When Smarty Jones ran off and hid at the end of the Preakness Stakes, Jason Orman, the 25-year-old trainer of runner-up Rock Hard Ten, had a realistic response.
“[Rock Hard Ten] ran a respectable race,” Orman said. “He got a little tired, but that wasn’t the difference. I have a good horse, but that was a great horse that beat us.”
Rather than folding his hand and heading home to California, however, Orman shipped the massive colt to Belmont Park, where in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, Rock Hard Ten will offer the final hurdle to Smarty Jones’ sweep of the Triple Crown.
Orman remains realistic: “If Smarty Jones runs back to the Preakness, he’ll be very tough to beat. I don’t know if any horse is ready to make that leap. We have to hope our horse improves, and he regresses.”
But Orman also knows that “anything could happen in horse racing on a given day. We’re hoping the distance helps a bit, too.”
That’s one reason why Rock Hard Ten can turn the tables in the mile-and-a-half “Test of the Champion.” A son of Kris S. from the line of English Derby winner Roberto, out of a dam who’s a sister to Kentucky Derby winner Gato del Sol, Rock Hard Ten is bred to run all day.
There’s also the “squeeze-the-lemon-dry” factor. “Smarty” has been in steady training since last fall, weathering a grueling, eight-race campaign that’s taken him from Pennsylvania to New York, to Arkansas, Kentucky and Maryland, back to Pennsylvania, then back to New York next week.
“Rocky,” on the other hand, did not make his first start until February and has raced just four times. The May 15 Preakness was his first start since the Santa Anita Derby on April 3.
“He hadn’t run in six weeks, and I think he got a lot out of the Preakness,” Orman said. “He’s more fit and race-ready now.”
With its wide, sweeping turns, Belmont Park is a perfect fit for a colt of Rock Hard Ten’s Forego-like stature.
“He’s a big, long-striding horse,” Orman said. “If it’s a galloping kind of race, that’s where we can make up ground on Smarty Jones. We can stalk him, and hopefully [Rock Hard Ten’s] stamina will carry us through the last part.”
With Gary Stevens staying in Europe to ride in the English Derby the day of the Belmont, the colt’s owners, Ernie Moody and Madeleine Paulson, selected Patrick Valenzuela as their new jockey.
But P. Val, whose long history of substance abuse has overshadowed his brilliant riding career, is facing a month-long suspension from the California Horse Racing Board, set to begin June 1, for failing to take a mandatory drug test in January. Valenzuela has exhausted all administrative appeals and must go to court to obtain a stay.