. We don't want to be in the limelight.[12]"
Smarty Jones' breeding rights were sold to a group of investors for $60,000,000 and he entered stud in 2005. He stood atThree Chimneys Farm inMidway, Kentucky. At one point, he occupied the same stall that had previously housed Triple Crown winnerSeattle Slew.[13]
He initially stood for a fee of $100,000. In 2008, his stud fee was reduced to $65,000, then to $7,500 in 2010.
For the 2016 breeding season, Smarty Jones was relocated to Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, after shipping to Uruguay for the Southern Hemisphere season.[14][15]
In 2019, he was sold to Rodney Eckenrode'sEquistar Farm near Annville, Pa. and has continued his breeding duties. His stud fee was announced at $3,500. He remains on active stud duty as of 2025.
Smarty Jones' first foals were born in 2006 and began racing in 2008. He has sired numerous graded stakes winners:
As of 2025, an early Kentucky Derby prep at Oaklawn named in his honor, the Smarty Jones Stakes.
ALabor Day race at Parx Racing and Casino was inaugurated in 2010 in his honor; the race was a replacement for thePennsylvania Derby, which moved to the final Saturday in September. Parx has also embraced a "Smarty Jones Day" to honor the racer.
On August 1, 2025, Smarty Jones was inducted into theNational Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
| Date | Age | Distance | Race | Grade | Track | Odds | Field | Finish | Winning Time | Winning (Losing) Margin | Jockey | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2003 | 2 | 6furlongs | Maiden Special Weight | Maiden | Philadelphia Park | *1.10 | 10 | 1 | 1:11.19 | 7+3⁄4lengths | Stewart Elliott | [16] |
| Nov 22, 2003 | 2 | 7 furlongs | Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes | Black Type | Turf Paradise | *0.70 | 11 | 1 | 1:21.88 | 15 lengths | Stewart Elliott | [17] |
| Jan 3, 2004 | 3 | 1 mile and 70 yards | Count Fleet Stakes | Listed | Aqueduct | *0.40 | 7 | 1 | 1:41.42 | 5 lengths | Stewart Elliott | [18] |
| Feb 28, 2004 | 3 | 1 Mile | Southwest Stakes | Listed | Oaklawn Park | *0.50 | 9 | 1 | 1:37.57 | 3⁄4 lengths | Stewart Elliott | [19] |
| Mar 20, 2004 | 3 | 1+1⁄16 miles | Rebel Stakes | Listed | Oaklawn Park | 3.50 | 9 | 1 | 1:42.07 | 3+1⁄4 lengths | Stewart Elliott | [20] |
| Apr 10, 2004 | 3 | 1+1⁄8 miles | Arkansas Derby | II | Oaklawn Park | *1.00 | 11 | 1 | 1:49.41 | 1+1⁄2 lengths | Stewart Elliott | [21] |
| May 1, 2004 | 3 | 1+1⁄4 miles | Kentucky Derby | I | Churchill Downs | *4.10 | 18 | 1 | 2:04.06 | 2+3⁄4 lengths | Stewart Elliott | [22] |
| May 15, 2004 | 3 | 1+3⁄16 miles | Preakness Stakes | I | Pimlico | *0.70 | 10 | 1 | 1:55.59 | 11+1⁄2 lengths | Stewart Elliott | [23] |
| Jun 5, 2004 | 3 | 1+1⁄2 miles | Belmont Stakes | I | Belmont Park | *0.35 | 9 | 2 | 2:27.50 | (1 length) | Stewart Elliott | [24] |
| Sire Elusive Quality | Gone West | Mr. Prospector | Raise a Native |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Digger | |||
| Secrettame | Secretariat | ||
| Tamerett | |||
| Touch of Greatness | Hero's Honor | Northern Dancer | |
| Glowing Tribute | |||
| Ivory Wand | Sir Ivor | ||
| Natashka | |||
| Dam I'll Get Along | Smile | In Reality | Intentionally |
| My Dear Girl | |||
| Sunny Smile | Boldnesian | ||
| Sunny Sal | |||
| Don't Worry Bout Me | Foolish Pleasure | What a Pleasure | |
| Fool-Me-Knot | |||
| Stolen Base | Herbager | ||
| Bases Full |
Smarty Jones is often referred to as "The People's Horse" or "America's Horse".
Smarty Jonesappeared on the Mary 10, 2004, cover ofSports Illustrated.
A documentary, "The Ride of a Lifetime—The Smarty Jones Story",[25] was shown for the first time on September 20, 2024, at Parx Racing.
New Yorker and rapperWiki released a single entitled "Smarty Jones" as part of the two-song release, "Fee Fi Fo Fum b/w Smarty Jones" on October 18, 2019.
