Smarty Jones outran his Pennsylvania-bred sprinter’s pedigree to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the conventional wisdom goes – but to complete the Triple Crown, his bloodlines present a major hurdle going a lung-busting mile and a half in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.
Balderdash, counters pedigree guru Dr. Steve Roman, creator of the Dosage Index and a devoted “Smarty” fan.
“Give me a break,” Roman told The Post. “It’s interesting the way the media portrays Smarty Jones as a Philadelphia Park horse with no royal connections. That’s just not true.
“He’s by Elusive Quality, one of the fastest horses in the last 20 years, who holds the world-record for a mile [1:31.3 on turf winning the 1998 Poker Handicap], from a prolific [Mr. Prospector] sire line. He’s got enough staying power on the bottom side, tracing to La Troienne, to justify what he’s done.
“Smarty Jones is bred as well as 95 percent of the horses from Kentucky. My speed figures have him lengths ahead of anyone else. He’s as good as anything we’ve seen since Spectacular Bid, and I expect him to win by open lengths.
“The only thing that will stop him is a lung infection, a nail in his hoof or a disastrous trip, some tremendous regression or unexpected event. But if he runs comfortably, he won’t lose. I hope he wins by 20 or 25.”
Smarty Jones is from the second foal crop of Elusive Quality, one of the hottest young stallions in America. Elusive Quality’s sire, Gone West, is by Mr. Prospector – who, along with Northern Dancer, was the greatest sire of the late 20th Century – out of a Secretariat mare. Elusive Quality’s dam is a granddaughter of Northern Dancer out of a mare by Sir Ivor, who won the mile-and-a-half English Derby.
Smarty’s sire line has had tremendous success in the “Test of the Champion.” Gone West sired Commendable, who won the Belmont in 2000. In fact, seven of the last nine Belmont winners descend from the Mr. Prospector line: Thunder Gulch, Editor’s Note, Victory Gallop, Lemon Drop Kid, Commendable, Point Given and Empire Maker.
Moving to Smarty Jones’ female family, his dam, I’ll Get Along, is a stakes-winning daughter of Smile, the champion sprinter of 1986, who also was a stakes winner going a mile-and-an-eighth and was Grade 1-placed at a mile-and-a-quarter.
“There are several 10-furlong horses up close in his pedigree,” said Roman. “His second dam is by a Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure, and her half-sister Basie won the Delaware Handicap at a mile-and-a-quarter. Smarty’s third dam is by Herbager, one of the great stamina influences of all time.”
Go back seven generations in this family and you come to La Troienne, perhaps the most influential broodmare in history, whose descendants include all-time greats like Buckpasser and Easy Goer.
“If you do your homework and dig deeper,” Smarty’s trainer, John Servis, has said, “those outstanding horses pop out.”
Smarty Jones’ Dosage Index, 3.40, is higher than most previous Belmont winners, but “representative of the contemporary classic horse, the way the breed is evolving,” Roman said.
Also, according to Roman, pedigree is not the most important factor deciding the outcome of the Belmont despite its distance.
“Pace and class outweigh everything,” he said. “Look at Bold Forbes. There have been a lot of wire-to-wire Belmont winners, and if you can control the pace, then class is enough to compensate for any lack of pedigree.
“Smarty Jones never gets rattled. He’s almost like a robot. One big difference between him and the horses who haven’t won the Triple Crown is that a lot more was taken out of those others in the Derby and Preakness, while both his wins came easily.
“It’s not like he’s something out of the blue. He was fast from the very beginning. The race he ran when he won the Pennsylvania Nursery by 15 lengths [last November] earned by far the best speed figure of any 2-year-old last year.
“Smarty Jones is the first horse in a long time that really has the charisma you look for in a Triple Crown winner.”